Weekly post: What did you do?

[cereta]

For those of you who weren't here last week, this would be our weekly chance to talk about what we did this week. You can go into detail, you can talk about something new you did or an increase of some kind, or you can just report time or days or whatever makes you happy.

Comment away!

Comments

[gramina]

Well.... I joined this comm! :) I want to go back to doing more resistance training, but haven't actually done the *doing* part yet, so I have none of that to report this week -- though knowing there's a weekly "what I did" post will probably be motivating :)

While I'm here, I'll also ask -- I don't currently have access to a gym. I'm clear on crunches, squats, and pushups as good basic general-purpose body-weight (or more) exercises, but is there *anything* I can do for my back without a pull-up bar/the ability to do a full pullup? (which I do not currently have - either the bar or the ability)

Any thoughts/recommendations?

[rydra_wong]

What part of your back?

Pull-ups mainly work the lats -- if you want to work those, your best bet might be to grab some cheap resistance bands and do lat pull-downs. Or do pull-overs if you've got some light weights.

If you want to strengthen your lower back, there are lots of bodyweight exercises you can do, mostly variations on the yoga locust pose. If you've got a Swiss ball and somewhere to wedge your feet, you can do full back hyperextensions.

If you're interested in general-purpose core stability: planks planks planks *g*.

(I know I've just thrown a lot of exercise names at you -- let me know what you're interested in, and I can provide more details.)

[gramina]

Thank you!

:) I have multiple goals, but working the lats specifically is more related to frivolous ones than to important ones. I may look for some bands at some point, but not right now.

I mostly want to strengthen the muscles along my spine -- one of my main practical (as opposed to vain - I like being strong!) reasons for resistance training is a family history of osteoporosis, and basically strong muscles encourage strong bones.

Planks I know; I don't know locust. Tell?

Also, I think we have a swiss ball, but I'm not sure... what are the movements for either full or partial hyperextensions? (I can probably find something to support my lower body, even if it's not a swiss ball...)

[rydra_wong]

Locust.

A common variation in non-yoga circles is the superman.

Stumptuous on back hyperextensions (scroll down past the section on good mornings).

If you have a Swiss ball (one of those big inflatable balls that people sometimes use instead of desk chairs), then lie prone on it with it under your hips, wedge your feet under something for stability, and it works brilliantly for hyperextensions.

[sophinisba]

I don't quite understand how the whole thing works yet, but in one of the other posts someone linked to this Full Body Workouts page from exrx.net, which links to tons of exercises for every muscle group. A lot of the back exercises look to be rows that you could do at home with dumbbells, though not so much with body-weight.

[gramina]

Thank you! (opening link now!)