The Nerdist Way_ How to Reach the Next Level (In Real Life) - Chris Hardwick [56]
■ Pause while extended and contract the triceps while exhaling.
■ DO 2 SETS OF 15–20 REPS.
SEATED ONE-ARM TRICEPS EXTENSIONS
■ Sit down on your ball (tee-hee).
■ Keep your back straight and your eyes forward.
■ Rest one arm across your body until your hand is touching your opposite hip.
■ Lift the dumbbell in your other arm over your head and bend it at a 90-degree angle as if you were trying to scratch your back.
■ Now straighten your arm while exhaling and contracting the triceps.
■ Lower back to the starting position.
■ DO 2 SETS OF 15–20 REPS.
Legs
That’s right, it’s your old pals Squats and Lunges! This time you won’t need any snazzy equipment, just the right form. A nice option for reducing stress on your knees is to perform squats with an exercise ball pinned between your back and the wall. The ball will move up and down with you, also giving you constant lower back support. The rubbery ball mashed up against you feels oddly satisfying, too.
FREESTANDING SQUATS
■ Stand with your feet slightly wider than your shoulders.
■ Hold your arms straight ahead or place them on your hips.
■ Keep your back straight, your eyes forward, and your knees slightly bent.
■ In your downward motion, you’ll be sitting into a squat position until your thighs are parallel to the ground.
■ Focus on keeping your weight back on your heels.
■ Stand back up, but don’t fully extend your legs or lock your knees.
■ Keep the motion slow and fluid.
■ DO 2 SETS OF 15 REPS.
STATIONARY LUNGES
■ Stand with your feet about six inches apart.
■ Place one leg forward and step the other back until you’re up on the ball of your foot (or “your feet’s balls” as I childishly call them).
■ Place your hands on your hips.
■ Keep your back straight and your eyes forward.
■ Lunge downward but don’t let your back knee hit the floor.
■ Make sure your front knee doesn’t drift out past your toes on the downward motion.
■ Stand back up but don’t fully extend your legs or lock your front knee.
■ Keep the motion slow and fluid.
■ DO 2 SETS OF 15 REPS.
AB CRUNCHES ON THE BALL
I do these with my knees bent and my feet resting up against the baseboard of the wall for stability.
■ Place your butt at a 45-degree angle from the center of the exercise ball.
■ Place your hands behind your head.
■ Crunch upward, contracting your abdominal muscles to pull you up. Be careful not to arch your back.
■ Let your body fold back against the curve of the ball on the downward motion.
■ DO 3 SETS OF 25 REPS.
Stretch!
WORKOUT 3: ON THE ROAD
This may not apply to you, but as I travel with the frequency of a junior flight attendant, it’s important for me to have options for exercising in hotels. Tom has always stressed to me that—away from the comfort and familiarity of my regular exercise equipment and routine—my goal is to continue working out, not to get into better shape while I’m gone. In other words, think of these as maintenance workouts to keep your blood flowing until you can get back home. These will be light, conservative workouts that will help you avoid injury. I learned this lesson in an unpleasant way: I was in New York a few years back, and I went down to the hotel gym for a run on the treadmill. I got this thing in my head that I was going to run as hard as I could for thirty minutes, just to be able to report back to Tom how awesome I was. I completed the run, but because it was new to me, I hadn’t thought to stretch well enough before or after. Even if I had, it wouldn’t have helped. My lower back told me to fuck off almost immediately after, and I was bedridden in a pain cloud for several days. It took a few weeks to resume my normal workout level. My attempt to leap forward in one day led to a giant step back. Try to avoid the ego-driven workouts when you’re alone.
When we travel, our patterns are broken and we tend to work out less, eat worse, and drink more. We get the “Eh, fuckit!” attitude. This is fine as long as you understand that it