Everyone has done really great work this month. It's so encouraging to hear athletes tell me they are working more on their range of motion and getting those messed up tissues worked on!
For today, just spend 15 minutes doing your favorite (or least favorite) mobility from the month. If you still want something new, Mobility WOD is my go-to resource.
Thank you for keeping me on track this month - thanks to you I did mobility all but one of the days so far and there is NO WAY I would have made time for it otherwise. I'm so excited to head into the new year more limber and ready for whatever 2013 brings my way!
Today let's get those calves and feet. You've probably been doing a lot of shopping and, if you're a gal, standing in heels at parties. Let's give those muscles a break and work them out.
Need some inspiration?
The elite among us make time, not excuses. Let's get this done! Only one more day!
Want a little more than just mobility? To crush some Christmas calories, check out my 12 Days of Christmas WOD! You can do this with almost zero equipment...and it really works you hard!
Only 2 days left to win your copy of Supple Leopard! Lorie's still in the lead but if you get your extra credit in and update me on how you're doing, you might still squeeze ahead!
As my Christmas present to you, I worked out a 12 Days of Christmas workout that you can do yourself at home. You need a wall and a chair. That's pretty much it! I couldn't make it to the box on Wednesday night, so I did this workout in my living room. It took me 22:33 and really kicked my butt!
Here's the WOD! You do it like you sing the song: 1 rep of the first movement, then 2 reps of the second movement and 1 rep of the first movement...etc.
12 Days of Christmas Bodyweight WOD
1 Handstand Pushup
2 Alternating Pistol Squats (1 each leg)
3 Bridgeups
4 V-ups
5 Pushups
6 Air Squats
7 Burpees
8 Dips
9 Situps
10 Alternating Lunges (5 each leg)
11 Supermans
12 Mountain Climbers (left + right = 1 rep)
If you aren't up to handstand pushups yet, you can scale by doing pike pushups (from downward dog) or box pushups on the chair. Be sure to bring your hands as close to the chair as you can and get your head all the way to the ground!
You can do the pistol squats without a target (I still need one) if you're really good, or if you need more help, do them to the chair instead of a medicine ball.
For bridgeups you can scale to hip raises.
For v-ups, you can bend your knees, but make sure those shoulders get off the ground!
For pushups, you can do knees on the ground, but keep your core rock solid from shoulders to knees!
Most of the other moves are pretty straight forward. Get some great music going and have fun! Let me know how you did!
Jared and I are still having a great time with the #24DaysofTogetherness from Carrots 'N' Cake. One of our things this week was "Buy each other a small gift." I got him a magazine and took me to lunch and got me a really cute hat! It was a cold day and the hat even went with my outfit - score!
Ponytail spot in the back!
I wore my workout clothes under the sweater to the office since I knew my motivation to workout at home would be low. This way I was ready to roll when I walked in the door! And I wore my cute hat during the workout.
Plus I got the latest issue of The Box Magazine in the mail - talk about motivation!
Well, I'll have a few scheduled posts for the final Advent Mobility days, but I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and I'll see you next week!!!
You tell me: Did you like the WOD? Any suggestions for another at-home WOD? What great presents have you gotten so far?
This is from May 2011 - we need an updated photo of us!
He is an incredible father, husband, teacher, and artist. He plays a mean game of racquetball and is one of the funniest people I've ever met. He always took me on "dates" when I was a tyke and read aloud to me and brought me to the office and taught me how to play pool and prayed for me and did the edits for my papers in school and made any visual aid projects look incredible. Basically, he's the coolest and I'm so glad to have him around!
In his honor, today we'll focus on our backs! He's had some back pain in the past, and most of us suffer from some level of back pain as well. Here's a link to some Mobility WOD work for you.
Anyone try that external shoulder rotation? I realized my external mobility on my left side in particular is almost nil. Yikes! That's the good thing about doing all this stuff...you find problems that you can work on. If I'd never done the mobility WOD for it, I wouldn't know! I've had pain from time to time in my left shoulder/upper back/neck area...wonder if this is related?
