Muscles. Don't you just love em?
A set of rock hard abs, a broad rippling back, some bulging biceps, a firm, hard thigh...Some pecalcious pecs even?
Yes Please.
Those muscles are easy to love.
But what about your own muscles? You may not think they are quite so lovely. You may only be vaguely aware that you have any muscles at all and yet your muscles really do want you to love them ; all 340 of them, (depending on which anatomy book you read).
Muscles are pretty amazing things when you think about it. They carry us around, allow us to write, type, play music, drive a car, climb to the top of a mountain, stroke a loved one, cuddle a child and we just take them so much for granted. We use them and abuse them OR
don't use them and abuse them until eventually one of the little suckers starts to complain.
So what do muscles really want?
Here's a list written from a muscle's perspective.
WHAT MUSCLES WANT
*Support. If they have to stay in one position or place a long time they need support or they will get overloaded and ache from too much strain. For writers, back support is the most important. There's lots of little tiny muscles linking vertebra to vertebra and some large broad muscles that help to hold you up and they're all much happier with good support.
*Variety of Movement - some muscles are designed to move body parts, some are designed to hold body parts but all muscles work better if they are moved in a variety of ways and positions.
* Stretching. This does not just mean a static held stretch. This is a passive stretch. Muscles also like to be moved actively through a full range of movement to prevent stiffness in the short term and tightening and shortening of a muscle's length in the long term. For example if you only ever take short steps when you walk, the hamstrings at the back of your thighs will get tight. A few hamstring stretches after exercise will help but so will taking long strides, or doing lunges or kicks.
*R&R - Rest & Relaxation - muscles need to return to a relaxed resting state after being held in a contracted position otherwise they remain tight and under chronic strain. The trapezius muscle at the top of the shoulders is the classic example of this. If your shoulders are always hitched up - oh so common when under stress or with poor ergonomics- the muscle never gets a chance to relax fully so its no wonder the poor thing aches.
*Strength - muscles need to be strong enough to carry out the demands placed on them. The old use it or lose it is so true.
* Balance. Muscles generally work in opposite pairs. While the muscle on one side of a limb is contracting (shortening), its corresponding muscle on the other side has to be lengthening. These opposing pairs are called the agonist and antagonist. So far so good. BUT if you sit or move mainly in one direction, the muscles on one side get tight and the muscles on the opposite side get weak. In order to keep a balance between the opposing pairs you need to stretch the tight muscles AND strengthen the weak ones. If you only work on one or the other the imbalance is maintained. It's like two teams playing tug of war, each side needs to be evenly matched or the whole sorry thing gets pulled to one side.
* Oxygen and lots of it is needed by muscle tissue. To get the oxygen in and waste products out, good circulation is essential. Yet another good reason to get up and move around frequently instead of having buttocks fused to a chair.
* Good nutrition - iron, calcium, vitamin C and D are particularly important for muscles to work properly.
Yes vitamin D. A little bit of sunlight is good for vitamin D production as well as to warm the creative hearth. WHich brings me to...
*Warmth - muscles are like modelling clay or plasticine- much more pliable and elastic when they are warm, hence the need to warm up before exercise and why if your desk is under an air conditioning vent your muscles are more likely to stiffen up.
Next blog I will look at what muscles hate but here is my
WRITER'S STRETCH OF THE DAY...Week...Year
DESK BALLET
1) Stand up. Take a few steps back from your desk. Feet a bit wider than shoulders.
2) Lean on your desk. Keep your knees straight and your heels down. You should feel a slight stretch at the back of your calf. If not move further away from the desk until you do.
3) Rise up on your toes and back to your heels.
4) Repeat about 20 x.
Variation - shift weight from one foot to the other
- do 10 on each leg.
This exercise is a great circulation booster, an active stretch for the calf as well as a strengthening exercise for the calf muscles.
It packs lots of BANG FOR YOUR SWEAT.
Don't you love one exercise that works on three things? Your muscles certainly do.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
The best exercise
'What is the best form of exercise?'
