What Did You Say? Some Exercise Terms - Part 2

Sorry I didn't post over the weekend.  I worked 13 hours on Saturday and just rested and did laundry yesterday (never happens), so I didn't get a chance to blog.  That said, here is part two of our glossary of terms heard around the gym.

Fiber - From Dictionary.com: the structural part of plants and plant products that consists of carbohydrates, as cellulose and pectin, that are wholly or partially indigestible and when eaten stimulate peristalsis (moving along the waste) in the intestine.  Basically it helps fill you up AND helps keep you regular.  It can also help control blood sugar. 


Free weights - Any weight not attached to a machine.  Dumbells are the most used, but barbells and heavier weights are available as well.  Do not use the latter without someone to 'spot' you.  Spotting means standing there to catch the weight if you lose your grip or footing, so the weight doesn't crush you.


Glutes - The shortened name for the muscles in your buttocks.  Real name - gluteus maximus.  


Lats - latissimus dorsi muscles.  Working this muscle helps whittle down your sides and back.  

Lats

Ligament/Tendon - I have combined these because they have similar purposes.  Both are bands of tissue that holds things in place - ligaments connect bone to bone, tendons connect muscle to bone.  Years ago I had a guy run over me playing softball and he tore up those and every other part of my knee - proving the two thick fibrous strands are good neighbors.  Famous tendon - Achilles (up the back of your leg).  Famous ligament - anterior cruciate (in your knee).

Brad Pitt as Achilles - okay, couldn't help it.

Lunges - A move to strengthen lower body muscles, especially helpful with quads (see below for meaning) and glutes.  You start in a standing position and then lunge forward with one leg to end up in this position.

Lunge position

Machines - You hear "I'm going to hit the machines".  That's any machine that involves a weight bearing exercise.  On a rare occasion someone will say that when they are going to a cardio machine like a treadmill or stair-stepper, but most of the time they mean weights.  And remember, even if the weight is controlled by a machine, you can still injure yourself, so have someone walk you through them the first time.


Protein - Again, from Dictionary.com - They consist of long chains of amino acids connected by peptide bonds and have distinct and varied three-dimensional structures, usually containing alpha helices and beta sheets as well as looping and folded chains.  In layman's terms - this is the building block of muscle.  It's can be found in meat, beans, seeds, nuts, grain, fish, dairy and a number of other sources.  DO NOT lifts weights without eating protein, your body will revolt.


Quads - Quadriceps femoris.  A large group of muscles in the legs.  Most commonly referring to the muscles on the upper front of your legs - aka- your thighs.  


Rep - Any complete motion in a set of exercises.  Each complete motion is one rep, these are often done in sets of 12 to 20 depending on what you are trying to accomplish.  This is not just s reference to weights, it can be non-weight exercises like sit-ups too.


Shin splints - Pain at the front of your lower leg or just to the inside front of your lower leg.  This can be caused by a number of strains, the most noted are overuse and sudden change in workout.  Examples - Overuse happens when you run everyday and a sudden change would be going from walking to running out of nowhere.  I have had bad shin splints before.  Only three things fix them - rest, anti-inflammatories and ice.


Squats - Imagine sitting, without a chair.  That's the basic idea behind a squat and encourages the idea of not bending your knees more than 90-degrees, which is better for your knees.  In fact, I was kind of scared scrolling the Internet looking for a picture of a proper example for you.  There are a lot of people that are doing them wrong!  You can do them with or without weights, against a wall, with a ball and one legged, but you should consider not going lower than 90-degrees, unless you have really awesome knees.

Beginner squat - the chair is a great safety net.

So there you go.  Between this entry and this one, you have the basics of 'gym speak'.  If there are other things you overhear and wonder about, let me know.


Yours in Health,
Kate

Happy Made-Up Holiday

O.k., now that we have my cynicism out of the way.

I was going to blog yesterday, but as is typical in winter for me - snow screwed everything up. I was too busy keeping up with the national weather service and traffic to blog or workout.

I had it a heck of a lot better than my brother Gordon though, he got hit in the front of his truck and in the back by guys who couldn't drive in the snow. The one who hit him from behind was from Texas, so that's no shocker. However, the creep hit him and ran - low-life. I may look into weather the DOT may have tape of the incident to find the guy.

