Today is a two-fer: weight lifting in the morning and tai chi in the afternoon. Spending too much time in the gym? Check!
I finally bit the bullet and tried out some new lifting techniques. To replace the silly seated row machine, I tried two different dumbbell lifts: the upright row, and the bent-over row. (This site is such a great resource: http://www.exrx.net/Lists/ExList/BackWt.html I should give this one a try too:
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/BackGeneral/BWSupineRow.html) Turns out that they work slightly different muscles, with the bent-over row doing more of what I want, plus I can’t have good form in the upright one since my chest gets in the way. (More evidence that these exercises were developed by people without breasts, for people without breasts.) I also got a staff member at the gym to show me proper form for squats. I definitely would’ve done them wrong, and I was surprised at how easy they were on my knees.
Tai chi was neat! I was excited that I could go after all. I’ve never done martial arts but the movements were pretty intuitive. I think the activity most like tai chi that I’ve done is, of all things, ballroom dance. Tai chi is slower but in the end, both are about shifting your weight, knowing your hand positions, transferring energy, and keeping your shoulders relaxed. There’s a group that meets weekly but 1) I’m still sort of intimidated; and 2) can I work yet another hour at the gym into my schedule? (Especially during work hours?)
Running While Fat 