Free Your Inner Animal!

Here's a great post with a video that Julie from Chubby Mommy Running Club put together of yesterday's training session, where I took her through an "Animal Day" workout designed to strengthen her core and supporting muscles (no, running is not just about the legs, at least not when you train with me!). We did salamander pushups, bear walk, crab walk, spider crosses, and wall balls. And we ran. In the pouring rain. It's a funny video, and shows most of the stuff we did, so if you're interested in creating a great core body workout without a lot of equipment, give it a watch!

Several of these exercises came from Darryl Edwards' excellent blog The Fitness Explorer. In his FAQ section, he has lots of great little how-to videos for natural movement and bodyweight exercises.

Watching Julie's video, I only have a few thoughts:

1. I should never try to talk on camera after exercising. Sheesh, I meant crabs have EXOskeletons, not ENDO skeletons.We have endoskeletons, and they're quite useful little things, but you do have to surround them with muscles in order for them to work right.

2. I should remember that Julie ALWAYS brings her little Flip camera and I should dress appropriately. Big baggy white karate pants = not very flattering on film. I had just finished my morning karate workout and was already tapped out by the time she got there. Sweaty, sticky, hair all over the place. Yikes! Where's my hair and makeup people???

3. I'm glad that Julie is open to my unorthodox training methods. She's training for a half marathon and I only have her running three days a week. Each running day is a quality workout (track work, tempo, endurance), and is supplemented by three days of cross training and core strengthening. With anyone I train, my goal is for them to be a strong, well-rounded athlete, not just limp across the finish line of their chosen event.

1. Julie is a ton of fun to train with, you can see that by watching her on video. A good workout with someone fun can brighten your whole day!