Facial Exercises
As if we don’t have enough to exercise, now we can exercise our face. I found this amusing.
Pilates Video
Check out this video on YouTube of Joseph Pilates doing some of the original exercises. You’ve got the love the saw! But watching him do the roll over and roll up is pretty amazing. Her really does have control and grace. From this link on YouTube you’ll be able to find other videos of Joesph doing the exercises.
It’s Electric
Whether is all the lightening storms we’ve had in New England this year or a great summer fireworks show (which isn’t electric, but has quite a spark, or at least a sparkle), let that energy transfer into your workout.
When you’re feeling sluggish and can’t get up off the couch or feel like you’re moving really slow, think of things like lightening and fireworks that have lots of energy and get yourself energized.
Stand & Sit for the Pelvic Floor
There are lots of people, especially women (and women who have had babies), who struggle to engage their pelvic floor. It can be hard to find and it’s not a muscle we’re taught about in school like our abs or biceps.
The muscles that make up your kegel (or pelvic floor) muscles connect to the base of your pelvis. They tie the tailbone, the public bone, the sits bones (those protruding bumps your feel in your buttocks when you sit down) together.
This is one of the best exercises I have found to start to feel and be able to understand where the pelvic floor is located. And it’s really easy to try.
Exercise:
Sit in a chair with your feet hip distance apart.
Stand up slowly.
Sit down slowly.
Repeat.
As you stand up, especially at the last moment when you are finally fully erect, notice how your sits bones come closer together. As you sit and your buttocks moves closer to the chair notice how they spread. It’s not a huge range of motion. If you can’t feel the difference in your body start by touching your sits bones with your hands and […]
Eliptical vs. Running
So I did a little research to see how the elliptical machine actually adds up to running. As a former runner who now finds herself on an elliptical more often, I’ve wanted to know which is better for a long time. I’ve always been impressed with how the calories I burn sky rocket while I’m working out on an elliptical, but often doubted the accuracy.
In doing very little research, I discovered that ellipticals can overestimate calories burned by as much as 25-percent. That’s a problem if you are counting calories and trust the machine as truth.
Also, ellipticals just don’t burn as many calories as running. Why should we expect it to? They are two different exercise modalities. Running always makes me feel like I got a better whole body workout and I often miss it when I’m getting no where fast on an elliptical.
Still, there are benefits of working out on a machine. When I run my knees and hips ache. When I use an elliptical my joints feel healthy and fine. That is a pretty significant difference. Plus, on days when you […]