I call this exercise my Hugger Mugger exercise.

     Of course, that's not the actual name.  I can't remember what it's called...some kind of "cross-over" something or other.  It's a great exercise for upper body strength.  It's also great for posture. 

     Six decades of gravity tend to make me want to slouch.  Slouching is not good.  When we slouch, we don't get nice full breaths of air in our lungs, our digestive system can't work efficiently and our center of balance is off. 

     One thing I've learned about strength training is that it's not just about being able to pick up heavy things.  It's about being able to move this heavy thing my soul is housed in a little better. 

     I've got a lot of MASS to haul around.  If I let my muscles get weak, then just hauling my MASS around all day will wear me out.  My MASS will be draggin'!  If I continue to get weaker and weaker since I can't haul my MASS around, I'll eventually end up in a wheel chair and somebody else will have to haul my MASS around for me.  And we all know what happens next, don't we?  My MASS is GRASS!

     So...I do my Hugger Mugger exercise on my "Upper Body Days".   I also do arm curls (15 lb dumbells if you can believe that!)  That way if I fall, I CAN get up!  And I work out on the Pec Deck ("We MUST...We MUST...We MUST INCREASE OUR BUST!")...I remember that little saying from my college days.  I also remember, "Don't Bogart that joint, my friend"...but, that's another story.

     Anyway, my Hugger Mugger muscles are in pretty good shape and improving all the time.  So, if you're down and depressed  and you need a hug.....I'M YOUR MASS!

Skinny Fat People

They say you learn something new every day.

Even this old dog can learn new tricks, and what I've recently learned, thanks to a fellow CrossFit Run A Muck gym member, is that there is such a thing as "skinny fat."

Obviously, skinny fat is not my problem.  My fat is plenty evident.  (Although people keep saying I look like I've lost weight...but, I haven't lost much.  It's just that the increased muscle looks thinner.  But I digress.)

Anyway, apparently, it is the case that a lot of people we see out there who LOOK all skinny and fit really aren't.

Skinny Fat is the condition in which a person who is a "normal" size has the medical problems associated with being overweight.  These problems can include metabolic syndrome, pre-diabetes, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, high blood sugar and so on.

Skinny Fat People have low muscle mass, either because they don't exercise or they have dieted to the extent that they have lost muscle tissue because they didn't eat enough protein to maintain it. Skinny Fat people also often have muffin tops or soft tummies.  Even though they may fit into smaller sized clothes than I do, their waist measurements may be a bit larger than they would be if they were more muscular.  That's because the kind of fat associated with skinny fat tends to collect around the tummy, and worse, around the internal organs.  Even worse than that, this tends to be the toxic fat we've all heard about which is full of all the unhealthy stuff running around in our blood streams...things that cause chronic inflammation like excess insulin and "free radicals"...which in turn, cause nasty problems like metabolic syndrome, heart disease, diabetes and even cancer.

I am old enough to remember when it was ok for women to be curvy.  The popular body style of today would have been considered un-feminine back in the forties and fifties.   Skinny was seen as unattractive. Of course, so was fat.  But, you just didn't see that many overweight people back in those days before the advent of processed foods and fast food drive-thrus.

Then along came Twiggy...a super skinny little British model...a genetic mutation with the body of a  pre-pubescent boy, eyes like an alien and a "mod" hair cut.  And along with her came the advent of a multi-billion dollar diet industry and an avalanche of eating disorders. 

Suddenly, it was cool to be super-skinny.  Thin was in.  So, girls began hating their bodies.  The ideal was to be thin at any cost.  The popular saying was, "You can never be too rich or too thin."  Nobody mentioned the words "healthy" and "strong."

My first exposure to bulimia was in college.  Everyone on my floor in the dorm was talking about a cute little Chi Omega sorority sister who stayed skinny by vomiting after every meal.  The buzz was that this was really brilliant and cool.  Finally, an easy solution to staying skinny.  I remember that several other girls on the floor gave it a try.  I didn't.  I hate vomiting.  But, I envied her for her skinniness and how she looked in her mini-skirts and white go go boots. I wanted to be like her.  I thought skinny was sexy and healthy. I had no idea she was committing slow suicide. 

I don't think my generation will ever get over the shock of Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton (known as the Shrimp...another super-skinny fashion model) and the overwhelming guilt heaped upon us by the diet and fashion industries.  The fitness craze of the seventies and eighties seemed to get us turning in the right direction, but even then, it was all about burning calories and being thin...not getting strong. 

I'm learning my lesson late in the game.  It's not about being skinny.  Skinny doesn't mean healthy.  Skinny Fat People are probably taking the same statins and blood thinners and high blood pressure meds I have to take every day.

Here's the bottom line.   Healthy metabolism cannot occur without muscle mass.  Our muscles are our metabolic engines. Without those engines, we're just an inefficient bag of bones and fat.  Gross.

