I’ve recently had to readjust my plan (knee niggles, unforeseen swaps of workouts, etc) so I thought I’d take the opportunity and create an Advent Workout Plan and see if anyone on the Strengths and Flexibility Forum would like to join me.
So c’mon you VRBs and VWBs (virtual workout bodies), please feel invited to join in and post how you are doing by reply.
Each Sunday until Christmas I will post a weekly list of workouts, and the idea is to choose two of these, try them out and report back. And if you have any recommendations of your own to share, add them to the mix by reply.
My own select list will include gentle workouts to slightly more energetic ones. There might be a slight bias to those which are doable for individuals new to Strength and Flex, and which are gentle on the oldies of us. And of course the classic that gave this forum it’s name, NHS Strength and Flex with Laura, features every week. Also, spot the elf, as each week will have at least one video workout with a Christmas theme!
To recap: choose two of the below. Build them in between your running days or any other sport you do regularly, and some of these are possible to do outside. And please add your own as well!
★4 Sundays to go to XMas (choose 2 this week or post your own)
=🕯= 🕯=🕯=🕯=🕯=🕯=
💪Blogilates‘ Cassey Ho (6 min) Holiday Squat Challenge | All I Want For Christmas Is You
Great idea! I'm up for it - it'll help to get me off the IC 👍😁
CBDBAdministratorGraduate Gold in reply to Wenderwoo
Fab! Brill, that you’re joining us! 👍🏽Not good that you’re on the IC. 🤕Hope you’re finding workouts that make you stronger so that IC visits become a less and less!
This is fabulous... thank you and I am so, so delighted that you have my favourite lady . Amy, included!!I have used her exercises for so long, as I am a well seasoned (70 year old) runner Some old neck injuries mean I need certain exercises, like standing ab crunches!!
I linked her in full body exercises posted on here some months ago!
This is great because now I am answerable...( Great at giving advice and really bad at taking it sometimes) . I intend doing these and I shall post my progress, and will be looking forward to reading how everyone is doing!
Could I request, please some sitting or standing exercises for neck and shoulders... I have researched so many, but I bet you have some ideas
Today is legs morning for me... not running right now, so plenty of time for the strength and stamina work !
Thank you !
CBDBAdministratorGraduate Gold in reply to Oldfloss
Thank you! 🙏
Yes, standing ab crunches, like these:
Bodyfit by Amy, 10 Minute Standing Abs No Crunch Workout
Those are the ones I use regularly... I love them...She is so personable... I use my hand weights with these too:)I have recently, also started her 10 minute standing relaxation too... she obviously did it because of the Pandemic... it is a good one, for actual rest days, if you don't have time for Pilates or Yoga!
Count me in and now accountable! I'm hopeless at decisions so choice doesn't always work for me, but I'm more hopeless at high impact exercise so being able to avoid those sessions (or any that would aggravate a current niggle) is really welcome!I'm about to start my winter work schedule (think cozying up at home with jigsaws and having more time for me) so this is absolutely perfect timing. Thank you 😊
CBDBAdministratorGraduate Gold in reply to linda9389
Nice! Love the image of cozying up on a couch with a puzzle 🧩. Yes, I fear I am not the right person to look into high impact workouts as I have difficulties with knees and weight myself. So most will be low impact. 👍🏽
Thanks for this CBDB! I'm going to try and commit to 2 a week. This week I'm going to try the beginners pilate and the standing leg workout. I will report back 😉
CBDBAdministratorGraduate Gold in reply to Mum22boys
Ohh nice!👍🏽 So great to have you onboard. 👋🏽
Now where's my teenager hidden her foam roller 😂, I may just have to partake in some of these CBDB, noticeably the old calves get niggles now and again, so I'm thinking why not. We've gotta look after the bodies we've been given 👍
Absolutely. I just did the Cassey Ho Holiday Squat Challenge and managed to get my hubby to join in. With the music it’s really fun and result was a lot of laughter mixed in with a lot of groans! She does make it look easy. 💪🦵👍🏽
So I and hubby chose the item on the list with a XMas theme, and had a lot of fun. Blogilates’ Cassey Ho can actually also be found on FitOn, the app with free workouts. We even got our teenager interested enough to request me to WhatsApp him the link. We’ll see if we have managed the whole family to have joined in by end of the season.
