Not Endurance-Oriented :), Plus A Public Service Announcement

After the spin-a-thon on Sunday the last thing I felt like doing yesterday was any kind of drawn-out workout. So I did a little tabata-ish thing incorporating some TRX exercises:

TRX 1-leg squats, 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, switching legs each round 8x

rest 1 min

TRX rows and pushups, 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, switching exercises each round 8x

rest 1 min

TRX balance lunges, 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, switching legs each round 8x

rest 1 min

Upper body russian twists and cobras, 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, switching exercises each round

Today I did one of Dave Whitley's 101 Kettlebell Workouts. It was a 3-exercise mini-circuit:

pistol squats, 1 R/L
clean & press, 5 R/L
25 swings

1 min rest

Lather rinse repeat 5x.

In the interests of full disclosure, pistols are very much a work in progress for me. The learning progression I am using is the one where you do the pistol over a bench or step, gradually lowering the height of same as your strength increases. Right now I'm using a 10 inch step. I can actually just about do a full pistol on the right leg, but the left leg has a little catching up to do. No big surprise there. I'm much weaker, wobblier, and more loose-jointed on the left side than on the right. which is a big reason why I love and adore unilateral training. If all I ever used was machines or even barbells, I'd just be letting a bad situation get worse. Sure, I'd be able to use lots of weight and impress myself, but in the long run it wouldn't be good for me.

(Note: I plan to be cremated not buried, but if I were going to be buried the words, " but in the long run it wouldn't be good for me" would probably be what I would want on my tombstone.)

Now I have to shower off and go get my mammogram. My doctor is still recommending these annually for her patients who're over 40, and, well, that would be me in spades. Thankfully I don't need regular colonoscopies yet, but soon I will, and when that day comes you can bet I will be getting them.

The sad truth is, a healthy lifestyle is no guarantee of longevity. If you have breast or colon cancer in your family you can certainly minimize your chances of getting either disease by exercising, not smoking, avoiding excessive saturated fat in your diet, and so forth, but you can't eliminate your risk altogether. I know the subject of routine diagnostic testing is a bit controversial these days, so my best advice is to read up on the risks and benefits and make an informed decision whether or not annual screening is right for you, keeping in mind genetic as well as lifestyle factors. And if testing is what makes sense for you, get it done :)