So, I don't care about skinny anymore, and I certainly don't want to be counted among the Skinny Fat People.

I want to be strong.






 

I've fallen and I can't get up!

No, I haven't fallen.  In fact, I'm much less afraid of falling since I started this Cross-Fit journey at Cross Fit Run-A-Muck.

Yet, it's something that stays in the back of my mind because I know how dangerous a fall can be for a woman of my age.  An alarming number of people over sixty die of pneumonia or infection after a fall.

We've all heard the stories.  One I heard was about a lady who fell in her garage.  She didn't break anything, but she fell in such a way that she could not get herself into a position from which she could push herself up or grab hold of something to pull herself up.  So she lay there more than 24 hours until someone realized she wasn't answering her phone.  That's terrifying!  And it happens way more than we'd like to believe.

Of course, other situations exacerbate the mobility problem.  Watch a pregnant woman attempt to get off a couch.  It's all about shifting the center of gravity.  It's the same with an obese person.  It's hard to get your legs under you when your belly is in the way.  We also have to shift our gravity when our knees or hips are arthritic.  When we become fearful that our knees or hips won't hold us, we tend to limit our activities.  And that's a slippery slope to disability.

Some researchers and medical professionals claim they can predict the health and longevity of someone based on whether he or she can sit on the floor, then stand up again without using his or her hands or arms.

Go here to take the test.

That's all core and legs.  We could all do it when we were kids without even thinking about it.  Now, many of us have to scoot to the edge of the couch before we can leverage ourselves up to a standing position.

My Cross-Fit trainer, Josh Stayton, tells me the exercise I'm doing above is ideal for maintaining the ability get up off the floor, out of a chair or out of the car.  It's called a STANDING STRAIGHT ARM LAT PULL DOWN.  It works the Latissimus Dorsi, teres major and posterior deltoid.  It is a shoulder extension exercise (partial scapular retraction).

Here's a picture of the muscles that are strengthened with this exercise:

In addition, the stomach muscles are engaged when this exercise is done.  All these muscles...our core muscles...help us remain upright and pull ourselves up.

I can't get up off the floor yet without using my hands to boost myself up.  But, I DO find it much easier to get off the couch and out of my little convertible.  My goal is to get my core and back strong enough to get up from the floor hands free.  It's fun to have a goal.  And it's way more fun than worrying about falling and not being able to get back up again!

    

     I was telling someone the other day about how strength training has made everything easier.
     It makes the little things easier...like getting in and out of the car.  It also helps make the big things easier...like moving furniture. 
    But, I didn't realize the extent to which strength training and the accompanying aerobic activities I am doing, mostly rowing and walking, would increase my flexibility.
     Flexibility is something we all lose as we age.  But, I am learning that loss of flexibility is not necessarily an inevitability. 
      I believe my increased flexibility is due to the strengthening of my core.  The core, as I understand it, includes those muscles, tendons and ligaments that keep us upright.  It's all the strongest parts of our chests, waists and abdominal areas as well as our backs and butts.  
     With every new exercise I learn, I am reminded to tense my core muscles because they help provide a solid base for whatever my arms, shoulders, thighs and legs are doing.  And as I have learned to adopt this habit, I have found that there is an increased sense of power for whatever I am calling on my body to do.  Apparently, that includes bending and reaching...things we must do every day of our lives.
      I have really noticed the difference in my core strength and flexibility on the rowing machine.  The first few times I tried it, my daughter had to pull the rowing handle thingy back for me and hand it to me because I couldn't bend forward far enough to reach it.  In fact, I had some difficulty fastening the straps on my feet!  Now, in little more than a month of strength training and rowing, I don't need help.  In fact, I don't even think about it.  I've noticed the same thing happening at home as I bend over to pick a sock up off the floor or pick up something and put it on a shelf over my head.  Younger folks may not realize how life changing this can be!  Trust me, kids.  Your day is coming!
     It feels good to be flexible again.  I find myself wondering what I'm capable of now and anticipate what I might be able to do in the future.  My dream is to get back on a horse.  I'd love to ride again like I did when I was a girl.  I'd really love to learn cowboy dressage.  Is it possible at my age?  A month ago, I would have said no way.  Now, I don't know.  Maybe?
     Hey, a girl can dream can't she?

I read an article the other day that said there are millions more bacteria and viruses trapped in the average square inch of carpet than there are on the average toilet seat...even if the carpet is regularly vacuumed.

Eeeeooooooooooo!

Then I got to thinking about gyms I have frequented in the past.  Many of them were carpeted.  Can you imagine the new alien life forms that must have been growing in those carpets?  Makes me sick just thinking about it.

