Tag Archives: gymnastics

Passport to Healthy Quick Meals + Gym Ring Workout

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Check out Passport to Healthy Quick Meals

by The Fit Fork at Foodie.com

Don’t get so busy at mealtime that you slip into the bland habit of eating the same thing every night. Occasionally this happens to me, I realize that I am eating the same lettuce mix with the same toppings and dressing for days on end – like some sort of salad robot!

Just like you plan a vacation by leafing through brochures and surfing the web, why not spend a few extra minutes each week finding some quick and easy ways to give your busy weeknight meals some international flair and flavor. To get you started, I’ve put together a collection simple and healthy dinner recipes for Foodie.com that are a one-way ticket to flavor town – groan, did I just say that?! There is a healthy international recipe for everyone – Thai recipes, Italian recipes, American recipes, Middle Eastern recipes, Latin American recipes and more! I’ve also put together a challenging workout for the gymnastic rings. I love to get a workout in on the rings because, unlike a stable bar or floor surface, the rings make your muscles work in over drive to find balance and work in harmony with your whole body. On the rings everything is a little more difficult –  okay, some things are a lot more difficult. With the movement of the rings,  I’m constantly having to rely on joint position and muscle senses in order to accomplish an exercise – that’s called proprioception, y’all! Gymnastics Ring Fiend Workout - TheFitFork.com While I’ve written this gymnastic ring workout for 5 sets, feel free to go at your own pace and rest between sets and individual exercises. Also, reduce the number of sets and reps, if needed. If you can’t do one of the exercises, simply hang from the rings and stretch your spine out and then practice the hollow body rock movement needed for kipping. If workout is too easy, wear a weight vest like I suggest in my Rings of Fire workout – ha! Swinging on the Rings - TheFitFork.com

Passport to Healthy Quick Meals + Gym Rings WOD #sponsored @foodie

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zooma run texasAlso, if you are planning on running Zooma Texas (or even just sorta thinking about it), join me, the other Zooma ambassadors and lots of new running friends at Athleta at the Domain ( 11601 Century Oaks Terrace Suite 121, Austin, TX 78758 ) for a Kick Off Training Run.  We’ll run 3 miles together as #ZOOMAnation and then enjoy post-run beverages and a gift-with-purchase (of $75+) from Athleta. All levels of runners are welcome, you do not have to be registered for the race to attend, so grab your girlfriends and join us!

Have you ever been on the gymnastic rings? My favorite exercise on the rings is “toes-to-bar,” what is yours . . . or what would you try first? Have you ever run a Zooma race? 

How Did I Flippin’ Get Talked Into a CrossFit Gymnastics WOD!

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Yesterday I got schooled on sideshow tricks and such at a CrossFit Gymastics Seminar hosted at Fit and Fearless CrossFit in Austin.  Teaching us mere mortals these super-human skills was the intrepid and, might I add, impressively-strong-but-not-hulkishly-muscular, Matthew Willis from Texas Parkour.  Apparently he knows his stuff, even trained with the super agile Carl Paoli of Gymnastics WOD. I noticed that Matthew has this quote on his Facebook page, it’s a good one to keep in mind when you’re 45 like me and trying gymnastics again after 30 years —

“It’s not how many times you fall, but how many times you get back up that really matters.”

After warming up, our first challenge of the day was Diving Monkey Push Up (aka Parkour Pushup).  Seriously, when I heard the name, I wasn’t so sure this was for me and honestly, for my scrappy arms, it was one of the hardest moves of the day – my triceps were already killing me going into it.  The move is like a kipping push up and is supposed to be performed in a fluid manner, to the chopping start and stopping I found myself doing.  I’ll have to practice this all month until I have it down, but check out Valerie and Matthew working the progression:

Next, we took a little crash reminder course in the importance of keeping a Hollow Body position for many of the upcoming tricks. You have to master this “core” concept before you can move onto many of the more complex skills like kipping pull-ups and muscle-ups.  Watch how the demonstrator in the video below gets proper form by tucking head up slightly, rounding back so shoulder blades are off the ground, abs and glutes are engaged tightly, and legs are squeezed together all the way together down to the toes – now rock it!

 

We took this hollow body skill off the floor and practiced it on the bar in preparation for kipping pull-ups. Since I’ve already got this pull up skill down for the most part, I did appreciate the tips on releasing grip and re-catching grip on the upswing. Watch below I’m hanging on to my last few kipping pull-ups on quivering arms after a long morning of hard work. Video is sideways and I can’t figure out how to flip it, go figure.

On to handstands, my main takeaway was to remember to keep my hands pointed forward for better balance and to engage shoulders and core as much as possible.  Also, we practiced a front roll out as a graceful way to get out of the handstand pose if we kicked over too much.  Maybe not so graceful for me; I used to be able to flip around, walk on my hands, and all sorts of stuff – now I’m just freaked out about hurting my neck and back. But, I’m not saying I can’t do it; that would mean a 10 burpee punishment!

Finally, we showed off with our favorite tricks like one-armed handstands (holla), walking on hands, kipping handstand push-ups and more. The only thing we didn’t get to practice was a skill I’ve been trying to master for six months – the muscle up.

Jennifer and Linda rocking out the one-armed handstand!