Day 220 - Flexing It Together

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This month I have been incorporating flexibility exercises into my exercise routine. I hesitate to use the word routine as I am not a big fan of routines in general. But as I am exercising regularly and trying to do a certain amount of specific exercises each week, well, perhaps I am on my way to warming up to routines.

What I am looking for is a set of flexibility or stretching exercises, call it a program,  which I can do once a week as my primary workout for that day. Then I'd like to be able to use some from that same set as warm up/cool down exercises before/after hitting the cardio or strength training on other days. Realistic? I would have thought so but thus far I have not come across good program for flexibility training. There are a zillion sites out there with such exercises but I've yet to find a flex program I am comfortable with. And it well could be that I am just not where I need to be physically yet to feel comfortable doing the exercises. Yeah, I sound so confused I am sure with this post.

The best I have come up with thus far are the charts you see in this post. The chart at the top is very basic and I see it as decent for the warm up/cool down want that I have.

Below is a chart that focuses on stretching the back, a good thing. They look simple but looks can be deceiving...

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Between those two charts I think I have the basics and the back well accounted for. For whatever reason the program I am trying to find seemed to need more so a hundred or so more mouse clicks and I found this comprehensive chart below. The problem with it is I cannot view the text since it is an image associated with a product for sale. I can see the images well enough to get a handle on the moves themselves which is good, but I'd really like to read that text. But for $285, regardless the currency, that text will remain a mystery forever...

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 So I am getting on with what I have come up with so far. Reality is I just may need to crack open the wallet and go buy a good book on the topic. But if finding a 'good book' is as challenging as finding good references on the net, then I may be in for a long day at the book store.

How about you; do you do any flexibility exercises as a matter of routine? Or do you just do a few basic stretches and get on with it?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 129 - Stretch Me Please

When I woke up I guessed it was Tuesday, I checked, and I'm right. So I am 1 for 1 so far today.

Those of you that guessed a tile floor got yesterday's riddle correct. Some guessed it was tile early & before I announced that it was tile, and, well some of you guessed correctly after that. As I am from Chicagoland in Illinois all of your votes count regardless of when the polls closed. Oh, some of you guessed what room it came from, it was from a bathroom.  

Sunday I took the day off from exercise. Needed rest after Saturday's NSV of being able to do Sit-Ups once again; my core felt good & thrashed Sunday. Monday came & I got busy with a 5 a.m. dumbbell routine session and 5 sets of push ups. No sit ups, still sore in the gut and sides. But I will get after more of them this week for sure.

After work I had about an hour before the varsity soccer game so I got in my workout duds and headed off to Stanton Hill. The plan was to best my previous PR of 20 laps up & down that hill in 30 minutes. That was the plan, but this time out was a buffet of struggles.

Each lap had it's own story, and most not pleasant. Buffets are supposed to be pleasant, bountiful and satisfying. Trust me, I know from experience.

Lap one & I took off like a rocket, felt ballistic, and was ready to explode up in that PR's mug.
Lap three, eased up on the macho as my breathing lost it's ease.
Lap six or seven, pain; left lower leg just was starting to whine. I don't like wine so I refused to have any.
Lap ten & I was tapping reserves as fast as kegs at a frat party.
Lap fourteen or fifteen & my sides start splitting and I wonder how much shame there is in pulling the abort lever?
Lap seventeen & I swear that lost tortoise pass me up and flipped me off, @#%$ Tortuga!
Lap eighteen and I have company all of the sudden....

The Grant Sophomore football team saw me thrashing the hill & decided to get in on the action.

Lap nineteen and pride swells throughout igniting a surge to the finish. Or was it a save-face reflex?
Lap twenty, finally! Pride or not my attitude was clear, it is time for this to be over. Regardless of how impressed the football players are, I must soon go.
Huh, lap twenty finished and the 30 minutes, while close, had not ticked off yet?
Lap twenty-one, Stomping the dirt like a child; I was supposed to be done!
Argh, so close, missed completing twenty-one laps in 30 minutes by thirteen seconds.

Next time, there will be a next time, Stanton Hill.

OK, serious moment; this post is titled "Stretch Me Please". Need some help folks, I feel I do a terrible job of stretching and that may be why I had a rough go at the hill yesterday. I do try & stretch, but I feel the stretching I do is as useful as a back pocket on jock strap. So, I need those of you in the know to suggest stretching for both when I weight train and when I walk, hill climb, jog or sprint. Please, it would be rude to not say please. Don't make me beg; please.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!