Balance

Happy Monday everyone! I gotta tell you, I really didn't miss Mondays last week when we had it off!

Thanks for all of your supportive comments in response to Wedding Meltdown Number ? I am definitely fully aware that it is one day, in fact, I think that is part of the reason I get so annoyed with all the discussions and work it involves. I thought I'd be a good person to be engaged for a long time because it would spread it out, but I think in the end I probably would've dealt better with thinking about it a lot for a short amount of time and then having it be over. Oh well, nothing we can do about that now :)

Anyway, today I want to talk about something completely different: balance. If someone asked me to use one word to describe life, I think I would probably pick the word balance. Think about it: Life is all about balance. You need balance between work and fun. You need balance between your significant other and friends. You need a balance between healthy eating and a few treats. I personally cannot think of anytime where balance is not the best policy.

So I guess it would be no surprise that when I asked my weight class teacher what I should be doing for my third workout each week, she said the most important thing is that I balance the muscle groups I am working. Since my third workout comes three days after Wednesday lift and two days before my Monday one, I don't really have to worry about exhausting specific muscles without a rest day. However, I do have to make sure I balance opposing muscle groups. For example, if I m going to work my quad muscles (front of the thigh), Is should follow it with hamstrings (back of the thigh). This will keep my muscles balanced, which is important since imbalance can cause injuries. For example, patellafemoral syndrome or "runner's knee" (which I was originally diagnosed with in June 09) is often caused by an imbalance in the quadriceps.

On Saturday I designed my own work out, but I focused on balancing the muscles I was using. I wrote it out on a notecard the night before so I could consult with Eric on some of them. My workout ended up looking like this:

Sit Against Wall, 3 Minutes- Quadriceps
Reverse Dead Lifts 8lbs, 2 sets 15 reps- Hamstrings

Push Ups, 2 sets 15 reps- Chest and Triceps
Seated Row 40 lbs, 2 sets 15 reps- Back and Biceps

Shoulder Press 12 lbs, 2 sets 15 reps, Shoulders (front)
Lat Pull Down 60 lbs, 2 sets 15 reps- Lats (back)

Swiss Ball Crunch- 2 sets 10 reps- Abs
Prone Jackknives- 2 sets 10 reps- Abs
Roman Chair Exercise- 2 sets 15 reps- Lower Back

It was very balanced and I could DEFINITELY feel it on Sunday, whew! Much as I love my lifting class, I enjoy doing it on my own sometimes because it is so much faster.

Do you try to work opposing muscle groups at all? Do you like to lift on your own?

Even for those cardio lovers (myself included) among us, this is something to think about. When we use the same machines for the most part, we do sometimes create an imbalance in our muscles. Not sure how to solve that problem though... except to say, change it up!