Ideas for Functional Fitness

Been looking at Matt Hsu's videos.  I like his banter, although probably not to everyone's taste.  First found a few of his videos related to balance.  They range from the most basic for seniors and beginners to ideas appropriate for people who are already in good shape when it comes to holding a 1-leg stand.  He suggests 30 seconds as a good baseline before moving on to more challenging approaches.

2 Ways to Improve Your Balance and Stability (And Have Fun Doing It)

10 min

Intermediate and advanced

For me, wanting to ski more was the incentive to exercise deliberately after finishing up knee rehab a decade ago.  Matt came up with an incentive that everyone could relate to for improving strength and flexibility for multiple parts of the body.  The idea is that being able to get out of a car window safely could be life-saving in the event someone is in a car stuck in rising water.

The approach is about functional fitness.  While he has pay programs, he's released a fair number of free videos in the last few years.  His motto is "think right, move right, feel right."

This Practice Physical Fitness Test could SAVE Your Life

15 min

Balance exercises to do at home

I'm always on the look out for balance exercises that are easy to do at home.  For seniors, maintaining good balance is the best way to avoid falls.  The worst case scenario after a hard fall is a broken hip.  Post-op recovery is quite difficult over 70 or 80.

The second video is a different take on how to improve balance because he is demonstrating exercises to strengthen muscles around the hips and glutes.  The exercises to work adductors and abductors look more like routines I would do, as opposed to doing crab walks with an exercise band.  Usually people mention working the small muscles around the ankle.

The reason the third video caught my eye is because the subtitle was "Proprioceptive Rehab by Dr. Doug Weise DPT."  Proprioception was an important factor that I learned about in 2012 when doing knee rehab.

How To Improve Your Balance - Home Exercises For Balance And Stability

6 min

How to Improve Balance - Seniors and Beginners
10 min

Best balance exercises, 5 min
10 Best Exercises for Balance!, 22 min

Ideas for using BOSU® Balance Pods

In 2019, BOSU came out with a new product.  They are called BOSU® Pods and they look like mini BOSUs.  I noticed them when shopping for something else and thought they might be useful during driving trips.  A regular BOSU takes up too much space.  I took it along a few times during knee rehab in 2012-13 but have only been using it at home in the last decade.

Here are a few videos using BOSU Pods.  I'm unlikely to do Kaitlin's full workouts but found her videos good for ideas of how the Pods can be used.

BOSU® Balance Pods Exercises at Home

5 min

At Home Core & Glute Workout 

| Trainer Kaitlin and the BOSU® Balance Pods

17 min

Cardio, Core and Agility Workout 

| A BOSU® Balance pods Series with Trainer Kaitlin

 14 min

Wall sits are good for hamstrings and quads

A wall sit is an isometric exercise.  Doing a wall sit only takes a few minutes, but when done consistently there are benefits for hamstrings and quads.  The best approach is to do a wall sit during pre-season for a minute every day, or a couple wall sits every few days.  How long you can hold a wall sit will make it clearer whether or not you need to work on strengthening the muscles that are involved.  Strong hamstrings help to support knees.

Depending on where and when I do a wall sit, sometimes it's easier to slide all the way to the floor when done instead of trying to stand back up.  I prefer to do wall sits where I can reach something for support when standing up.

The last couple of links include video clips.

Muscles Used During Wall Sits
https://healthyliving.azcentral.com/muscles-used-during-wall-sits-3749.html
A text explanation of how wall sits help hamstrings, quads, and potentially adductors, all at the same time

Introduction on how to do wall sits
https://www.wikihow.com/Do-Wall-Sits

Wall Sit Benefits
https://theworkoutdigest.com/wall-sit-benefits/

TRX HIIT, only 7 exercises but tough!

The easiest way to use TRX for improving cardio is to do HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training).  This routine is best for people who are already familiar with the exercises.  The standing exercises can be done with jumping or without.  Also helps to know other exercises that can be used as alternatives.  Especially during the second and third round for the exercises on the floor.  By the third round, I don't want to take the effort to get down and put my feet in the straps.

The single-leg Burpie is really hard to get set up quickly.  I opt to just do regular Burpies without the TRX.

TRX Cardio HIIT #1

https://youtu.be/X__Ivsjrf4o, 17 min, #shortcircuitswithmarsha

TRX for strengthening core muscles, any level of fitness

This sequence of ten exercises involve using the TRX while on the floor, preferably with a mat.  All of them are geared to strengthening core muscles.  The goal is to develop enough core strength to be able to do a suspended TRX plank for a minute or more.  A strong core is key for skiing at any level.  Also turns out to be useful when getting to your favorite ski area is more than 

A few of the exercises remind me of Pilates.  Being able to use the TRX straps to help stabilize is similar to the advantage of doing deep squats with TRX.  Even though I now can do deep squats without TRX, I much prefer doing them with the TRX.  Net result is that I do more squats and more often because I invested in a TRX after learning how to do some exercises with good form working with my personal trainer.

TRX Core - Abdominal Exercises for Everyone, 14 min

https://youtu.be/0__WL6PzmGA

TRX using a door anchor or outdoors

One of the advantages owning a TRX is that it can be set up in a variety of places.  With the appropriate accessory it's easy to find good places indoors or outdoors to set up a TRX.

I use mine mainly with the door anchor in my basement.  I have brought it along on driving trips and to use in a few hotel rooms or hotel/resort fitness center.  It's better if the door opens away from the side you are exercising on.  Then the door frame is extra support and the door cannot open accidentally.  However, if that's not an open then putting the Door Anchor near the hinge is pretty safe.

Using a TRX outdoors is great when the weather is nice.  Also easier to do with friends when you have a a place to meet where it's easy to set up 3-4 TRX straps a reasonable distance apart.  Click on the link and scroll down on the webpage below to see a few creative outdoor locations for TRX when traveling in Paris.

All the Unusual Places You Can Use Suspension Trainers to Get a Great Workout

TRX Door Anchor Set Up

https://youtu.be/8hAAN2JO5rM

Basic squat with door anchor

https://youtu.be/cRiyoSd_yQY

Anchor™ Upper Body Workout

https://youtu.be/mHPe2p0Kukc, 3 min

Four exercises with door that opens towards the exercise side

Complete TRX workout for a hotel room or apartment

30-min including warm up and cool down

https://youtu.be/2yb30TMXrRA