Drop It Like A Squat

As I'm sure I've told you a million and one times before, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are resistance training days at Farrell's.  In addition to the scripted exercises, we also throw in some cardio, and in addition to kickboxing on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, we occasionally do some strength training as well.

I thought that I would share with you some of my favorite exercises as well as ones that make me want to crawl into the fetal position in the corner.

So, without any further ado, here are my FAVORITES:

Back Exercises

I love working out my back doing exercises like the seated row, for example.  The back is one of the strongest muscles in the body, and therefore I can move up bands like no tomorrow.  Obviously, this makes me feel like a beast, which is always a good thing.

Fire Hydrants

The dog must be a favorite animal among fitness buffs.  Yogis practice downward dog, and we practice fire hydrants.  On all fours, we lift our legs like we are puppies relieving ourselves and then lower our legs back down to repeat approximately 8,000 times.  This hurts...a lot.  But, it hurts so good.  My hips have always been my problem area, which means I love working them out.

Adductors and Abductors

These exercises also work my problem areas, which is one reason I love them.  The primary reason, though, is that I get to lay down while exercising.  How's that for lazy?

Sit-Ups

As I have gotten older, I have noticed that my tummy is not nearly as flat as it used to be.  I like the good old-fashioned sit-up to really target that area.

And now, let's talk about the exercises that are the BANE OF MY EXISTENCE:

Lunges & Step-Back Lunges

These burn oh-so-bad.  It's awful enough when we have to do either lunges or step-back lunges, but when the instructor has us do both exercises, I pretty much want to die.  I know they're helping my legs and my hips and my booty, but I just cannot stay positive when I feel like there is fire searing through my muscles.

Lat Raises

(Or, let's be real: anything that involves my shoulders.)  The progression of bands at Farrell's is as follows: yellow, green, red, blue, purple.  Because I am now in my eleventh week (get at me!), I should be well into the reds and blues; however, I cannot seem to move past the yellow (the yellow!) on any shoulder exercises.  Seriously.  It's embarrassing.

Mountain Climbers

I am starting to hate these less and less, but for some reason I just cannot stand this motion.  I would much rather sprint across the gym 100 times than get into plank position and move my knees into my chest repeatedly.  I have no legitimate excuse as to why I hate these so darn much, but I do.  A lot.

Crunches

One of my friends Facebook-posted this article about how crunches are bad for you.  Interestingly, my back has been killing me for several weeks, and I think it's largely due to the number of crunches we do at Farrell's.  If we're not doing "real" crunches, we're doing some form of ab exercise that mimics the crunching motion: toe-tappers, shin-kicks, Russian twists, etc.  And every time we do these, my face contorts with pain.  I think I need an alternative.

Weird Planks

Regular planks are bad enough as is, but when you add leg motions, side planks, arm twists, and more, I feel like I am the most inflexible, uncoordinated, unfit person in the entire universe.  I don't know what it is about my core, but it does not like plank-jacks, Spiderman planks, hip drops, or whatever else the instructors are trying to make it do.

I could go on and on and on about exercises that I love and exercises that I hate (but mostly the ones I hate), but I'll leave you with this list to ponder for now.  I'm sure I'll have updates for you as I continue this next leg of my journey.

Have a fabulous Tuesday!