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Balance exercises
I had a complimentary hour with a physical trainer at the gym today (Eric Storm). I told him I wanted to improve my balance, and need to be careful of the right shoulder. (I'd done ten minutes of cardio as warm-up before we started.)
He started by having me do a few basic stretches, including a very simple one: sit on the floor, and reach toward your toes. Lean as far forward as you can manage (which in my case doesn't reach the toes) and hold it a while. This is a hamstring stretch.
Then he had me stand on, in order, a simple blue foam rectangle, a squishy rounded surface (which I kept calling a "hemisphere" when writing this up in my notebook, but it's nowhere near half the sphere), and a balance board. The first was easy for me--it's like balancing on a moving subway, which I've got lots of practice at--and the balance board was too difficult. So we worked with the hemispheroid. But first we did flat-surface balance exercises: stand on one foot, with the knee bent, for a minute. Now the other foot. Now repeat, but with the other leg forward, knee in the air, instead of back and near the ground.
I stood on the hemispheroid and did rowing-style, carefully standing upright (not as easy as it sounds) and moving only my arms. 20 kg, two sets of 15. Then he had me face away from the weight machines, back on the floor, with one leg forward, and pull forward at about shoulder level. (15 kg total, two sets of 15, switching legs between sets.) Back on the round blue thing for a variation on the lateral raise, in which I lifted to the side, lowered, then to the front, lowered. 5 pound weights, 2 sets of 15.
We finished with a variation on abdominal crunches: lying on the floor, feet flat on the ground, keep the lower back against the floor and lift only the upper back. Thirty of those.
Then I decided I wanted to do some more weight work. So:
Bicep curls, 25-pound bar, 2 sets of 25
Leg press, 270 pounds, 3 sets of 12
Some chest presses (I think 10 at 40 pounds, not on my preferred machine)
I stretched at the end, of course.
One nice thing was that, in between the exercises, we talked a bit about things like my tattoo, the pleasures of being able to take college courses outside one's major, and his acting and singing.
He started by having me do a few basic stretches, including a very simple one: sit on the floor, and reach toward your toes. Lean as far forward as you can manage (which in my case doesn't reach the toes) and hold it a while. This is a hamstring stretch.
Then he had me stand on, in order, a simple blue foam rectangle, a squishy rounded surface (which I kept calling a "hemisphere" when writing this up in my notebook, but it's nowhere near half the sphere), and a balance board. The first was easy for me--it's like balancing on a moving subway, which I've got lots of practice at--and the balance board was too difficult. So we worked with the hemispheroid. But first we did flat-surface balance exercises: stand on one foot, with the knee bent, for a minute. Now the other foot. Now repeat, but with the other leg forward, knee in the air, instead of back and near the ground.
I stood on the hemispheroid and did rowing-style, carefully standing upright (not as easy as it sounds) and moving only my arms. 20 kg, two sets of 15. Then he had me face away from the weight machines, back on the floor, with one leg forward, and pull forward at about shoulder level. (15 kg total, two sets of 15, switching legs between sets.) Back on the round blue thing for a variation on the lateral raise, in which I lifted to the side, lowered, then to the front, lowered. 5 pound weights, 2 sets of 15.
We finished with a variation on abdominal crunches: lying on the floor, feet flat on the ground, keep the lower back against the floor and lift only the upper back. Thirty of those.
Then I decided I wanted to do some more weight work. So:
Bicep curls, 25-pound bar, 2 sets of 25
Leg press, 270 pounds, 3 sets of 12
Some chest presses (I think 10 at 40 pounds, not on my preferred machine)
I stretched at the end, of course.
One nice thing was that, in between the exercises, we talked a bit about things like my tattoo, the pleasures of being able to take college courses outside one's major, and his acting and singing.