I got stuck on pull ups. Even after over a year and change, I can’t seem to do more than eight at a time. That’s a lot better than the three I used to be able to do, but I figure I can do more; not for the sake of higher numbers, but because I know I can get stronger.
Category Archives: Exercise
Posts discussing exercises and activities.
On safety
This month’s post is about safety; mostly in training, but quite a lot of it applies equally to life in general. It also mostly boils down to paying attention. I have written about training mindfully before, and while everything in that post holds, I realize it is not enough. To train safely, you need to be aware of what is around you apart from what you are doing. Continue reading On safety
If you’re not a Pro, don’t try training like one
These days you can train like a Spartan, or a caveman, or a superhero. There are tons of articles describing the training regimens of this or that actor or actress or star player, but do they work? Continue reading If you’re not a Pro, don’t try training like one
One year on Convict Conditioning
A couple of weeks before we launched this blog, fellow Average Norm editor Andrei pointed a book out to me – Paul Wade’s Convict Conditioning
Making progress
We have often talked about progressive exercises in the past. The idea is that as you train, you will eventually need to move to more challenging exercises to make further progress. Today we are going to take a look at a few ways to do this.
Breaking it down
People have mixed opinions about partial movements. Many think they’re utterly useless, while some others believe they’re harmful. That can be true if they’re done mindlessly, but there are many ways in which consciously doing partials can help you. Continue reading Breaking it down
Warm up
Some people shrug warm ups off or do them half heartedly as undesirable foreplay to “real” exercise, but the truth is that warming up before effort is a great idea if you want to stay whole. Not only does it help with long term injury prevention, but it also prepares the body for movement, which gives you better performance during – and more benefit from – the actual exercise. Continue reading Warm up
On Cardio
First off, a disclaimer. Cardiovascular – or cardio – health is important. Your heart and lungs keep you alive. Nothing that follows below should be taken as a suggestion that you should not do your level best to look after it.
Secondly, an admission. I haven’t been doing any cardio training in the last year or so, having focused mainly on strength building instead. In case you haven’t read our previous article on training, exercise, and play, that doesn’t mean I didn’t do a damn about it. It means I didn’t specifically work on it in order to improve it. Continue reading On Cardio
Isometrics
When you think “exercise”, you probably imagine some sort of movement. And, in most cases, you’d be spot on. Isometric exercises however are a special case, where you exercise without actually moving.
Do not for a second imagine that this makes them any easier to perform. Continue reading Isometrics
The Plank
Yarr! Happy international talk like a pirate day! Today we’ll be looking at a staple of piratey life, the plank!
Well, almost; the plank we’ll be talking about is not the one you’re made to walk off into shark filled waters, but an awesome abdominal exercise.