Fab 🤩I need some motivation and ideas to do some workouts as well as running. Thanks for this CBDB - looking forward to joining you all with this plan 😊
CBDBAdministratorGraduate Gold in reply to roseabi
Wow! Just had a look, too advanced for me in terms of strengths needed, as there are all sorts of plank and lunge movements mixed in, but wow! I can see how it uses balance, coordination, core strength AND stability, all in one collection of movements. Perfecting that you might not need to do anything else ever again! 😆😅💪👏👏👏
Yay thank you CBDB! I love anything festive so will give some of these a go 🎄💪 I did the aerobics one a while back when I was on the IC and I think I'd need something at pre-beginners level, I was exhausted!! 🥵😂😂
Fabulous! 👍🏽 yes, I must add some roller workouts to the mix which are for me always great when I’m too exhausted to do anything else. So that might be an option!
Wow! Everyone is workouting away! I’ve added some recommendations from the community, so if you can’t find what your looking for in my 5 links, see if there’s something under the Update section in the original post.💪
🏃🏻♀️I had a rest from working out today, as I did my 5k run this morning. But now the quandary of having to chose from this growing list! We’ll see if I will have managed to make a decision by tomorrow evening ! 😄
More new-year-advent than Christmas-advent but I've started doing Adriene's 30 days of yoga in the run up to the new year, aiming to finish by the end of 2020 ready to start her new 30 day programme in 2021. I really enjoyed last year's 30 days (Home) so I'm looking forward to it.
I've never really got on with the monthly calendars, so I tend to revisit previous 30 day sets (Home, True, Revolution etc) which I find flow better. This is the one I am doing at the moment; yogawithadriene.com/free-yo...
And remember, you don't have to be flexible to do yoga in the same way that you don't have to be clean to take a bath....
🤣🤣 yes, I’ll try again at some point. And the calendar thing for me is immensely temping.
But I just haven’t had the number of little success experiences with yoga that I’ve had with -for instance - Pilates. And some very basic poses are really difficult for me (downward dog and child’s pose).
It probably depends on the instructors but I have encountered more video Pilates instructors that are more likely to be conscious of various injuries or body weaknesses than yoga video instructors . It probably also shows the limits of video based workouts.
But I do want to give Adriene a good go at some point. I have done her workout for weak knees, and that’s been great!
You might find her "foundations of yoga" set good then - she takes one pose at a time and works gradually into it, explaining how it's meant to work and often giving a range of variations to cover different levels of flexibility. yogawithadriene.com/foundat...
Hi CBDB I'm a little late to the party, as always lately 😂 can I still join in? I've done Skype pilates today and am game to try some other workouts with you 😁👍
Skype pilates with my local studio 😁🤸♀️🧘♀️ I do one 1:1 session which I've been doing since I summoned up the courage to start early this year and one group session which I've bitten the bullet to join in recently 😁😂. I'm still self conscious (silly I know), but making progress in baby steps. Realise I probably could still do with some upper body exercise and other weight bearing exercise- squats will be perfect to start with 🦵🦵. I've lost two and three quarter stones in weight this year and another half a stone would make me very happy, but lots of toning up to do. I have my sights set on HM training and need to get stronger 💪😁 thank you for setting up this wonderful idea 😁🤗
I'm not very speedy- just thought it would be fun to join in - it's quite enjoyable to run somewhere near as fast as you can for a few minutes- exhilarating! Try it on the Q T for yourself- I bet you enjoy it 😁👍
I have done the 11 minutes first pilates session tonight and I really enjoyed it 😊 I love short sessions like this, both to keep my interest and to fit in with life. Thank you for the recommendation I will definitely be doing more. Just need to fit in the leg work out this week 😊
CBDBAdministratorGraduate Gold in reply to Mum22boys
Fab! Yes, I’m constantly running out of days of the week! Brill! 👍🏽🤩👏👏
3rd workout this week for me was about going back to beginner’s foundations of Pilates, with The Girl with the Pilates Mat! Write-up here healthunlocked.com/strength...
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.