M. Suzanne Terry

One of my favorite lines from Mary Poppins is “In everything that must be done, there is an element of fun.” This is my exercise motto. No matter how good an activity is for me or how much I get out of it, if I can’t find something a little entertaining about it, it’s not going to become a habit.

Once upon a time, that was a hard thing for me to admit.  I wanted to be one of those people who could trudge their way through something, no matter how mentally and emotionally unsatisfying it was.

Then I discovered runner’s high, and it unlocked everyone’s secret – they were having fun (I mean, eventually.  Running is still just horrible at first). So now I don’t worry so much about what I do as long as I do something I enjoy.

Enter this video:

If you do these eight minutes with the intensity that Tracy Anderson instructs you to do it, you will feel it. You will know immediately that you have accomplished something. You might never want to lift your arms again.

You also might have a little fun.

You might feel silly, especially if there are people around.  You might feel absurd if said people stand back and watch you do it.  You also might get a little jolt of triumph when they join in because they just can’t help themselves.

But your arms will take it seriously, and you will start to notice a difference in their tone.

I love it when silly things produce serious results.

I am committing to 31 Days of Movement.

It’s book club day, which means my time for activity will have to be wedged in between work and baking a cake and doing a load of laundry so I have pants tomorrow and, most importantly, discussing Wild* while drinking wine. I hope that it will happen between work and book club, but it might have to wait until after book club.  After wine. Right before bed.

Pilates to the rescue.

I’ve talked about strength training a couple of times now and have badgered you to engage your core and not hurt yourself. Pilates will help you do that by giving you a core to work with. This is great for dancers, runners, and weight lifters – everybody, really.  It can be done with or without weights. It’s fun to watch your pet or child try to do this with you. In fact, in some of the moves, you can use your pet or child as a weight, and they will think you are playing with them. Confession – I used the daycare kids as weights all the time.  They thought we were playing Rocking Horse.  Nope.  Rolling like a ball with a toddler. They loved it. So did their parents, because they were really easy to put to bed those nights.

My go-to routine for busy days is Mari Winsor’s 20-minute routine.* I like it because 1) it’s twenty minutes, 2) she is upbeat but not excessively so, and 3) it is super low impact, which is necessary for busy days, because high impact just means more ways for me to fall, and I am likely to fall when I’m tired. I mean, I’m likely to fall most of the time, but especially when I’m tired.

You don’t have to buy anything to do this, though. You can also check Pilates videos out from the public library (I’ll be sharing a few of those myself later this month) or look up videos online.  You can also look exercises up online and design your own routine.

My favorite exercise is The Seal. It’s hilarious.  It involves rolling back and tapping your heels together. You will feel dumb the first time you do it, but you’ll be laughing. If you laugh deeply enough, I’m pretty sure that’s an ab workout all on its own.

Have fun!

I’m committing to 31 Days of Movement.

*Affiliate link

Long ago, I was in the market for a book that would outline various lower body strengthening exercises. So I visited Borders (aw…*takes moment of silence*) and found this gem in the exercise section:

I can’t imagine what caught my eye. It’s a mystery.

What I affectionately term “The Butt Book” has turned out to be one of the most useful tools in my exercise regimen. I can’t think of a lower body exercise – in or out of the gym – that this book does not describe.  It will tell you how to do it and how to make sure your technique is correct so that you do it safely. It also outlines different workouts and the rate at which you should increase the intensity of your strength training. For a person such as myself who tends toward the all-or-nothing frame of mind, this has been helpful.

Today’s movement involved the five exercises I describe briefly below. I completed two reps of ten each, since that seems to be my starting point this month. Starting slow also helps me slow down and pay attention to form.

Again, as with all strength training – engage your core so you don’t hurt yourself. It’s also important in these exercises to isolate the movement. Try to keep the rest of your body still while only the muscles required to execute the rep are used.

1.Post squat (…ish.  I totally keep both feet on the floor) – Holding on to something sturdy (I used my largest bookshelf), bend from a standing position to a sitting one.  Don’t let your knees cross over in front of your toes, because that’s bad for you knees, and they will tell you about it – loudly – if you do it. Stand back up to complete the exercise.

