Bodyweight Exercises

You can't work out if you're sick. Trying to do squats with a runny nose is distracting. Trying to run with a congested head is annoying and painful. And trying to do yoga with a fever isn't the "heat" that the latest trends contemplate!

This season, the colds that are going around (at least in this area) seem to hang around a little longer and have symptoms that are not severe enough to take off work, but are just severe enough to be distracting for the entire day. The congestion keeps your sinuses blocked and your head aching for several weeks, the cough simply lingers on day after day, and your eyes feel tired all the time.

So what can you do about it? There is no cure for the cold. You can load yourself up with medications, but most of these have side effects that may actually be more interfering with your daily life than the cold symptoms! For me - since I rarely take over-the-counter medications and haven't had a prescription medicine in a long long time - even the "non-drowsy" medications make me a little dopey.

Here are 3 methods that I have found to ease cold symptoms, that are not medicine. These also work somewhat for allergies. Flu is very serious and needs a visit to the doctor. Of course, this article is not written by a doctor, and some of my thoughts about the mechanisms described may be totally off base.

1. Zinc tablets. These are tiny tablets, about half the size of my little finger fingernail. Zinc is also added to cough drops, in lesser amounts. The directions say to take one tablet per hour, letting it dissolve slowly in your mouth. This is my miracle solution for the cold! If the symptoms are severe enough, I can actually feel the symptoms being relieved as the zinc dissolves. The key is to take one per hour, every hour, until the symptoms disappear, not simply until they "get better." The tablets are small enough that they don't interfere with your ability to talk and are not noticeable, the way cough drops are.

2. Antiseptic mouthwash. The cough virus enters your body through your mouth and your nose. Using an antiseptic mouthwash cleans out your mouth and throat. It also keeps your palate and throat moisturized, which seems to lessen the ability of the cold virus to land on an exposed surface and begin multiplying.

3. Moisturizer around your eyes. I found this out accidentally, after my wife saw a "makeover" show that emphasized "moisturize, moisturize, moisturize!" for men. To accomodate her, I tried putting some non-goofy-smelling lotion around my eyes. Almost immediately, the tiredness that my eyes had been feeling was relieved, and the congestion in my nose cleared up noticeably. The more I used it, the better these symptoms became. I think that keeping the area around the eyes moisturized prevents the cold virus from latching onto dry spots around your eye and irritating your membranes, which triggers an allergic reaction, one consequence of which is congestion. However, make sure the lotion is not strong smelling and does not have strong fumes, or you will end up irritating your eyes in a different way.

This article has suggested 3 unusual methods to ease cold or allergy symptoms, that do not involve either over-the-counter or prescription medications. Getting rid of the symptoms will allow you get back to your regular routine - including your fitness routine - as quickly as possible, which will keep you healthy and strengthen you the next time a cold virus decides to drop in and annoy you!

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Exercising in total darkness - or near total darkness - is something that most people don't think of doing. And when it is suggested to them, most people immediately think of reason they shouldn't. There's the "klutz" factor: what if I fall? What if I bump into something? There's the "balance" factor: what if I fall down? There's the "location" factor: where can I find a place dark enough and big enough? Well, the interesting thing is that exercising in darkness actually solves these problems, and many others.  And bodyweight exercises are particularly conducive to exercising in total darkness.

Exercising in darkness is more than just closing your eyes while you jump around. It means paying attention to your other senses - your tactile sense of your feet or hands on the floor; your auditory sense of the music as you move around the room, to determine your location; your inner sense of feedback from your small muscles and proprioceptors, as your body maintains its balance without having visual feedback.

This is an adjunct to your regular program. It should be done 2 or 3 times the first month. You can increase the frequency as you become more comfortable and proficient, or you can use it as a nice break from your regular routine. I myself use it to verify and confirm my kata practice (the formalized sequence of moves in karate), maybe 3 times per month. It can also help yoga and pilates, and really enhances an aerobic program.

