New moves are my favorite.

 

I’m doing many right now and I point my toes down some ski slopes.

Today’s Work It Out post features one of my biggest inspirations – Jody @ Truth2BeingFit.  She is a big fan of changing up workouts to keep things interesting and effective, and her positive energy is contagious.  Take one look at her picture and you’ll see she clearly knows what she’s doing.  AND this amazing lady just celebrated her 55th birthday!

 

 

I’m Working It Out this week in a few different ways.  Saturday I went hiking at Red Rocks with Heather and Lauren!

 

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I want to thank Laura for inviting me to guest post today!  She is an amazing young (Editor’s Note: It’s so nice to be called young…) woman who knows how to kick some “arse” in the gym! 😉

For those that don’t know me, my name is Jody and I blog over at Truth2BeingFit.  I have been working out for over 30 years & turned 55 on the 15th of this month.  YIKES! Where did the time go!  (Editor’s Note: I sure hope I look half this good at 55!)

I know some may look at my pictures & think I can’t relate BUT I can!  I was heavy as a kid.  I lost weight in high school but did many things wrong on this lifelong journey.  My mantra: ALWAYS LEARNING & ALWAYS A WORK IN PROGRESS.

Laura asked to me to share a couple of workout moves that are different from the norm to help you mix it up in the gym & work your body in different ways.  I am a “change agent” in the gym.  I LOVE mixing it up!

I first want to link you to a couple recent posts of mine.  Many people are stuck in a rut using the same attachment for the same move all the time.  Check out this post, Variety is the Spice of Life, Cable Attachment Love!  I also have a post on a variation of drop sets here.  Drop sets are a more advanced move so if you are a beginner, leave this until you have a few months under your belt.

 

One move I love to do is using a seated row machine for bicep curls with a rope (hammer curls w/rope), straight or cambered bar or even a single D handle.  You will have to use a LIGHTER weight for this move.  Grab the bar, rope or D handle & lie back on the seat of the row machine.  Curl away.  The fact that you are lying & you can’t cheat really stresses the biceps – LOVE IT!  You can also do this by placing a mat on the floor by the bottom rung of a cable machine.  With your feet closest to the cable machine, grab attachment, lie back & curl!  (Editor’s Note: This is how I do them – SO effective!)

 

 

Another move is to place a bench by the cable machine.  Place one of the attachments in the paragraph above on the lowest rung of the cable machine.  Grab the attachment & lie back on the bench with your head closest to the machine.  From here, you can do lying cable triceps extensions/skull crushers.  Use a stability ball to engage the core or if there is not a bench available.  Always use proper form!  It is easy to hurt the shoulders if you are not very careful with form!

 

I would like to finish by saying that always be true to you!  There is no “my way or the highway.”  Find what works for you.  Of course, if you are new to lifting, you want to learn the traditional way of lifting with proper form.  Learn to listen to your body and how everything feels from day one – get that mind/muscle link!

Once you become more advanced, you can start putting programs together that meet your needs – not that friend or other person in the gym.  Life changes, we change, our body changes, our goals change along this lifelong journey.  Always work toward finding that best for you.  This does not mean we can’t learn from others BUT it does mean that we learn to recognize what works best for ourselves.

Thanks again to Laura for inviting me to guest post!  Please feel free to email at jody @ truth2beingfit.com with any questions… although Laura knows her stuff! 🙂

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Thank you for showing us some new moves, Jody!  I’ve never thought to use the row machine for curls… can’t wait to get back and try it out!

Did anyone try last week’s 1 1/2s?

Has the way you workout changed over time?  How so?