Back into the gym today though. Just like every other time I have missed workouts and returned to the gym, I was once again reminded of how good I feel after. The difference this time is, that until Tuesday, it had been months. Not anymore.

My knee brace is doing o.k. It shifts more than I would like. Plus sometimes I wonder if it's causing more pain than it relieves. It pinches and it doesn't allow a full stride. So my Achilles has flames again and the front of my ankle was cranky the other day. All of that said, it won't stop me from doing what I need to for me.

I plan to workout in the morning before heading to my mom's. We still have the biggest loser contest going on and this may be the first week I lose instead of gain. That would bring into numbers my new found readiness to get healthy again.

Yours in fitness, Kate

Slogging Through Wet Cement

The last two days my workouts have been tough. Not because they were actually difficult, on a good day I would have been fine. But something in me is askew. I am tired. I am sad. Running feels terrible. A number of little things are plaguing my body and I can't pinpoint a single one that is 'the one'.

Two days ago I decided to run an errand by walking and running. I have done this innumerable times. I had to walk home from work to retrieve some checks I needed to deposit in the bank. My calves and hamstrings were as tight as they have ever been. In fact, I found myself thinking I was more flexible a year ago than at that moment. I walked home and back anyway. Then I took the trolley to the bank.

I decided things must be better now that I was warmed up, so I started running back to the station. It was a little better, but my shin and my Achilles began to hurt on my left leg. While the Achilles has a recent history, I haven't had shin splints since about 3 months after I started running 18 months ago. It was disconcerting. I kept stopping and stretching and trying to rub it out.

Yesterday I met with trainer Traci. She is always ready for me because I love it. She tries very specifically to make my workout difficult and prefers that I whine at some point. She got plenty of that.

I was completely out of sorts. I was a couple of minutes late, so when she out me on the treadmill straight away, I faltered. She wanted me to go my usual easy stride of 6 miles an hour and weave in some hills. I began wheezing, just like I did last week when I ran with Bret. Then my Achilles tweaked and my shin started throbbing. I whinced. Traci let me off and took me to the elliptical. I warmed up there.

Then it was on to arms, where I struggled with the usually easy dips for my triceps, pull-ups for my biceps and push-ups for my chest and back. I felt like all of my strength was gone. Like my muscles had atrophied and I was back to where I started a year ago with Traci.

We talked it through. She confirmed what I was thinking - my crappy, sugar-laden diet of the past few months had to go. Luckily I had ditched it on Monday - tomorrow I will cover the corrections I have made in my diet. She says if a couple of weeks of real food and hard workouts don't pull me out of feeling like this, it's time to see the doctor - I agree.

I finished the workout, but barely. It was the kind of workout that I would have shredded just a couple of months ago. My wimpiness made me very angry at myself. I know everyone has an off day, but they are rolling together like crap downhill and it's NOT o.k. I have become a bad example, even to myself.

So, today it's back to the gym to see if I can shake this off before I end up sleeping with the fishes because the cement has dried around me.

Yours in fitness, Kate

Ready for a Workout

Friday I put in a hardcore workout, lots of cardio, core and weights. Learned once and for all that my Achilles and doing killer cardio on the elliptical DO NOT MIX. It has ended up aching again. There is also a better than average chance that the convention I helped coordinate for 20 hours straight on Saturday may have taken some toll as well.

That convention is why I did not get in a workout on Saturday or Sunday. Saturday I was on my feet, moving for most of the time at the Iowa Events Center. I lost track of exactly how much walking I did. But I know I only sat for maybe 3 hours all day. Of course, as usual when I get busy, I didn't eat as well as I should have.

Then yesterday I was exhausted, so getting up and going to the gym was out. But the real reason I didn't even try to go yesterday was the feeling that my calves, especially my right one, had been put through a shredder. I don't know is that was purely from spending a whole day on concrete floors or if it had combined with Friday's workout. Whatever the reason, they were quite painful. In fact today they are still kind of bothering me.

And yet, that is not going to stop me from walking out of the office in 5 minutes and going to the gym. I am going to change, run/walk outside (depending on what my calves say) and do weights/core. Maybe it will clear my head. Maybe it will make me less restless. Man I hope so.

Yours in fitness, Kate