Start by locating a space that is twice as big as the space you normally exercise in. Make sure it is clear. Have a first aid kit handy. To achieve darkness, a windowless basement is best.  A large living room can be turned dark by covering the windows with thick curtains or blankets (but take them down before your family comes home!). For the first few times, use a routine that is easily learned, or one that you are confident in your ability to perform with your eyes closed. Listen to the feedback from your body as you move through the routine, especially the adjustments your small support muscles make. You probably were never aware of how many times your feet seek a new position on their own, or how often your back aligns itself without you thinking about it.

Exercising in the dark will help you learn about how your body interacts with itself, and which senses you really rely on. It will help you strengthen and develop all your senses, even sight. And just as importantly, you will develop a new skill - mastery over your body and the ability to process feedback from your movements. This is a skill that can be transferred to all your exercise, and life in general.

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Everywhere you look, you are reminded of the “obesity epidemic” in America. From the proliferation of workout videos and diets to study after study on the nightly news, we are told to cut back - lose weight - get fitter and healthier. But, at the same time, our commutes are longer, our kids’ schedules are more regimented, and our jobs demand more “productivity” (that’s management-speak for “more work in less time with fewer people”). How can you fit fitness into your life?

Making fitness a HABIT - as opposed to merely “making time for a workout” - might be the way to go, for busy overworked adults and kids. Once something becomes a habit - a behavior that you do unconsciously, and that you feel uncomfortable if DON’T do - getting healthier and in shape flows naturally.

So how do you make fitness a habit? The easiest way is to insert a fitness activity seamlessly into your daily routine. There are many suggestions for this: take the stairs at work, walk after lunch, do a quick workout in the morning. These are terrific suggestions and I encourage all of them. This article suggests another option, one that does not involve any change other than lying on the floor instead of lying on the couch.

The idea for this article was inspired by Bruce Lee. Right up there with Mr. Jack LaLanne, Bruce Lee is an excellent example of someone who integrated fitness and health in all aspects of his life. Of course, Messrs. LaLanne and Lee also made physical fitness their profession, so it wasn’t all that hard for THEM to do it. But how can YOU do it? Do situps during the commercials. There, that was easy, wasn’t it? That’s like saying, “Need money? Invent something!” Doing situps during the commercials – well, doing TRADITIONAL situps - is actually incredibly disruptive. First of all, the noise you make will bother everybody. You certainly don’t want to sweat onto the living room carpet. And, if you aren’t good at traditional situps, then it just becomes a frustrating activity for you, in addition to annoying your family.

The situps you should use are actually a variation on the crunch, but with so little movement as to be almost unnoticeable. First, lie on your back. Put the soles of your feet together, and let your knees fall to the outside as far as possible. Put your hands on your shoulders so that your fingers are parallel with your spine and our elbows are pointing straight up at the ceiling. Now, tighten your stomach muscles, with the goal of lifting only your shoulders off the ground. Don’t tuck your head or chin, don’t roll up, don’t pull yourself up with your arms. You actually are completely unconcerned with whether your upper body moves at all – the point of the exercise is to tense your stomach muscles against a weight, so that your stomach muscles do work.

Hold each tension for 5 to 10 seconds. Lie down and relax totally for 5 to 10 seconds, and do another one. You should get a whole bunch in during the standard 2-1/2 minute commercial, and then you have about 12 minutes to rest up for the next set.

Do this for 21 straight days. If you miss a day, start back at day 1 (one of the points of this exercise is to instill DISCIPLINE into your life without your realizing it, also). After a few days, you will FEEL that your stomach muscles are a little tighter. You may also feel the first stirring of chi in your tan dien (located about 1/3 of the way between your navel and your groin) – but that’s another article, for another day. Let’s just say that after doing this exercise for 21 straight days, you will feel more energy, and you will be better able to tap into that energy. It doesn’t matter what time of day you do this exercise, but you should not do it right when you get home – you should pay attention to your family first.

This article presented a simple way of putting exercise into your daily routine, without disrupting your routine at all. Once you begin doing this exercise, in this way, your body will demand that you not only continue doing this, but that you do something else. You will find your body craving healthier foods. Your appetite should decrease, and your sleep will be more restful and complete. Is this the “wonder exercise” that cures all your problems? No. YOU are the cure of your problems – but sometimes you need a kickstart.

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