Happy Monday and Happy Christmas Eve, wherever you live in the world!
Many of you who follow me on my YouTube channel have wanted to see my approach to workouts, so this week you’ve gotten your wish with this sample of my Five-Exercise Circuit Workout.
When I filmed this short video, it had been a very busy day at the Heaven House and a little colder too, which is why I wore my tank top (yes it gets cold, even in Southern California). I didn’t push myself too hard because that’s what my body was requesting of me…
As you’ll see, I start with a quick mobilization using a 6-inch foam roller to get my spine aligned and free up my joints. This helps to bring everything back into balance and create a good chi flow which is important so I don’t end up hurting myself by being in too much of a rush to be wise about it.
I don’t feel too tight anywhere today, so I don’t have to do specific stretching to warm up. But I like to roll my spine out after sitting for long periods of time and doing a lot of office and podcast work (check out my BIG! podcast announcement later this week!) with my “$10 chiropractor” to gently work out the soreness in my back and mobilize my sacrum, glutes and hamstrings (especially after sitting in a chair a lot).
My $10 chiropractor is also a massage therapist so that works out nicely, with just enough pressure so that my vertebrae are in good alignment. When you get older, you’ve got to take a little more time to balance yourself out. I’ve got some battle wounds in there, and a lot of life endured by this body!
Once I’ve got a little flow going, I feel good and everything’s working, I start a short circuit workout with 4 circuits of 5 exercises.
For this circuit workout, here’s the list of exercises I used:
- Chin up with pike and assorted grips.
- Lateral lunge pull.
- Clubbell walking lunge with a twist.
- Single-arm Olympic bar row.
- Prone Swiss ball crawling forward and backward.
One last and very important thing you should be doing to prep for a workout is also one of the easiest: Find some inspiration in your favorite music, a podcast or audiobook you can play on your earbuds or in the background!
In the background on this video, you’ll hear Matt Kahn reading from Everything is Here to Help You. His wonderful and inspiring book gives us a roadmap to let our egos and perceived limitations about life get out of the way and to begin to embrace this wonderful thing called life that is here to support and love us… if we allow it.
Love and chi,
Paul
