There is an article through Knight-Ridder in our newspaper this morning about "Partners in Life, Love and Exercise". It concerns things we can do with someone else to combine with another for a workout programs.

I know many of us, just by our affiliation with this board, like working with others. I'll reprint the parts of the article giving the actions. Choose one of these - or one of your own today. Being a single is no excuse, by the way. Get a friend or neighbor or one of your kids involved.

"WARM-UP WITH A PARTNER
Warming up with a partner offers a good, deep stretch, as well as a good time for you to communicate with your spouse.

Stacie and Mike Mullen ( co-founder of Imagine Weight Loss Centers) suggested these moves:

1. Glute stretch: The parner lies on her back with the right leg bent and the other ankle crossed over, resting on the right knee. The partner lifts the right foot off the ground, bringing his legs into her chest.
The trainer applies pressure above the knee on the left leg, just below the hamstring. As with all stretches, apply the pressure for 20 seconds, then release, then apply pressure again, only go a little deeper. Switch legs if necessary.

2. Hamstring stretch: The partner lies on her back with the right leg extended on the ground and the left leg extended in the air, but without locking the knee. The trainer holds the left heel and pushes on the leg at the hamstring.

3. Back stretch: The partner sits with legs extended out in front. Bending at the waist, she tries to touch her toes while the trainer applies pressure to her lower back.

4. Butterfly stretch: The partner sits with feet together in the butterfly position. The trainer puts gentle pressure on the partner's knees, with the goal being to eventually get the knees to touch the ground.

5. Crunches: The partner does a basic crunch while the trainer holds the feet at the ankles. The trainer can use this time to count for the partner and provide motivation.

EXERCISES FOR TWO

Here's 10 things you and your spouse can do together:

1. Walking: One of the best ways you can communicate with your spouse is through walking together.
Sometimes it's tough getting your spouse to talk about "relationship issues," but if you give him a task, where he has a goal (getting to an end point), he's more likely to open up, said Heather Epperly (head trainer at the Lodge of Des Peres in St. Louis).
"He doesn't feel trapped," Stacie Mullen said.

2. Assisted stretching; Using a partner to help you get a better stretch offers better flexxibility. "having human touch involved makes things more personal," said Epperly.

3. Side-by-side treading: Epperly suggested working out on sidey-by-side treadmills. At the Lodge of Des Peres they call them the husband-and-wife treadmills.
"That way one person can go faster than the other," se said, "so one person isn't holding another back."

4. Racquet sports: "Anytime there is a game involved, you heighten the interest (from) the man,: Mullen said.
However, Epperly warns about too much competition between couples. An avid racquet sports enthusiast, Epperly used to play her husband left-handed (she's right-handed). One day, he thought he was ready for her to switch to her dominant hand. They made a friendly wager, and she beat him 10-0.
"We never played racquetball again," she said. "Sometimes if you are both competitive people, someone always ends up getting hurt."

5. Dancing: "Dancing is one of the most romantic things you and your partner can do," Mullen said. And it's a great way to burn calories. Fast dancing can burn up to 200 calories in half an hour.

6. Lovemaking: Let's face it, you can burn up to 100 calories in a half hour. Plus, studies have shown it to be an instant antidepressant because of the endorphins the body releases.

7. Bike riding or Spinning: In Spinning, you can ride side by side and set your own resistance, so if one partner is fitter than the other, he or she can make the workout tougher.
If you have similar fitness levels, try ridding outdoors on a trail so you can ride side by side and talk.

8. Boxing: "In every relationship there is frustration," said Mullen, who suggests shadowboxing or cardio kickboxing as a great way to relieve tension in a relationship.
Real boxing (if both are skilled) or hitting a heavy bag can also release stress that builds up in relationships.

9. Ab exercises: "Having great abs makes you feel more comfortable," Mullen said. "If you have better abs, you feel sexy, and strong core muscles help you in everything you do."

10. Interval workouts: This works great if you have a piece of cardio equipment and some weights in your home.

One person gets on the treadmill (or bike or elliptical) and sprints for two minutes while the other person spends two minutes doing one type of weight-lifting move (say biceps curls or lunges). Then you switch, and keep switching as long as you can keep it up (or until the kids start yelling for dinner).

If you can - share with us what you are planninng to do.

Linda,

Great idea! Unfortunately, DW is just coming off a sciatica attack so we're very limited for a while up here. However, I will keep this thread in mind for the future.

And, yes, I agree with the suggestion you made this afternoon.

Bill

Dh and I routinely do interval training together. I find that the time passes more quickly. We've tried stretching together but that seems to lead to the #6 that Denise was referring to ; )

As a family, we do walks, yoga and pilates.

Today, I had Cori stand on the bosu ball with me to provide and additional level of difficulty for me to keep us both balanced.

quote:

Originally posted by GoingSkiing:

quote:

Originally posted by johnbol:
Get a friend or neighbor... involved.

I’m just not ready to combine # 6 and our friends and neighbors…

Denise, I thought about putting an advisory in here, but then, I thought everyone would figure it out for her/himself. I wasn't going to go there! LOL.

School is out here on June 16th and then we have a couple months of our free bowling pass… that counts a little…

And all three of us walked over to the Y on Saturday… dh and I used the gym and ds shot hoops.

But, I have to be really careful that I don’t cross the line between “Let’s go exercise” and nagging…

It doesn’t take any nagging to get participation in # 6...

quote:

Originally posted by johnbol:
Get a friend or neighbor... involved.

I’m just not ready to combine # 6 and our friends and neighbors…

I have a friend/neighbor who is also a teacher at our school and she won’t walk in our neighborhood because we usually run into students… I think that is a positive thing. She is trying to psych herself to get over it… and might join the Y with me (which is 3 blocks from our house…)