Swimming?
Decathlon?
Cross-country skiing?
Croquet?
It's a question I am often asked:- by everyone from elite sportsmen to octogenarian lawn bowlers seeking the elixir of life.
I know you are waiting with bated breath for the answer, hanging out for my words of guru-wisdom-spouted-from-on-high (though at five foot one, maybe not so high).
I am smiling to myself because...
the answer may not be what you are expecting.
So what is the best form of exercise?
The answer...Drum roll please.
ANY EXERCISE YOU WILL ACTUALLY DO.
That's it. The secret in a sentence.
There is no magic exercise. The magic lies in finding something that you can do regularly.
Most exercise plans fail because people choose something they think they should do, rather than something they can do or might even enjoy.
Why run if you have abysmal biomechanics like me and hate running? You'll only feel virtuous for a few days until the blister/shin/splints/hate-this-running-instinct kicks in and you give up. So unless you are trying to get into some kind of job where they test your ability to run, why not try something else?
Why go to the gym if the closest gym is forty-five minutes away and you have to travel an hour and a half to get an hour's exercise? Unless...going to the gym is something you love to do.
You will be far more successful if you start an exercise plan by first working out what exercise you like, what would fit easily into your day or week and what gives you the best bang-for-your-sweat
To get the most bang-for-your-sweat an exercise activity needs to have
VARIETY
FREQUENCY and
THE FUN FACTOR
A partner is good but there's nothing wrong with going it alone
LENGTH can vary. Long is good but if a short session is all you've got then grab it!
It needs to
GET THE HEART RATE UP
WORK THE MUSCLES
STRETCH THE BODY in different directions.
Can you think of any activities that might cover all these aspects?
I can.
The obvious of course. But what about
*swimming or aqua-exercise. Water-based exercise meets all the above but does not help bone density
*dancing - can combine strength/flexibilty/aerobic fitness in one activity and you can do it at home, anytime, where no one is looking, naked even. Handy hint- a good supportive bra is not so liberating but your breasts will thank you.
*trampolining - if you do the tricky stuff it certainly is an all-round work-out but a) you need a trampoline and
b) the effects can be disconcerting when a full bladder collides with gravity
unless the pelvic floor is, dare I say it? water-tight.
NONE OF THESE APPEAL?
Don't panic. No single exercise needs to do everything. You can go the combo.
Just make a list of what you could do. E.G.
*walking for an hour a day
*Wifit for 30 minutes every day
*tantric kinky yoga with Sting for two hours a day
*zumba class 3 days a week
Then whittle this list down to what is more realistic and easy to incorporate into everyday life. E.G.
*walk every day -aim for 30 minutes but 10 is fine. Plus or minus something hairy or loud for company.
*wiifit when the weather rules out walking.
*10 minutes of ordinary, garden-variety yoga alone every morning
*zumba class once a week
If you have done no exercise for ages, just start with one thing at a time and expect to be sore.
If you already do exercise but are getting stale, remember the variety rule.
Same old same old won't get improvement.
And when you do whatever you choose to do.
SMILE and think about all the ways you can get
the best bang for your sweat.
SEE Exercise can be fun.
Swimming?
Decathlon?
Cross-country skiing?
Croquet?
It's a question I am often asked:- by everyone from elite sportsmen to octogenarian lawn bowlers seeking the elixir of life.
I know you are waiting with bated breath for the answer, hanging out for my words of guru-wisdom-spouted-from-on-high (though at five foot one, maybe not so high).
I am smiling to myself because...
the answer may not be what you are expecting.
So what is the best form of exercise?
The answer...Drum roll please.
ANY EXERCISE YOU WILL ACTUALLY DO.
That's it. The secret in a sentence.
There is no magic exercise. The magic lies in finding something that you can do regularly.
Most exercise plans fail because people choose something they think they should do, rather than something they can do or might even enjoy.
Why run if you have abysmal biomechanics like me and hate running? You'll only feel virtuous for a few days until the blister/shin/splints/hate-this-running-instinct kicks in and you give up. So unless you are trying to get into some kind of job where they test your ability to run, why not try something else?
