SW-e-AT
Workout
Running even when I didn't want to...
I have got to quit eating sugar in the afternoon--it makes me feel like death as I leave work. I get so tired and lethargic. Luckily, I got myself outside to go run and got my workout in anyway!
30 min run + yoga
Workout
SWeATing out toxins: rice and hams
Still sneezy and overall blah, but had fortuitously made brown rice and mushroom soup late week, so ate that for lunch and came home to do a living room workout rather than spread my germs over the gym. Sorry cats and roommate. So I did the integrated strength training workout in the trainer's edge series-- 40 minutes of mostly arms and back but a good amount of bridge poses and fly
Workout
3 mile run, plus SW-e-AT #5 and Smoothie #5
Man, I'm gonna have to step it up if I want five more food-ex pairings and five more smoothies by the end of the month... Good thing I have a trip to NY coming up this weekend -- Jamba Juice, here I come! (Yes, Jamba can be vegan if you get very particular and omit lots of the crap they're secretly selling you. Tip: ask lots of questions and watch them like a hawk while they make it.
SW-e-AT
Food-Ex Pairing: Brown Rice and Hammies
Today's food-ex pairing needs no introduction. One of them supports, in a nutritional sense, well over half the world. The other supports, in a literally sense, you.
Let's talk about your hamstrings. They're not super visible in most people, and they're kind of awkward to exercise. (Yogis, think standing split. Weightlifters, think prone thigh curls.) This makes them easy to ignore, but that would be a mistake. Your hamstrings are responsible for minor things, like allowing you to flex your knee, and also to extend your hip. As in: walking, running, jumping, and lifting things off the floor. And they're also responsible for important things, like Moonwalking, and/or doing that other Michael Jackson move, where he lifts one knee and taps the lifted heel with his hand.) OK, I bet you're wondering where the term hamstring came from. Not to be a shameless Wikipedia quoter, but check this out:
Another commonly accepted origin is that legs of ham used to be hung by a hook through the space between the thighbone and the tendons behind the knee. Ham/pork used to be more common in England than beef and lamb.
Who knew!
If you're curious about how to work your hams in a kind of Western-weight-lifty way, I recommend this page on Project Swole. These people seem smart. Dancers and yogis might can try almost any of the exercises demonstrated in this very jazzy Pilates promo video. These people seem funny. Take your pick, but remember the old Chinese proverb: "Talk does not cook rice."
Oh snap! Let's talk about brown rice. Did you know that in some languages "to eat" translates directly as "to eat rice." This according to the food geeks at WHFoods, who also point out what you already know: Whole grain brown rice is very good for you, while stripped and polished white rice is a lot less so. Eat the brown rice, and you'll be thinner, have lower cholesterol, and be less likely to develop Type 2 Diabetes. How should you do it? TheKitchn.com has your back with its normal Five Ways to Eat... post, one of which would seem particularly appropriate as it includes some delicious hammy: "Fried with onions, ginger, and an egg."
Enjoy you SW-e-AT-ers....
SW-e-AT
Food-Ex Pairing: Brussel Triceps
Throw, slash, chop, hit, volley, extend.... These are the verbs of your triceps, arguably sexiest of arm muscles (nevermind what the tabloids say about biceps). Today we pair your Triceps brachii, with that most autumnal and beloved of homely mini-cabbages, the Brussel Sprout. If you need a theme, think baseball: It's the time when sluggers and pitchers pit their triceps against each other for all the marbles, and then gather in the evening in midtown restaurants and gorge themselves on Brussels. It's true.
The triceps is the "antagonist" of the biceps, and you might be inclined to think that the biceps is the bigger of the two. Not so: Your triceps actually account for 60% of the muscle mass in your upper arm, so, at least on mass, they win hands down. Ahem. The "tri" comes from the fact that there are actually three muscles wrapped up in there, connecting your elbow to shoulder. In addition to all things extension, these three stabilize the arm, holding it steady even to do fine motor skill things like, say, painting or writing. There are, of course, many satisifying ways to exercise your triceps. The fatigue-wearing, buff dudes at MuscleandStrength.com have actually documented themselves doing 81 triceps exercises, many with fine names like EZ Bar Incline Skullcrusher. Myself, I've always associated triceps with tennis, and so recommend a few brisk rallies, ideally with Rafa. Given the weather, though, you might make that paddle tennis.
