"Hundred Day Head Start: The Health Edition" is now a DoFollow blog
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No tag for this post.How I work my one-pack
Had a great walk last night - 2.5 miles and about 45 minutes, and felt tired-but-strong at the end.
The kids had dance class last night. I’ve seen those classes and I’d rather walk. Hard work, that.
Did you anyone else try the lateral step-downs? I’m definitely feeling the effects of that exercise on top of the walk on top of the Air Squats, in my thighs and butt. I’m still working the core muscles this week, but I’m moving a little further up my body to work my one-pack.
My abdominals (altogether now, “Ahhhhh”).
Doing the old-school military sit-up still isn’t practical for me, unfortunately. So, I’ll be doing Crunches tonight. No links, we all know what Crunches are and how to do them.
My belly gets in the way of an old school sit-up. I’m one of those middle-aged farts that prefers them. I just feel like I get a better workout. Back when I was a ROTC midshapman at Vanderbilt, in the best shape of my life, I was doing 5 sets of 50 with a 25 lb. plate on my chest, three times a week.
Those were the days. I sound like Al Bundy, don’t I? “Back when I was a star running back at Polk High and scored 4 touchdowns in one game…”.
Silly. But, I actually WAS in great shape once, making my current fat-ness all the more frustrating. During that same time period, I’d been running cross-country and track for several years and had run a 4:50 mile, a sub-16:30 5k, was benching 225 lbs, cranking out those sit-ups, and weighed 165 lbs.
I suck.
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Since this IS a health blog, and not just a diet and exercise blog, I wanted to talk about my father. He’s had two surgeries in the last 3 weeks, and complications will have in the hospital for another 2-4 weeks. Tomorrow, though. It’s been a rollercoaster and I need time to gather my thoughts.
Tags: diet, exercise, kidsTuesday’s Exercise Tip
Last night, the whole family went out for the walk, even my wife!
Guilt is a powerful motivator… 
Also, I got my girls to try yesterday’s exercise, Air Squats. They weren’t too sure about the whole thing, but gave it a shot when I started calling it the “Egg-laying exercise”. Done properly, your butt goes below your knees, so to get the kids to do it right, I told them to pretend they were chickens and squeeze eggs out of their butt.
Yeah, I didn’t think about the potential for “accidents”, but thankfully there weren’t any.
I don’t know about them, but I’m really feeling it in my quads this morning after only doing 10. But, that would be like doing 10 x 290 lbs on a leg machine, so thinking about it that way makes it make sense.
So, we’re at 2 days now in the hundred day head start.
Today’s exercise is sticking with this week’s Core Strength theme. I found a fitness site through Diet Pulpit, and found lateral step downs as their exercise of the week. I don’t have one of those overpriced steps that they have at the gym, so I’ll use a cinder block or my porch steps. Be creative on this one if you don’t have a step - use a bench or a chair or even the stairs in your house. Try not to hold on to anything if you can because the muscles used to balance you during the movements will help your core strength - but, do so within the limits of safety. You can still get a good workout from this even if you’re balancing, as long as you’re keeping your weight off your arms.
Tags: diet, exercise, fitness, kidsUpdate; and a New Feature
I walked last night. And my assures me that both girls played extensively at the beach Sunday while I was gone. Additionally, the oldest did a lot of swimming and beach play on Saturday during a girl scout campout.
Well, not so much a campout as a sleepover at a beach house. Roughing it…
So, we’re back on track.
Now, that new feature:
I believe variety is the key to any exercise program. I always burn out quickly when I go into the old gym routine of “This day we do chest and arms, and that day we do back and legs, and these are the specific exercises you need to do.”
Last year, I tried some modified (because I’m too fat!) crossfit exercises and loved it. I also enjoy bodyweight exercises, and used them quite a bit when I was younger. I used to do hundreds of pushups 3 times a week, using various pieces of furniture in the house (well, ok, it was my apartment) to elevate my feet and work the entire chest, shoulders, back, etc. I loved this routine, and if I ever get this weight back down to the 230-240 range, I’ll be able to do them again.
No, really, I will!
Anyway, enough of that, here’s the feature: I’ll be highlighting one exercise each day, probably built around a theme. For instance, this week, I really want to get into a solid core-strength routine so my back will be able to hold up better as I increase my walking distances. So the first exercise is directly from Crossfit - Air Squats. Click the link to go Crossfit’s video demonstration if you need to see it.
Basically, this is a bodyweight squat, and you need to focus on form to get it right. Keep your body vertical and your shoulders back to get a good curve in your back. Keep your weight on your heels, and drop until your hips are below your knees.
Below your knees! It’s better to do 10 squats properly than 20 squats improperly. If you want to strengthen your core, your hips have to be involved in this one.
So, that’s today’s exercise. Tomorrow will be another. How do I pick them? Well, it’s just what I feel like doing on a particular day. There’s no plan here, and in fact, a plan would defeat the purpose of building variety. This week will be a bunch of core exercises, and you’ll be able to mix and match on those days you want to work your core going forward. And, I’ll be posting more core in the future, so you won’t be stuck doing only what I’m profiling this week.
Enjoy, and let me know how many or how long you can do this for.
Tags: exerciseLife challenges
My progress on the hundred day head start challenge was interrupted this weekend, but a trip to see my father, who is in the hospital following emergency surgery for diverticulitis, which followed another emergency surgery for appendicitis the previous week.
Yeah, he’s not a happy camper.
But, he’s only 64 and has been in great health, so he should recover well. Plus, he’ll be losing alot of weight (the hard way, of course) due to the nature of the surgery. I won’t go into details out of respect for him, but I suspect you all know how to google it if you really want to know.
So, the beautiful thing about the hundred day head start is that it starts today; think about it. Then do it.
Tags: diet, head start, surgery