Why go to the gym if the closest gym is forty-five minutes away and you have to travel an hour and a half to get an hour's exercise? Unless...going to the gym is something you love to do.
You will be far more successful if you start an exercise plan by first working out what exercise you like, what would fit easily into your day or week and what gives you the best bang-for-your-sweat
To get the most bang-for-your-sweat an exercise activity needs to have
VARIETY
FREQUENCY and
THE FUN FACTOR
A partner is good but there's nothing wrong with going it alone
LENGTH can vary. Long is good but if a short session is all you've got then grab it!
It needs to
GET THE HEART RATE UP
WORK THE MUSCLES
STRETCH THE BODY in different directions.
Can you think of any activities that might cover all these aspects?
I can.
The obvious of course. But what about
*swimming or aqua-exercise. Water-based exercise meets all the above but does not help bone density
*dancing - can combine strength/flexibilty/aerobic fitness in one activity and you can do it at home, anytime, where no one is looking, naked even. Handy hint- a good supportive bra is not so liberating but your breasts will thank you.
*trampolining - if you do the tricky stuff it certainly is an all-round work-out but a) you need a trampoline and
b) the effects can be disconcerting when a full bladder collides with gravity
unless the pelvic floor is, dare I say it? water-tight.
NONE OF THESE APPEAL?
Don't panic. No single exercise needs to do everything. You can go the combo.
Just make a list of what you could do. E.G.
*walking for an hour a day
*Wifit for 30 minutes every day
*tantric kinky yoga with Sting for two hours a day
*zumba class 3 days a week
Then whittle this list down to what is more realistic and easy to incorporate into everyday life. E.G.
*walk every day -aim for 30 minutes but 10 is fine. Plus or minus something hairy or loud for company.
*wiifit when the weather rules out walking.
*10 minutes of ordinary, garden-variety yoga alone every morning
*zumba class once a week
If you have done no exercise for ages, just start with one thing at a time and expect to be sore.
If you already do exercise but are getting stale, remember the variety rule.
Same old same old won't get improvement.
And when you do whatever you choose to do.
SMILE and think about all the ways you can get
the best bang for your sweat.
SEE Exercise can be fun.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Hair-raising Adventures
Thursday. Gin and tonic time.
Number 1 Son bounds into the house like a cocker spaniel on speed
“I’m getting a perm tomorrow,” he announces.
I splutter and wonder if I heard him right or should give up the gin and tonic.
He nods, adding a sheepish grin for good measure.
We’ve deliberately encouraged the offspring to take risks, to give things a go, to be open to new experiences, always half-expecting that this policy might cause the odd moment of angst.
But a perm?
And why?
Where have we gone wrong? Did we let him watch too many re-runs of old sit-coms? Has he been led astray by Starsky and Hutch? Couldn’t he experiment with something more normal like a tattoo of the Queen on his butt or a nose ring that glints in the sun and inspires wild impulses for grabbing a red cape?
I try to counsel against such a reckless course of action.
“You do realise ‘perm’ stands for permanent wave.”
“It does?.”
"Uh-huh." (My turn to nod.) “I used to get one all the time. It was mandatory in the eighties."
“But it will wash out eventually," he says.
Oh the optimism of youth! “No," (I explain this with a certain amount of perverse glee). "If you get a perm you will be a permanent poodle until it grows out or you cut it all off.”
My radar is picking up on a bit of a what-would-you-know-vibe emanating from the offspring so I go for the big guns.
“You know that you can’t flick a perm?”
A brief flicker of consternation passes across his eyes. He spends hours flicking his long, brown, wavy locks as if he is swatting away the girls.
Gen-Y is more prone to believing Google than their parents so Rapunzel spends the next hour researching perms on the net. I try again to dissuade him from a folly he may regret. I press for an explanation, a reason for this insane desire.
Finally, the explanation comes.
It is the same reason young men are prone to such feats as diving off cliffs or riding motor bikes off really big ramps...