2. Good mornings – This is like a crunch but for your back. Actually, the idea of crunching your back gives me the willies.  Pretend I didn’t say that. What I meant to say was that it strengthens your back. Stand with your feet just over shoulder width apart, feet turned out (second position, modern dancers). Contracting your abs and keeping your head and spine aligned, bend forward until your body is parallel to the floor.  Stand back up.

3. Kick backs (not the name in the book – I forget what the book calls them) – Holding on to the same sturdy thing from before and contracting your abs, lift your right leg behind you.  Lower and repeat with left leg.

4. Kneeling side leg raises (or what I like to call Fire Hydrants) – Get down on your hands and knees. Keeping the leg bent, lift your right leg up until it is parallel to the floor (watch. your. alignment.  It’s easy to piss your back off with this one). Lower leg and repeat with the left leg.

5. Seated inside raises – Sit on the floor, one leg bent and the foot on the floor in front of you and the other leg turned out and stretched out at an angle in front of you. Keeping everything else still, lift the straight leg up and in (so that it ends up in front of you at the same angle as your other leg, only extended). Lower down. Repeat with other leg.

Because the last three are one-leg-at-a-time activities, this sequence will feel more like eight exercises instead of five.

Strength training, if done correctly, can make everything else easier. Strength training, if done incorrectly, can injure you and make everything else – even sleeping – harder. My advice is that if you are serious about adding strength training to your plate, go to a gym and take their weight room orientation, or talk to a personal trainer.

Or at least buy The Complete Book of Butt and Legs and do what it says.*

Be safe!

I’m committing to 31 Days of Movement.

* Full disclosure – this is an affiliate link, which means if you follow the link and buy it, I get a cut.

Today’s activity?  Housekeeping.

Don’t scoff.

According to the calorie counter at MyFitnessPal, I burned 454 calories cleaning my apartment today. To put that in perspective, for someone my weight, running (or according to the website, jogging) three miles at a rate of 10 mph burns 435 calories. That’s three six-minutes miles.  I burned more calories today cleaning than I would have burned if my chosen activity of the day was running, because I have never in my life completed a mile in six minutes and cannot even remember the last time I ran three in a row.

Eight different times today, I set a timer for fifteen minutes and straightened and cleaned as much as I possibly could before the buzzer went off. When it rang, I was a little out of breath and sweaty.  So I might have burned more calories, but since I am dealing with a website that considers a six-minute mile “jogging,” I’m going to go ahead and measure my activity as light (rather than heavy) housekeeping.

But no matter what you call it, here’s the best part – my home is two hours cleaner now than it was this morning.

Yep. I’m feeling pretty proud of myself.

I think MyFitnessPal just became my favorite app. Don’t be surprised if I start measuring everything I do in how many miles I saved myself from running.

I’m committing to 31 Days of Movement.

Friday evening is my downtime. I try to get all my errands done some time during the week so that on Friday after work I can just go home, take my shoes off, and refuse to leave until the next day. My sanity depends on it. So any activity I add on Friday has to work with that. Every Friday this month, I am going to have my own private dance party.

This week’s theme  – Club Songs.

Of course, when I say “club,” I’m talking about the goth club.  So my club music sounds different than everyone else’s club music. In choosing a song to share with you, I picked one of the less dark, less morbid ones.  You’re welcome.

[Aside: technically, Portishead is more trip hop than goth.  But it reminds me of the club, so it’s still a good representation of the dance mix to which I will be partying down with my bad self this evening.]

You’ll note the relaxed beat of the song. Perhaps it’s not what you would typically consider to be dance music, but I encourage you to give it a try. Be creative and – for lack of a better term – flow-y with your dance.

If you have no idea where to start, this instruction page is both informative and hilarious. Pick a few moves and experiment.

Or don’t. Just do what you want.  It’s your party.

Have fun, and happy Friday!

Fridays are going to be the best days in my 31 Days of Movement.  I can already tell.

(All I need is a wall.)

There was a time in my life when I was in pretty good shape. I could run up several flights of stairs without getting out of breath, and I was a tiny-but-mighty powerhouse when a friend needed help moving.

This is not that time, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

The definition in my arms was a thing of beauty. This was due in part to my job at the time. I worked at a daycare and thus spent every afternoon, five days a week, lifting and playing with two-year-olds. That will give you a stress headache, an immune system of steel, and very nice arms.