On to the Brussels, which, if you believe Wiki, took off in Belgium in the 1200s. Hence, the name. By the 16th Century, they were booming in the Netherlands. Which is relevant, because 400 years later a bunch of Dutch researchers discovered that a diet of Brussels can actually reduce the wear and tear on your DNA. To be honest, that study is a little sketchy, but yet another group of Dutchies have shown that a diet rich in cruciferous vegetables reduces your risk of colorectral cancer by nearly 50%. Either way, the point is, Brussels are good for you. Plus, if made properly, they taste fantastic. BUT, making them properly is not obvious. Nothing worse than a soggy, lukewarm cafeteria-style Brussel. There are tricks to this trade, friends, and once again I'll turn you over to thekitchn.com which has gathered five ways to eat them, including roasted with golden beets.
Triceps and Brussels and Fall: Yum....
Workout
on the run again
Had a wedding tonight, so I was determined to get in a good workout this morning. I finally convinced myself to get back on the treadmill for a run (after wimping out and elliptical-ing all week--not to disparage the elliptical, but I was doing it because I was avoiding runnign). I pumped out three miles like it was nothing--I was comfortable and in the groove.
Workout
kundalini (with intermissions)
Tried a kundalini video, but worked in some stretching, pushups, and crunches when it froze at minute 7 for a while. It was an odd mix of hard (3 minutes of down dog to up dog) and easy. Undecided if I'd do it again.
The down dog to up dog definitely gave me a back workout though, so I hit my stash of frozen blueberries after!
Workout
My head wants a champagne cocktail but my throat wants tea
So I'll meet in the middle and have a mixed berry (blueberry!) smoothie. Also had a nice end of week yoga practice. You know when yoga instructors tell you to breathe into the part that hurts? So I did that with my throat. It maybe sort of worked. But by coincedence we also did tons of back stuff, so my SWeAT feat is accomplished for today.
SW-e-AT
Food-Ex Pairing: Beautiful Blueberry Back
Stoner moment: It's late, and I'm researching the muscles of the back. Extraordinary: When you retract your scapulae, a.k.a. your shoulder blades, you are engaging your Rhomboids, Major and Minor. Smile if your yoga or Pilates teacher has asked you to "plug in" your shoulder blades. (Rhomboid, by the way, is Latin for diamond. That's their shape.) Just to the side of your Rhomboids are Teres Major and Minor. Sounds like a constellation of stars, no? Among other things, the Tereses help hold up and rotate your upper arm. Further down, also a "deep muscle," is your Erector Spinae, actually a "bundle of muscles and tendons" that "lies in the groove to the side of the vertebral column." It's what you use in Swimmer Pose to arch your back.
My conclusion: You don't want to throw out your back. All those muscles, not to mention your Traps and Lats, are in balance. Wrench them and you've got war on your hands. Or on your spine.
Blueberries. Did you know they're native to North America? Yes, Europe has something called Bilberries; but the blueberries that we think of when we think of pancakes or pie: All American. (Note to self: As American as Blueberry Pie. Not apple pie, since apples originated in Asia.) Moving on, as you might have guessed by the weather in the northern part of North America, it's not exactly blueberry season. Actually, blueberry bushes bear fruit in the spring; BUT we're making an exception for them because they're so damn healthy. According to the geniuses at WHFoods, "researchers at Tufts University analyzed 60 fruits and vegetables for their antioxidant capability. Blueberries came out on top, rating highest in their capacity to destroy free radicals." Whammo! So, even if you can't find them fresh, you can feel good about eating the imported or even frozen ones. How you ask, other than by the handful, or in aforementioned patriotic techniques? TheKitchn.com will hood you up with a meat sauce. Funky!
People, we live in the best of all possible worlds. Without back muscles, we'd be gelatinous, invertebrates, incapable of reaching even the lowest of low bush berries, living on bacteria and/or plankton. Rejoice! Work your stellar, diamond shaped back muscles. Erect your Spinae! And when you're done, know that it's Friday, and you can have all the blueberry pie you want.
