This post is not for the people who get up at 5:00 AM to get in their workouts before their families are out of bed and wanting breakfast. It's not that I don't believe you that it's really nice to have your alone time and all that. I wouldn't even say that I'm not a morning person, I'm perfectly chipper in the morning, say, around eight or preferably nine...
Well, who am I kidding. All of these posts are for myself. And if all of these posts are for myself, why do I feel bad that I feel like I can't keep up with them; why don't I just give myself a break.
My work even spots me a half hour every morning, I don't have to be in until nine-thirty. It's a compromise, they do without me for just a little bit & I drag myself out of sleep just a little bit before my body clock is set to wake up. I'm not doing cardio in this condition and forget lifting weights, getting out of bed is good enough.
Still though, I read this article in Yahoo News that people who burn little bits of energy here and there through the day maintain their weight better than people who ...don't. Not better than the people who wake up at 5:00 AM, if you thought that was what I was going to say. Nobody is better than those people. I'm not trying to be better than those people, I'm just trying to be a little bit better than I am. And also if I can chuck 50 calories per morning against my weekly 3500 calorie deficit and still stay in bed, so much the better.
Start with some doll stretches:
- Lie flat on your back and raise your right leg ninety degrees. Gently pull your leg toward your chest and hold for, like, ten seconds.
- Cross your right ankle over your left knee, reach through and clasp your left shin, and gently pull and hold.
- Further cross your right knee over your left knee, reach around and clasp your left shin, and gently pull and hold.
- Put your right foot on the bed, drop your right knee to the left and look to the right for a spinal twist.
Switch legs and repeat the above.
Now do some little bitty crunches. Shannanigan showed these to us at last Thursday's practice, and I have to say that I was thinking at the time that these would be good to do in bed:
- Lie flat on your back and raise both arms ninety degrees, crossing them at the wrists. Reach up with your shoulders to raise and then lower your upper torso just a little bit, say, ten times.
- Point your arms to the left, to about 10 or 11 o'clock, and reach up with your right shoulder to raise and then lower your upper torso to the left just a little bit, ten times.
- Point your arms to the right, to about 1 or 2 o'clock, and reach up with your left shoulder to raise and then lower your upper torso to the right just a little bit, ten times.
- Now raise your legs ninety degrees, crossing them at the ankles. Reach up with your hips to raise and then lower your lower torso just a little bit, ten times.
If and when you do these, it's totally okay to be as feeble and half-hearted as you feel. You're half-awake, you don't want to get up. Own it, girl.
Next: Stretch and balance while you brush your teeth!