Hope you are enjoying the challenge! It has been a really good thing for me - no way would I have been so consistent on my own.
Post your time to the comments. And feel free to send my dad birthday gifts. He likes coffee and excellent murder mysteries.
Sometimes mobility gets a little boring, right? This video from K-Starr takes us on the trampoline! You can get some help with knee problems, especially if you have trouble on box jumps or other jumping movements.
Post your time to the comments. Extra bonus coolness if you get on a trampoline today!
One Team Matson holiday tradition is the annual 12ks of Christmas run in Kirkland, WA. We've run this every year since we've been married, and even last year when I had a knee issue, it was still a blast.
They raise money for Toys for Tots, and people can also donate toys at the event! Jared got our race packets ahead of time, and also picked out some awesome toys for us to bring. Not gonna lie - I really wanted to keep the Spidey basketball game for myself!
This year was extra fun since my girlfriend Meghan was running with us - her first "real" race! She actually put in more training runs than we did. (She's a total champ.)
We had Meghan meet us at our apartment so we could carpool together. Jared was showing her how to put the timing chip on her shoe.
We loaded up and headed over to downtown Kirkland. Thankfully we found a great spot near the start line, dropped off our toys, and headed for Caffe Ladro and some warmth. It was CHILLY!
I highly recommend getting to your races early and chilling at a local coffee shop. Standing out in the cold is no way to warm up for a run. For me personally, I've found a hot beverage is no bueno right before running, but definitely buy something so you can have an excuse to use the restroom! Beats a porta potty for sure.
Pretty soon it was time to get ready to run! We dropped our gear and coats at the car. Meghan wisely suggested a pre-race photo since we were cute and not sweaty yet.
We warmed up as best we could down by the start line. Jared was doing "real" warmup stuff. Meghan did some karate forms and I did pushups. We also ran into our friends Matt and Katy, who were also running the race! Sadly I didn't have my camera with me anymore...but so you can see how cool they are:
We all decided to start together towards the back of the pack, since none of us had REALLY trained for the event. We started out at a good, chatty pace, and enjoyed hanging out and watching all the speedy people and fun costumes.
Around the 3rd mile, there's a big hill - the biggest of the race. Somehow Meghan and I got separated from Jared, Matt, and Katy on the hill, and never quite caught back up. This was also the point where, despite having gone to the bathroom right before the race started...I had to pee. I decided to try to tough it out even after reading this exciting race day tale.
We carried on and crested the mean hill, and toodled on our merry way. I'm glad to say that my new New Balance trail shoes held up great (even though I'd never suggest wearing new shoes in a race) and treated my feet really well - in addition to not being slipperly on the wet ground.
Things got a little harder for us when we hit the halfway point...usually there's gatorade but this time there was just water. We continued talking away and hit the long, steep downhill and thankfully didn't trip and fall or flail into anyone.
Towards the 10k mark, Meghan was starting to get tired. Thankfully the Lord gave me the gift of gab so I babbled and cheered and distracted and encouraged all the way to the end of the run.
We didn't hit any amazing pace (this was actually my slowest time at 1:26 and change), but we achieved our two goals: beat 1:30 and don't feel miserable. Done and done! Jared finished around 1:10 and Matt and Katy around 1:20. Go team!
Much as I whined about training for this one, I am really glad as always that we did it. Big thanks to Jared for putting up with me and to Meghan, Matt and Katy for being awesome race buddies!
On to mobility...my shoulders and lats are feeling kinda tight, so I will be focusing on those today. Here's a video from Mobility WOD if you need some ideas!
This challenge has been a HUGE motivator for me. Any time I am losing steam and don't want to take the 15 minutes, I think of you guys and get out the old lacrosse ball and foam roller. Keep it up! We only have five days left after today!
Also...this week's "extra credit" is meditation. It gets really nuts as we get close to Christmas, so give yourself some much needed brain mobility! Just five minutes sitting alone with your eyes closed to focus on breathing in and breathing out can go a really long way.
Post your time to the comments - I love hearing about other people doing work!