A dare.
His honour is in question.
He has given his word. And what is a man without his word.
Rapunzel's rationale goes like this.
“My boss said, ‘you should get a perm’. I said, ‘I will, if you pay for it’ but he is such a tight-arse I never thought he would stump up the cash.”
But he has…
And here I sit.
Holding my husbands hand.
Waiting for the results.
We hear Rapunzel’s car in the driveway. The front door opens.
Footsteps. Loud and sure.
A head appears around the door.
OMG!
I’ve spawned Mike Brady.
The curls are tight. The grin is wide. Old episodes of The Brady Bunch flash before my eyes.
We all roll around on the couch laughing and laughing.
Actually, when you get used to it, it’s not so bad.
It could have been worse and turned out more like a Jimmy Hendrix 'Fro.
In twenty-odd years of hairdressing the stylist has never done a Man-Perm before but she has done a pretty good job. Her best piece of advice..."Mousse will be your best friend."
She was right. Mousse keeps the spring-like tresses vaguely under control.
Rapunzel is now a minor celebrity, the star attraction on the hairdresser’s Facebook page. The ‘Journey of the Man-Perm’ has been recorded in glorious colour photographs and is fast becoming a modern urban legend.
Posters of ‘Before’ and ‘After’ shots adorn the various workshops in the industrial complex where Rapunzel works. The Man-Perm is a radical concept in the man-heavy habitat of panel beaters and air-conditioning mechanics and electrical wholesalers.
And as for Rapunzel’s parents, we are still somewhat in awe and bemused. Our son took up the challenge to let down his hair and offer it up in the interests of follicular experimentation.
A mother should be proud.
You may also be somewhat bemused and wondering what does any of this have to do with looking after your body? Or even with writing for goodness sake?
(Apart from the fact that it’s a good story.)
I’ll let you draw your own conclusions but here are some of mine. Like any good fairy tale the story of 'When Rapunzel turned into Mike Brady' is a parable rich with useful advice.
l. You never know where the good stories will come from.
2. Take a risk. Why not go with the whacky suggestion and see how it works out?
3. If something doesn’t turn out so great, you can always CUT it!
4. Always do your research before you commit to any kind of body modification.
5. Human to poodle shape-shifting may be taking things too far.
6. Fashions come and go. There is nothing new. Experiment to find your best style.
7. Bad writing is a whole lot easier and quicker to fix than bad hair.
8. Even a Man-Perm can grow on you.
9. Laugh about the bad hair days. You might make someone else laugh too.
Number 1 Son bounds into the house like a cocker spaniel on speed
“I’m getting a perm tomorrow,” he announces.
I splutter and wonder if I heard him right or should give up the gin and tonic.
He nods, adding a sheepish grin for good measure.
We’ve deliberately encouraged the offspring to take risks, to give things a go, to be open to new experiences, always half-expecting that this policy might cause the odd moment of angst.
But a perm?
And why?
Where have we gone wrong? Did we let him watch too many re-runs of old sit-coms? Has he been led astray by Starsky and Hutch? Couldn’t he experiment with something more normal like a tattoo of the Queen on his butt or a nose ring that glints in the sun and inspires wild impulses for grabbing a red cape?
I try to counsel against such a reckless course of action.
“You do realise ‘perm’ stands for permanent wave.”
“It does?.”
"Uh-huh." (My turn to nod.) “I used to get one all the time. It was mandatory in the eighties."
“But it will wash out eventually," he says.
Oh the optimism of youth! “No," (I explain this with a certain amount of perverse glee). "If you get a perm you will be a permanent poodle until it grows out or you cut it all off.”
My radar is picking up on a bit of a what-would-you-know-vibe emanating from the offspring so I go for the big guns.
“You know that you can’t flick a perm?”
A brief flicker of consternation passes across his eyes. He spends hours flicking his long, brown, wavy locks as if he is swatting away the girls.
