<p>I hear ya. Our roof has a 45 degree pitch, so I’m not too worried about that. I am, however, just sore all over from shovelling and wrestling the snowblower.</p>
<p>About half my driveway is down to dry, bare pavement – which is pretty amazing, considering that there are six foot snowbanks on both sides! Hopefully we’ll get some melting after the snow tomorrow.</p>
<p>I did inverted row from the New Ab book on a Smith like machine at the Y. I’m not convinced there’s any way to do them at home. They were pretty impossible at the Y in terms of trying to get things set up right. (Had to move a bench and move bar to the lowest level.) Sadly I could see that they exercise more of the core than regular pull ups or regular rows. Anyway today I did the Ab warm up routine, my regular machines and 30 minutes on the elliptical. So I am feeling reasonably virtuous.</p>
<p>I hate planks, but I think I should do a couple before I turn in for the night.</p>
<p>Inverted row is tough to set up at home. I thought I had it with a bar across 2 bar stools, but it wasn’t tall enough for me. I couldn’t fully extend my arms. Kid’s jungle gym or swing set at the local playground would work. It was the primary motivation for me to get the TRX-style suspension straps, although I’m finding all kinds of fun stuff to do with those.</p>
<p>It is a great core exercise, but so are regular pull-ups/chin-ups. So if you can do those, you are probably set. You would think commercial gyms would have a place setup where people can do chinups and inverted rows and incline pushups. Those are only like the staples of any good workout. I guess it’s not a machine so it doesn’t count!</p>
<p>I felt like a fish out of water doing that warmup the first couple of times, but now I really enjoy it. For one thing, after a month, I can do it without stopping to pant (much). A couple of the exercises (the thoraric rotation, the squat to stand, the inchworm, the walking crossover touch, etc.) are just fantastic for flexibility. The only one I can’t get *at all *is the straight leg skip. I’ve started doing the alternative for that one: hand on the seat of the exercise bike, swing the leg back and forth as high as I can ten times. I feel like I get more out of that. I’m pretty sad on the butt kick, too, but I’m sticking with that one.</p>
<p>Can someone describe inverted row?? I think I missed the memo – (or the previous post). Thanks.</p>
<p>Inverted row. An upside down pushup. You hang from a bar, with your body extended as in a pushup (but face up) and pull yourself up to the bar:</p>
<p>[Inverted</a> Row: Men’s Health.com](<a href=“http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/abs-workout/inverted-row-exercise.php]Inverted”>http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/abs-workout/inverted-row-exercise.php)</p>
<p>[Inverted</a> Row | Men’s Health](<a href=“http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/inverted-row]Inverted”>Inverted Row)</p>
<p>As with the pushup, you can make it easier or harder by varying the angle of your body. The closer you are to standing (say with the body at 45 degrees to the floor), the easier it is. When you go low so that your body is nearly parallel to the floor, it gets harder. It’s much easier if you bend your knees at 90 degrees. When you keep you body fully extended with legs straight it involves the core and the abs big time.</p>
<p>It’s a great exercise. The only problem is figuring out a place to do it, either at home or in the gym – a bar across kitchen counters, pulling up on an open stair step or railing, pulling up on the edge of a sturdy table.</p>
<p>It gives you bigger shoulders so your waist looks smaller! Works the arms and all the muscles across your upper back.</p>
<p>Zuzana calls it the reverse pushup and does it with piece of equipment called a “dip station”:</p>
<p>[BODYROCK.tv</a> | Fitness Advice, Workout Videos, Health & Fitness | Bodyrock.tv](<a href=“http://www.bodyrock.tv/2010/12/22/dip-station/]BODYROCK.tv”>http://www.bodyrock.tv/2010/12/22/dip-station/)</p>
<p>The dip station is $80:</p>
<p>[Dip</a> Bar, Dip Stand, Dip Station, Dip Machine](<a href=“http://www.ultimatebodypress.com/ultimate-body-press-dip-bar.html]Dip”>Dip Bar Fitness Station — UltimateBodyPress.com)</p>
<p>For about the same money, I think the Jungle Gym XT suspension straps are probably a more useful home gym item if you can figure out a place to mount them. Even anchoring them to the top of a door would allow you to do reverse pullups and a lot of good stuff.</p>
<p>If I were looking to improvise for an apartment, I’d probably try to find a good solid bar I could lay across the space between two kitchen counters.</p>
<p>90 minute hot yoga class this morning. I lived. My daughter and her husband did an 8 mile run in wind and sleet. This is notable because she has really NOT been the runner in the family, but I think the half marathon she and I did together (without training) in September gave her a tremendous confidence boost. Her husband grew up believing that he had NO athletic ability at all. (they are both high-achievers as well as musicians) It is neat to see them running together- and at a decent pace! They half a half-marathon goal race in April. Perhaps I have passed the baton???</p>
<p>We have a piece of equipment at the office where you can do leg lifts, dips and pullups, all unassisted. At the Y, we have an assisted dip/pullup machine with narrow and wide grips. We also have an unassisted dip/pullup station. The stations are simple but rather tall. I can’t imagine having one at home unless you have very high ceilings.</p>
<p>I think that gyms don’t have inverted row stations as you can do quite similar exercises with other machines. At least with isolation exercises. You can use the Smith machine but you have to drag the bench from under it and then find a clean mat to put on the floor. Then clean the mat when you are done and put back the bench. A bit of a hassle for the exercise.</p>
<p>Perhaps a wooden sawhorse with attached grips would work.</p>
<p>Workout this morning was half an hour of chipping and shoveling ice. Going to the YMCA later today to do weight machines.</p>
<p>I do dips and pull ups (with assist) at the Y and I could do chin ups too. The inverted row is just a pain because I have to move a bench and find a mat. I’m not ready for Svetlana’s dip stand - because I still need a pretty substantial assist.</p>
