Wednesday, January 12, 2011

snow day youtube and fitness roundup

Seeing as I can't do much right at the moment other than sit in my bed with the laptop and my coffee, praying the power doesn't go out and/or Verizon FIOS stops working (having already lost satellite tv, yo), I'm just sorta following links and looking at videos and pretending like I'm learning shit that will help me at the gym and whatnot. I mean, I could be doing laundry, but what if the power goes out when I've got a load in the middle of washing? That would suck.

Anyway, I give you this first:


Skip ahead to about 4:40 and watch the feet in the freakin' shrubbery. I have no words It's surreal. But this is what happens when anyone with a cheap video camera can decide they are a.) an expert on whatever and b.) a filmmaker. Dollars to donuts, this guy has watched too much Namaste Yoga on FitTV (that's the one where, ooo, their mats are on the beach! and then, ooo, now their mats are in an atmospheric warehouse! and now, ooo! their mats are in an English garden, etc) and thought demoing pushups shirtless on his freakin' lanai would bring the viewers. Which, doh, *I* watched it, didn't I? Adulation, mockery, it's all the same in 2011.

Next, in more actual educational mode, I give you this chart from the website of Mr Bret Contreras, aka The Glute Guy. Mr Contreras is a well-known trainer and fitness writer who has an actual math and science background, and who has done EMG experiments on which muscles are really most activated during various exercises. In other words, he actually *is* an expert and not just some meathead.


Despite my embarrassment about being a weak puny 48 year old woman who can only use puny little weights, I am heartened that I am at least in the intermediate category for everything that I actually do, and advanced on a couple of things. This is what led to me searching for pushup instructional video, btw. I can do 8 or 10 pushups, not of the girly variety, but I'm suspicious they might not count, because I may not go all the way down enough. I can't do them to the point where my boobs touch the floor. I also have no idea if I can do a single pullup, because I haven't tried, and I'm not trying at the Y and embarrassing myself. D has one of those pullup things that hang off the door frame somehow that he used to use in high school, but it is not attached to the door any longer and when I asked him if he remembered how it goes, he said no. So my ability to practice at home till I'm at the point of not humiliating myself in front of 17 year old Dominican boys is on hold.

Okay, now I must go and resume my "studies." But you can be sure that if I find something else hilarious or self-aggrandizing, I'll be blogging more. I'm stuck at home, you people suffer. That's how it goes.

xoxo

3 comments:

crispix67 said...

I like the little gnomes. :-) And I agree- whats up with the feet in the shrubbery? Move ahead about 6 inches, dude! Seems like it'd be safer too, not to mention look better. But what do I know ;-)

This reminds me of Plank Pose-which I now have a love/hate relationship with,as opposed to just a hate one. :-) Last weekend I did a workout class where we had the added bonus of doing sidekicks (holding our leg out to the side)while in Plank. Fun times!

malevolent andrea said...

Earlier in the video when he's demonstrating knee pushups, he says, "Put a folded towel beneath your knees to protect them from the hard surface!" Um, how about just not doing them on your patio tile? hahaha

Planks are awesome. I think they're like the best core/ab exercise. Someone was telling me that some guy (?) on a fitness board they read is doing five minute planks. Holy crap. That's just showing off ;-)

Uncle said...

@Crispix. Glad you spotted the gnome. At first I though I was looking at a bizarre closeup of leg lifts cut from America's biggest loser.