Gen-Y is more prone to believing Google than their parents so Rapunzel spends the next hour researching perms on the net. I try again to dissuade him from a folly he may regret. I press for an explanation, a reason for this insane desire.
Finally, the explanation comes.
It is the same reason young men are prone to such feats as diving off cliffs or riding motor bikes off really big ramps...
A dare.
His honour is in question.
He has given his word. And what is a man without his word.
Rapunzel's rationale goes like this.
“My boss said, ‘you should get a perm’. I said, ‘I will, if you pay for it’ but he is such a tight-arse I never thought he would stump up the cash.”
But he has…
And here I sit.
Holding my husbands hand.
Waiting for the results.
We hear Rapunzel’s car in the driveway. The front door opens.
Footsteps. Loud and sure.
A head appears around the door.
OMG!
I’ve spawned Mike Brady.
The curls are tight. The grin is wide. Old episodes of The Brady Bunch flash before my eyes.
We all roll around on the couch laughing and laughing.
Actually, when you get used to it, it’s not so bad.
It could have been worse and turned out more like a Jimmy Hendrix 'Fro.
In twenty-odd years of hairdressing the stylist has never done a Man-Perm before but she has done a pretty good job. Her best piece of advice..."Mousse will be your best friend."
She was right. Mousse keeps the spring-like tresses vaguely under control.
Rapunzel is now a minor celebrity, the star attraction on the hairdresser’s Facebook page. The ‘Journey of the Man-Perm’ has been recorded in glorious colour photographs and is fast becoming a modern urban legend.
Posters of ‘Before’ and ‘After’ shots adorn the various workshops in the industrial complex where Rapunzel works. The Man-Perm is a radical concept in the man-heavy habitat of panel beaters and air-conditioning mechanics and electrical wholesalers.
And as for Rapunzel’s parents, we are still somewhat in awe and bemused. Our son took up the challenge to let down his hair and offer it up in the interests of follicular experimentation.
A mother should be proud.
You may also be somewhat bemused and wondering what does any of this have to do with looking after your body? Or even with writing for goodness sake?
(Apart from the fact that it’s a good story.)
I’ll let you draw your own conclusions but here are some of mine. Like any good fairy tale the story of 'When Rapunzel turned into Mike Brady' is a parable rich with useful advice.
l. You never know where the good stories will come from.
2. Take a risk. Why not go with the whacky suggestion and see how it works out?
3. If something doesn’t turn out so great, you can always CUT it!
4. Always do your research before you commit to any kind of body modification.
5. Human to poodle shape-shifting may be taking things too far.
6. Fashions come and go. There is nothing new. Experiment to find your best style.
7. Bad writing is a whole lot easier and quicker to fix than bad hair.
8. Even a Man-Perm can grow on you.
9. Laugh about the bad hair days. You might make someone else laugh too.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
New Year's Dissolutions?
It's that time of year when resolutions have a horrible habit of turning from resolution into dissolution, melting as quickly as the icecream off a steaming hot pudding.
Does this sound familiar?
I will lose weight.
I will exercise more.
I will look after my body better.
I will write 2000 words every day.
I will get my novel published.
I will convince George Clooney to offer my husband a million bucks for a quick hour with me.
I will convince my husband that when George calls............Don't Say No!
BUT.. great ideas and good intentions are about as useful as teats on a bull without any specific achievable goals and a plan of action (or as useful as knowing where George lives but minus George's phone number).
So this january I am sweating it online at 'Writing and Goal Achieving Boot Camp', kick-starting the year with an injection of great ideas from Margie Lawson, psychologist, writer and motivator extroadinaire.
I did her online course 'Defeating Your Self Defeating Behaviours' in January 2009, a year I won a few comps, had requests for my kid's novel and started a Masters in Creative Writing. January 2010 I tried to wing it on my own and do a kind of partial Margie.
Guess what, 2010... some progress, but not as productive as 2009.
So Jan 2011 it's on with the boots and the khaki. Margie only runs her course online in January but you can purchase the lectures and download it any time of year from her website www.margielawson.com
In Lecture 4 she talks about the importance of stretching for a writer or computer user, a subject very dear to my little beating physio heart.
