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Satu’s Heart Healthy Weekend!

February 12, 2012 by 6 Comments

Bloggers' Healthy Heart WeekendA couple of weeks ago I signed up for Bloggers’ Healthy Heart Weekend hosted by Lori from Finding Radiance. The purpose of the challenge is to get the blogger’s butt off the chair (I think!) and force them to get some heart-healthy exercise.

I decided that my feat would be a really long walk, i.e. 10 000 steps measured by my Omron pedometer. Because I’m so short, that corresponds to a 5k walk.

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After a couple of hours of dawdling I put on my clothes and headed out. For collecting evidence, I took my digital camera with me and took a shot of my pedometer when I started the walk and again when I ended the walk (I sent the shots to Lori).

Luckily the weather was excellent, 25 F and light drizzle. I would’ve preferred sunshine, but even without it, it was a very good walking weather – not too cold, not too hot and not slippery at all.

[Read more...]

Best Wishes,

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Tabata Intervals – My First Encounter

January 28, 2012 by 4 Comments

tabata intervalsI’ve done high intensity interval training (HIIT) before, but Wednesday was the first day I tried Tabata intervals.

I just want to say I understand why they are so effective – the experience was pretty intensive! :-)

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Tabata intervals are named after the Japanese researcher Izumi Tabata who first used the protocol. In the Tabata protocol,  you first exercise for 20 seconds at high intensity level (8/9 out of 10), followed by 10 seconds of low intensity exercise (4/10). This cycle is repeated 8 times without rest, so that the whole workout takes only 4 minutes.

The chosen exercise can be almost anything: running, jump roping, jumping jacks, burpees but also laying down cycles or donkey kicks will do.

High intensity interval training is the most effective way to improve aerobic (and anaerobic) fitness, and it’s presumably the most effective way to burn body fat. [Read more...]

Best Wishes,

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How to Do Push Ups for Desk Jockeys

January 19, 2012 by 4 Comments

This post could also be named “How To Do a Push Up Without a 7-Day Headache!” :-)

I’ve rarely seen it discussed anywhere, but I know I’m not the only one who suffers from this problem. I’m talking about how difficult it is to increase your upper body strength – in my case by training for military push ups – without igniting a week-long headache in the process.

I have had the same problem for ages and it has prevented me from effectively increasing my upper body strength. It was a big problem when I was still doing ashtanga yoga – I couldn’t stay long in downward dog (flexibility was no problem), not to speak of chaturangas – without my upper back neck and neck muscles knotting up in agony.

I suppose this is mainly a problem for desk jockeys who typically have tight pectorals and weak upper back muscles (and no core control).

In my case, every time I do push ups, the muscles in my upper neck tighten painfully and in the worst case, cause headaches or migraines. I perused my anatomy books yesterday and came to the conclusion that the culprit is probably the upper trapezius muscle that attaches to the skull – though why it gets overworked when I try to do push ups is a beyond me. [Read more...]

Best Wishes,

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My Push Up Challenge: 10 Military Push Ups By 31st May, 2012

November 7, 2011 by 7 Comments

I think it’s a good time to write about my new fitness challenge in detail. As you may recall, a month ago I announced my new fitness goal: being able to do 10 consecutive military style push ups (i.e. male push ups) by 31st May, 2012.

push up challenge

This is what I aim for - I'm going to leave out the neck crane though.

Why push ups, why not running or walking a half-marathon or something?

I really don’t know, but for me, being able to do 10 military push ups is an epitome of cool. It would make me an absolute badass!!  It  would also be a breakthrough goal, because it would mean a tremendous increase in both core and  upper body strength. It would probably also have a positive effect on my hanging underarms, because push ups are supposed to be good for your triceps…

And besides, how many female, middle aged, 43-44 year-old office workers you know who can do even one real push up? [Read more...]

Best Wishes,

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Some Yoga For Low Back…

October 21, 2011 by 2 Comments

I did some yoga for low back yesterday!

I don’t remember exactly how long it’s been since I’ve done yoga, but I think it’s been at least two years. I picked a YouTube video named “low back flow” from one of my favorite yogis, Sadie Nardini. (The entire series consists of three 10-minute videos, first one is shown below).

So why yoga all of a sudden (and why did I stop)?

I’ve been in a foul mood lately and I avoided exercising for a few days.  When I was finally ready to get back in the saddle, I wanted to try something different. I didn’t feel like swinging my kettlebell or doing aerobic exercise, so I hoped yoga would offer me some variety. [Read more...]

Best Wishes,

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