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<p>I’d probably just drag the bench out far enough to put my feet on it. Raise the bar up another 20 inches and do the whole thing elevated. All you really need is a place to plop your feet down. On the floor, on the bench, it doesn’t make any difference if you can still get the body angle you can handle. If I recall, the Smith machine bar will go up pretty high so people can use it for squats and stuff. Do assisted pushups with your hands on the bench then the inversted rows and knock off both exercises at one station.</p>
<p>BTW, doing them with bent knees as Svetlana is doing with the dip station in the photos is *much *easier. That would be a good progression if you can’t get the bar high enough. It’s like doing pushups from the knees instead of the feet. The first time I tried this with a bar across two barstools I thought, “Well, this isn’t that hard”. Then I put my legs out straight and thought, “Oh my…”</p>
<p>Just got back from the Y. Went through the weight machines pretty easily - I can do more weight or reps without the joint problems.</p>
<p>While there, I went into the miscellaneous fitness room. They had an adjustable bench. It was adjustable on both sides. I’d guess that you could get it high enough to do your inverted rows. I measured my arms on it and I’d need another five inches. I think that the bench can go up another eighteen inches.</p>
<p>Lots of people at the Y today. It’s a dreary day - light rain amidst huge piles of snow outside. I’m going to do more weights at home today. The limiting factor at the Y when I have my son is in how long he runs for.</p>
<p>The problem with the bench for inverted rows was that the Smith machine is too close to the wall and I was worried if I pointed myself the other way I was more likely to have the bar slip off the hooks. I don’t need to do assisted pushups - that’s one thing I actually can do. :)</p>
<p>I meant using a bench standalone - not with the Smith Machine. Just grab the edge of the bench and pull yourself up off the floor.</p>
<p>The Smith Machine is right up against the wall at our office too. Normally, the bench is almost all the way under the Smith Machine so you can do a sitting shoulder press with it in place. To do a bench press, you have to pull it out. To do squats or a standing shoulder press, I find that I have to take the bench all the way out and move it somewhere else. This can be a pain when the bar is in your way. Our bench, fortunately, has wheels on one side and a handle on the other so you can just grab the handle and roll it away. It’s still a bit of work to do that as the bench is heavy and you have to lift the handle at a large enough angle so that the weight is on the wheels.</p>
<p>I just did my workout for the day. 4 rounds for time of:</p>
<p>400 meter run 6.6mph pace
3 hang cleans with 95#
400 meter run 6.6mph pace
3 hang cleans with 95#
400 meter run 6.6mph pace
3 hang cleans with 95#
400 meter run 7.2mph pace
3 hang cleans with 95#</p>
<p>Time: 11:45.</p>
<p>Short workout but tiring. I felt good afterwards :)</p>
<p>I hear ya. I had to kick out the jams. No hill walking, no intervals all week. Had to do something to get huffin’ and puffin. So I hopped on the Airdyne for a Workout Muse interval pyramid:</p>
<p>4 x 6 seconds with 18 seconds rest
4 x 20 seconds with 40 seconds rest
4 x 40 seconds with 80 seconds rest
4 x 60 seconds with 120 seconds rest
8 x 10 seconds with 20 seconds rest</p>
<p>The last set just about killed me. Forty minutes total on the bike, which is ten minutes over my limit, but it feels good. Definitely got the blood flowing. I had to take a break from lifting heavy stuff (including snow!). I’m a big believer in mixing it up and I couldn’t do that all week.</p>
<hr>
<p>I’ve got a hang clean on my list to try sometime. Looks like learning it with a dumbbell might be a good place to start. iPod nazi has a dumbbell clean in one of his workouts. Mike Boyle is big with the hang clean with the barbell as a power exercise and also because he only has his guys do front squats, so the hang clean is how they have to get the bar in position.</p>
<p>Yeah, cleans are definitely a power exercise. They are meant for explosiveness. They are the best full-body functional exercise I have found really… Today was lighter weight, but I have been having some difficulties increasing weight lately. I may have to re-evaluate my rep schemes and see if that makes a difference…</p>
<p>Of course after my workout I got my truck stuck trying to park in front of the house. Ended up having to get the shovel out and remove snow and ice. Wasn’t planning for that workout ;)</p>
<p>I was going to take a walk to a new pizza place that’s about a half-a-mile away. We put on our boots, stepped outside, saw glare ice all over the place and decided against it. The police are recommending that people stay home this evening as there’s freezing rain out. We’re staying put. Tomorrow it’s supposed to be really hot: 39 degrees!</p>
<p>I hurt myself while exercising yesterday. DH says it’s my hip flexor. So, I’ve been icing it on and off all day and taking my pain killers. I have never felt this kind of pain before and I promised my girlfriend, who has back pain every now and then that I will never call her a wimp again!</p>
<p>All of you posters have my admiration! I am trying to get the energy and initiative to get started back on an exercise regimen. We need a thread for weiny newbies! </p>
<p>There isn’t a thing on this page I understand except pizza parlor and heat at 39 degrees, and I’d take either or both. Preferably both.</p>
<p>Part of my problem and I admit it’s an excuse, is I am 35 minutes north of the Y (and there are no other gyms) and 35 minutes south of my job. There’s no way I’m traveling over an hour one way. That leaves home. We do not have a dvd machine and H would complain about hooking one up and having the Directv work properly. (I know how stupid that sounds, but we last had a vcr 6 years ago).</p>
<p>So I am left without knowing what exercises to do and how to do them. If I ate healthier, rode the exercise bike and worked in the barn more, I’d be ok. Or more ok. I guess that will be my first goal.</p>