I will have a lot to say about stretching over the lifespan of this blog but here are 2 of my favorite sitting stretches to get you started. I like more active, ie moving stretches when sitting rather than passive 'held' stretches as the active variety are more energizing.
OPEN SESAME
1) Place fingers lightly behind neck
2) Bring elbows together as far as you can.
3) Open elbows wide. Feel stretch in front of chest.
4) Keep repeating action like opening and closing a gate. Repeat x 20.
5) Squawk or cluck like a chicken.
NB. This step is optional but makes me laugh and brings my dog running.
The Open Sesame stretches the pectoral muscles at the front of the chest which become tight from having hands and arms constantly in front of the body.
Also note some people with shoulder problems (eg rotator cuff tears, bursitis) may not be able to do this one.
My elbows touch in front but I have thimble size mammaries. If you are more basketball than thimble, do the best you can.
WAVING AT THE CEILING
1) Stretch arms above head reaching for the ceiling.
2) Wave like crazy, alternating wrists.
BIG waves
Wave like you're leaving on a world cruise or even a little cruise on Lake Como and trying to get George's attention.
See!! Stretching can be easy and fun.
To help you remember your stretches. Give them fun names. Write them on sticky notes and stick on your computer. Or stick them by the kettle/coffee machine or fridge.
Change the notes daily so you don't get bored.
And if anyone knows George's phone number????
Does this sound familiar?
I will lose weight.
I will exercise more.
I will look after my body better.
I will write 2000 words every day.
I will get my novel published.
I will convince George Clooney to offer my husband a million bucks for a quick hour with me.
I will convince my husband that when George calls............Don't Say No!
BUT.. great ideas and good intentions are about as useful as teats on a bull without any specific achievable goals and a plan of action (or as useful as knowing where George lives but minus George's phone number).
So this january I am sweating it online at 'Writing and Goal Achieving Boot Camp', kick-starting the year with an injection of great ideas from Margie Lawson, psychologist, writer and motivator extroadinaire.
I did her online course 'Defeating Your Self Defeating Behaviours' in January 2009, a year I won a few comps, had requests for my kid's novel and started a Masters in Creative Writing. January 2010 I tried to wing it on my own and do a kind of partial Margie.
Guess what, 2010... some progress, but not as productive as 2009.
So Jan 2011 it's on with the boots and the khaki. Margie only runs her course online in January but you can purchase the lectures and download it any time of year from her website www.margielawson.com
In Lecture 4 she talks about the importance of stretching for a writer or computer user, a subject very dear to my little beating physio heart.
I will have a lot to say about stretching over the lifespan of this blog but here are 2 of my favorite sitting stretches to get you started. I like more active, ie moving stretches when sitting rather than passive 'held' stretches as the active variety are more energizing.
OPEN SESAME
1) Place fingers lightly behind neck
2) Bring elbows together as far as you can.
3) Open elbows wide. Feel stretch in front of chest.
4) Keep repeating action like opening and closing a gate. Repeat x 20.
5) Squawk or cluck like a chicken.
NB. This step is optional but makes me laugh and brings my dog running.
The Open Sesame stretches the pectoral muscles at the front of the chest which become tight from having hands and arms constantly in front of the body.
Also note some people with shoulder problems (eg rotator cuff tears, bursitis) may not be able to do this one.
My elbows touch in front but I have thimble size mammaries. If you are more basketball than thimble, do the best you can.
WAVING AT THE CEILING
1) Stretch arms above head reaching for the ceiling.
2) Wave like crazy, alternating wrists.
BIG waves
Wave like you're leaving on a world cruise or even a little cruise on Lake Como and trying to get George's attention.
See!! Stretching can be easy and fun.
To help you remember your stretches. Give them fun names. Write them on sticky notes and stick on your computer. Or stick them by the kettle/coffee machine or fridge.
Change the notes daily so you don't get bored.
And if anyone knows George's phone number????
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