It's no secret that I take exception to how planks are usually performed. I've written about it more than once, most recently in the post Plank Lines . But while fixing them can be difficult, we may have stumbled upon a modification that can help.
Next up on our slowly-expanding home equipment list is the bike. An indoor bike, of course. Because riding outside is not always desirable, or possible. And this series is about "Home Equipment."
I'm a sprinter. Not a competitive sprinter. Not a particularly good sprinter. But when I run, I usually sprint. The farthest I ever ran was 5 miles and that was one time. I'd have to look up the last time I ran a mile. Most of my running is incline sprinting on a treadmill or sprints (220 meters is my favored distance) at the track. I just like to run fast. (Fast for me anyway.)
But it was only relatively recently that it occurred to me (an epiphany?) that the preference for sprinting extends to much more than running.
On the rowing machine, I mostly do 500-meter sprints. Anything more than 1k bores me. (In addition to exhausting me, of course.)
On the indoor bike, I mostly do 20-second sprints.
And my favorite workout is, of course, wapping...which is all about short, high-intensity effort.
But another, less obvious example is lifting weights. Specifically, I like lifting heavy with fewer reps: short duration, high-intensity effort.
It seems that being "born to sprint" covers much more than only running. That might explain a few things!
Be seeing you.
-gary
The home equipment list continues, slowly but surely, on to one of my personal favorites: the heavy bag. It's sometimes just called a "punching bag" but it's useful for much more than punching (although that's definitely a fun one).
Planks have long been a popular core exercise. They're simple, require no equipment, and can be an effective way to improve core stability. (But not to reduce belly fat or get a six-pack. Just sayin'.)
But like all exercises, form counts. The Form Cop has talked about this before. I'd like to revisit it here with an easy way to check for proper plank form.
Continue readingAnd the home equipment list continues, this time with some DIY items. First up is boxes. They seem pretty boring, but they're actually quite useful.
People sometimes mistakenly think that "StrongFast" refers to getting strong quickly. That doesn't happen so no, that's not what the name means. The two parts refer to separate qualities: being strong and being fast. We talk a lot about the "strong" part. What about "fast"?
Continue reading