That's why I appreciate, and I think we all should appreciate, the efforts of our Cross Fit Run-A-Muck owner/operator, Josh.  Josh, and often his sweetheart, Celeste, clean and disinfect our gym every single day it is open.  And it's a huge job!  It's like mopping two gymnasium floors!

Many gyms hire cleaning services that come in once a week to clean after hours.  There's usually no one there to supervise, so who knows what kind of job they're doing? 

Knowing what I know now, if I were looking for a gym or fitness center, one of the first questions I'd ask would be about cleaning protocols.  How often is the gym cleaned.  Who cleans it?  Who supervises?  What protocols and products are used?  Is the gym carpeted and if so, why? 

Josh and Celeste are thorough.  I've watched them work.  They use the same cleaning formula and protocol that is used at the local jail.  It's serious stuff, folks.  And it's a big job.  Not only do they mop both big floors, they wipe down all the equipment with the same antiseptic.  It takes awhile!

And you can tell.  This gym is clean.  It looks clean, feels clean and smells clean, unlike many other fitness facilities.

So, here's a shout out to Josh for keeping it real and keeping us all safe and healthy!  He is the consummate professional...not only in his knowledge of exercise science, but in his work ethic as a business owner. 

Thanks, Josh!

Take a close look at the brand name of this exercise bike. 

It's called an ASSAULT bike.  Or as I like to call it, the ASSault bike. 

One thing I've learned since starting Cross Fit is that the warm up is extremely important.  It includes stretching to help prevent injury and getting the heart rate up a bit.  I much prefer the rowing machine for my warm-up.  But, sometimes I'm asked to warm up on one of the ASSault bikes, and it's not my favorite machine in the gym.

For one thing, the seat on the ASSault bike is not really meant to be sat upon...at least not for someone round like me. It's tiny and narrow and not the least bit padded.  It's like trying to sit balanced on a fence post...like a 4 X 4 fence post that is old and weathered with rusty nails sticking out of it.  That kind of fence post.

There's also something about the way the ASSault bike is constructed or balanced.  You perch on it rather than sitting on it.  You really have to use your core muscles just to keep from falling off!  It would be easier to balance with one of those long poles the Wallendas used, but I guess that would defeat the purpose.

And if that weren't tough enough, the handlebars on the ASSault bike move back and forth at a rapid rate sort of throwing you forward and backward while you're trying to balance on the fence post and pedal the required number of meters or calories. 

The result is that the whole time I'm cycling, I feel like the darned thing is trying to throw me off like a half broke mustang at a cheap rodeo!  It would be good exercise for bronc busters. 

I must admit, it's a good workout.  Four or five minutes on it, and I'm plenty warmed up...and usually pretty pissed off.

But, I'm also saddle sore!

So, I've decided I'm going to start taking a pillow along to the gym.  I have a nice little quilted pillow in floral pastel colors that will be just right.  There I'll be, perched on the ASSault bike with my white hair and my pink and yellow pillow, like a little old lady going for a Sunday afternoon ride on her fat fluffy Shetland.

I'm sure it will be a first in any Cross Fit gym.  But, I'm gonna show that ASSault bike who's boss!  

an

This contraption I'm holding over my snowy white head is called an Earthquake Bar.  

Imagine holding a barbell over your head.  There's not much weight on the bar, so you figure you've got this.  Piece of cake!

Now imagine the ground moving beneath you.  

The reality is that the bar moves.  The weights are suspended from the ends of the bar with elastic bands, so they are constantly in motion.  As far as your brain, your inner ear and your muscles are concerned, YOU are moving.  So the synapses are firing like a machine gun in an effort to keep the bar steady.  It's a whole new take on isometrics!

Now imagine standing upright with the bar over your head while maintaining the correct posture...head up, chest out, back straight, tummy pulled in, breathing steady.  My daughter calls it "pageant posture".  I call it, "punishment posture."  

Once you've got everything all aligned you take about twenty steps, turn and walk back.  After forty steps you feel like you've had a full work-out. You're done.  Bye bye.  Headed home now.

But, more important for me...every aspect of my body that is associated with staying upright and not tumbling down the stairs, falling off a step stool or tripping on a curb and landing on my face (and I've done all three) has been slapped awake, scrubbed up and given a good talking to!

Our bodies are efficient little machines.  They store fat efficiently, they conserve energy efficiently and any brain cells we're not using are shunted off to a corner to shrivel and die. That's why exercises like this are so valuable for those of us who want to continue running on all cylinders.  After all, what's the fun of driving a high performance sports car if the steering doesn't work? 

I already feel a bit more "balanced" after just a few weeks of this kind of work-out.  It's not because I have built my muscles or become stronger...though I have.  It's because my brain has re-awakened the part of itself that needs to deal with the challenge of the Earthquake Bar.  And that translates to easier and more balanced movement all day every day.