A Friendly Nudge
...because we all could use a little encouragement!
I don’t know where you are on your fitness journey. That’s one of the challenges of generating content for a diverse community without the benefit of immediate feedback. I would love to hear from you about what specific content would be helpful.
Before I begin a one on one coaching engagement I make sure that the person I’m coaching is certain that they don’t have any underlying medical conditions that require a doc’s clearance before we get started.
I’m depending on you to check with your doc if you have any uncertainty about your readiness for the stress of exercise.
I realize that some of the exercises that I demonstrate may be too challenging for some and may not be hard enough for others.
If I give a rep range of 10-12 and you’re gassed at 6, stop at 6. Any time your form starts to break down, that’s your signal that the set is over.
There are plenty of gains and benefits to be realized without pushing yourself to failure, our goal is to feel like we got a workout without feeling like we got destroyed.
Too much, too soon is a recipe for injury and it’s why so many people have trouble maintaining an exercise program.
This week (as you’ll see below) I’m giving you a couple of options for building grip strength, the grip builder is a variation of the grip strength devices that have been around forever and the dead hangs from the pull up bar are a more advanced grip strength exercise.
I’m also including a surprisingly challenging balance exercise. It doesn’t look like it should be tough and maybe it’s just me, but this one surprised me.
The last new exercise is a spicy core exercise but it also gives your shoulders, glutes and hamstrings a little attention as well. My legs were shaking like a tuning fork.
Similar to last week I’m going to include some ideas for exercise snacks that you can combine into a circuit for a longer workout. I’ll include them at the end and you can mix and match them for a workout that corresponds to your current level of fitness and desired challenge.
Please let me know how you like this approach for exercise options.
Let’s talk again about protein.
I hope you did our protein experiment from last week to get an idea of how much protein you’re eating. I bought the OXO food scale that I recommended last week and I love it, so much easier to use than my old one.
My goal with A Friendly Nudge is to help you discover just how good you can feel as you age. Improved resiliency, mobility and strength are more doable than most of us realize and preserving and growing our existing muscles are part of that equation.
I remember the first time that someone suggested that I should eat a gram of protein per pound of target body weight. I was convinced that they were insane. I was eating about half that amount.
I decided to give it a try and I quickly decided that Ethan, the health coach and protein advocate, wasn’t delusional but maybe just a little bit ahead of his time. Recently I’ve seen Dr. Peter Attia, Robb Wolf, Mark Sisson, Dr. Rhonda Patrick, Dr. Ted Naiman and others, talk about similar protein targets.
I’m just giving you my own perspective and I think it’s important that you experiment and see what works best for you. Maybe your sweet spot is .75 grams of protein per pound of ideal body weight or maybe yours is a higher target than mine.
Combining adequate protein with exercise that asks our muscles to do some work is our best defense against muscle loss or sarcopenia.
I use my morning coffee as a protein delivery vehicle. Jude loves to give me grief for my “poodle coffee.”
1 Scoop of Vital Proteins Collagen Powder
1 Scoop of Pure Label Nutrition Grass Fed Whey Protein
I add a little goats milk to mine (you can add cow’s milk as well)
I’m always on the lookout for good balance challenges and drills. I saw this tandem stance drill the other day and arrogantly thought that it would be too easy for AFN. “Pride goeth before the fall” was an (almost literally) appropriate quote for me. I’m not sure why this was such a challenge for me, but it is now part of my “while I’m waiting” routine.
I’d say to shoot for 30 seconds with one foot in front and then 30 seconds with the other foot in front.
If you are one of those people with exceptional balance, you can dial up the difficulty by closing your eyes.
Grip strength is frequently used as a good correlation with longevity because it’s easy to measure and it provides some insight into overall health and fitness, but on a practical level it plays a significant role in our quality of life as we age.
It also plays a pivotal role in our ability to strength train.
It’s hard to swing a kettlebell if you can’t hang on to it. Picking up something heavy first requires us to be able to grip it safely and securely.
Imagining what we want to be able to do in the last ten years of our life should give us some guidance on things that we need to tend to now.
I want to be able to open my own jars and carry my own groceries when I’m 85 if I’m fortunate enough to live that long.
This grip builder isn’t a whole body effort like kettlebell swings, dead hangs or suitcase carries but it’s a great way to increase your grip strength while you’re watching TV or sitting on a zoom call. It’s a great way to get started.
This is a variation of the grip builder that you’ve seen for years. This one allows you to adjust the tension from 5kg to 60kg resistance. I’d try to start with a set of 10 at the lower setting and have it somewhere that it taunts you to use it. Mine is by the TV remote. I’d suggest making it part of your daily routine and increase the tension as your grip gets stronger.
I had a chin up bar when I was a kid but hadn’t had one in years. I was sure that my chin up days were behind me. I still do some chin ups and ab exercises on the bar, but I love it for dead hangs. They’re great for grip strength but they also open up my shoulder and make my back feel like I just got off of a traction table. Here’s the link to the one that I have, but you can choose a different color and save some money. There are also versions like this one that fit over a door. This one seemed to have decent reviews but I haven’t used it.
With dead hangs I’d start with your feet still in contact with the ground and vary the amount of your weight that you’re supporting. As your strength increases you can pick up your feet and you’ll be doing a full dead hang. Start with 10 seconds and work up from there.
For the overhead resistance band hold we’re using the door anchor resistance band set up.
Instead of the side of the door like I’m showing below, you’ll place the anchor at the bottom of the door.
Therabands would provide a lower resistance version of this exercise and the heavier resistance bands would dial up the spice. Either way you want to brace your core, engage your glutes and hold your hands over your head. 30 seconds feels like a very long time so feel free to start at 10-15 seconds and build up at your own pace.
In addition to today’s exercises I’ve included an assortment from previous weeks and I’ve included some tougher ones and some easier ones so that you can mix and match to build a workout that is challenging enough to make it interesting but not so taxing that it feels too daunting.
Please let me know if this format works for you.
Warm Up
Suitcase Carry
Counter Pushups (easier) 8-10 reps
Regular Pushups (more difficult) 10-20 reps
Counter Plank (easier ab exercise) 30 seconds
Resistance Band Rows (difficulty driven by band resistance) 8-12 reps
Walking Lunges
https://youtube.com/shorts/lv8XXe-4AbM
Bird Dogs 10 reps each side
If you’re early in your fitness journey don’t feel a need to do anything other than the individual snacks sprinkled throughout the day. If you’re wanting a workout circuit all of the pieces are here and we’ll build workout options each week.
Looking forward to hearing your feedback and I’ll see you next week.
Jim
Great ideas! Thanks for sharing! Will be adding a few of these to my routine.