One important and rarely mentioned aspects of physical fitness is body awareness.  I think those of us with type one or type two diabetes have a leg up in this arena because we have a heightened awareness of what happens inside our bodies.

I’ve used that heightened awareness to my advantage when it comes to physical fitness.  (Any kind of advantage counts in my world.)

You can move through any exercise you perform without a moment of thought—just do what you’re told to do or climb onto the machine and go.  But when you involve your brain and some basic knowledge of anatomy, you can use it to benefit the time you spend exercising. 

You put more thought in, you get more results out.

This is true about any exercise, but today let’s talk briefly about abdominal muscles.  I mean, when was the last time you asked yourself what “abs” are, anyway?!

The simple answer is that “abs” is short for “abdominals” and generally refers to the group of muscles that I simply (and entirely unprofessionally) think exist to keep your insides from falling out. 

When it comes to abdominal exercises, it’s good to understand what muscles are involved so that you can think about the move and stimulate more muscle recruitment. 

Just like any muscle, it is impossible to target just one area of the mass.  (Try using only your upper bicep muscle…) but you can do certain moves that recruit areas a bit more than other areas.  For example, a crunch when correctly performed stimulates the upper areas of the rectus abdominis than it does the lower areas.  Likewise, a crunch with your hips simultaneously lifting off the ground will stimulate and fatigue the lower areas of the rectus abdominis more than it will the upper areas. 

Try to feel the differences in your abdominals next time you are doing an ab workout.  Think of your anatomy and visualize the differences when performing a regular crunch and when you crunch straight up with your knees to one side (which will recruit more obliques than a regular crunch).

It is generally simple stuff, but the more work you can do to understand what is physically going on inside your body, the better results you will see from the outside.

Go to it!

I have been having a weird couple of weeks lately, full of transitions.  I am not a fan of transitions because I feel like my life works better when I can plan and I can’t plan very well for what I don’t know will happen.

I think my workouts and diabetes have both suffered a bit. 

My husband has been working really long hours and night shifts, so we aren’t seeing much of each other.  The problem I have with that is not only do I miss him, but he often makes dinner when I’m exercising.  Having dinner together means we eat vegetables and a full meal—I’m not so good at full meals when I’m randomly by myself.

I have also felt a bit of a slump as I come down from my post half-marathon high and see the full marathon ahead of me on Halloween.  Running has been far from my thoughts—farther that I would like, this close to a marathon!

And I have been busy mentally and physically planning to start a new chapter of my bootcamp life as I leave employment of nearly 5 years and go out on my own.  Scary stuff at any time, but with economic news what it is, I continually debate whether I am doing a smart or foolish thing.

Which is all to say, I am a bit worn out.  The effects of these kinds of transitions ripple through my daily life, of course, and it takes some stern focus to keep at it.  My highs and lows seem random, and I don’t feel like I can really divert my attention right now to get fully back on track.

So, I muddle through.

I also make sure to take time, even if it is 5 minutes, to do things that bring me peace and help me take a mental break.

I got some books from the library yesterday.  I bury my face in the fuzzy bellies of my two cats.  I play puffball with George and string with Gracie.  I listen to my bootcampers sharing aspects of their daily lives a little bit more intently. 

I try to escape completely, just for a little bit, from my thoughts.  I think I would be a mess of tangled nerves if I didn’t.

I scale back on my workouts, and lift lighter weights, do shorter workouts, and plan runs with friends instead of trying to push myself alone.    

I’ve been in these transitions before, more times than I care to list.  Like I said, I’m not a fan!  But knowing I’ve been through them before helps me to relax through this one and keep my focus.  Knowing that if I worry too much about my blood sugars or my exercise or my eating or whether I am arriving early or late each day I will only wear out sooner, and have nothing to show for it.  Knowing that the small things today are only temporary, and my recent blood sugars will quiet down, and things will work out in the long run.  And knowing how important it is to take those small moments of joy and really experience them for what they are—a moment of joy and relaxation in the midst of transition and what sometimes feels like turmoil.

Maybe I’m growing up a little.