It also didn’t hurt that I had a regular strength training routine. A trainer at the university gym told me that it was a good idea to alternate – upper body one day, lower body the next. I flat out ignored this advice and did all my strength training every other day (public service announcement – you need a day to rest in between when working a muscle group). I needed days in my life that did not include strength training, because I hated it. I hated it so hard. I did it, though, because it made everything else I did – running, dancing, swimming, lifting two-year-olds – so much easier.

This is one of the arm routines I abhorred the least, because I could do it in the privacy of my living room. I performed four sets of fifteen reps each. Some of the names are what the professionals actually call the exercises; some of them are just names I made up, because cute names make strength training less horrible. Think of it as a nice, kitschy om to go with your exhale. It will get you through it.

As with all strength training, make sure you engage your core (i.e., hold in your stomach, like a good Southern lady) while performing these exercises to improve alignment and help avoid injury. Also, remember to stretch before and after, because if you forget to be a stretcher, you might end up needing a stretcher (little nugget of wisdom from my junior high running coach).

1. Push it (complete with Salt and Pepa running through my head) – This is basically a standing push up. Stand facing a wall, and put your hands on the wall in front of your face, forming a triangle. Bending your elbows, lower your body to the wall and then push away, taking you back to your starting position.

2. Superwoman – Balancing on the right leg, extend the left leg behind you. At the same time, lift your arms in front of you, like you’re about to fly away. Lower arms and leg, then repeat with the left leg supporting and the right leg extended.

3. Ski lift – Okay, so you start out sitting in a chair, and that’s where the comparison to riding a ski lift ends. Placing your palms on the chair on each side of you, lift your butt off the edge of the chair, lower yourself toward the ground, and then push back up. Imagine yourself in a snowy wonderland.  Try to ignore the burning in your triceps.

4. Pointer – Get down on all fours.  Extend your right arm out in front of you and your left leg behind you. Point your fingers and your toes like you’re a dog on the hunt and you’ve just found a bush full of poor, unsuspecting quail. Lower your arm and leg into the original position, and repeat with your left arm and right leg.

5. Cobra  – Lie face down with your elbows bent and your palms on the floor beside your chest. Push up with your arms, lifting your head, shoulders, and upper body.  Allow your shoulders to drop as you move your shoulder blades toward one another (this is a really amazing exercise for those of us who carry our stress in our shoulders, by the way).  Hold for a few seconds, then lower down.

6. Come to the table – Sit on the floor at your coffee table with your legs straight underneath it. Gripping the underside of the table, lie back as far as your arm length will allow you to go.  Pull yourself back up to a sitting position. This also works at a kitchen table, seated on a stool or bench.

Like I mentioned before, my routine was four sets of fifteen reps apiece. That was my intention today. My reality today, however, ended up being two sets of ten reps apiece, and still my arms are so tired I have had to take breaks while writing this post, because I couldn’t hold them up anymore to type.

Well.  That’s humbling.

It’s also motivating. I’m going to get back up to those four sets. I’m going to have that strength again.

I’m committing to 31 Days of Movement – click to see the series so far!

“American women have two modes — sitting or spinning. French women prefer gentler, more regular varieties of all-day movement. They see exertion as an integral part of the day.” Mireille Guiliano, French Women Don’t Get Fat

When I got to that line in the book, it hit me square in the face. That describes my typical activity level perfectly – sitting or spinning.  I am either completely still or I am in a frenzied state, sweaty and out of breath, trying to eke out some burned calories to counteract my slothdom.

Today, I didn’t cut corners.  I made a point to get up at least twice an hour and walk. Instead of IM-ing my boss when a student showed up for an appointment, I stood up and went around the corner to her office.

I took the stairs.

I have walked so many stairs today. This was a grand/terrible idea for the first day. I might actually be sore tomorrow.

I take the stairs every day…to my apartment.  But everywhere else?  The elevator is a friend of mine.

Not today, though. Today, I realized just how many times I go to multiple floors at work and just how many stairs that adds up to, and I’m tired but not exhausted like I thought I would be.  I’m the kind of tired belonging to someone who has had a normal, active day.

I don’t think I’m going to have any trouble getting to sleep tonight. I also drank twice as much water as I usually drink, because more activity makes me thirsty.

I love it when simple things that don’t require any additional scheduling make a difference. I think I’ll take the stairs every day.

This is Day One of 31 Days of Movement.