I was thinking about the blog and March Madness (well, mostly March Madness) because I love sports.  Tennis, basketball, football, soccer, baseball (in person), if it’s on, then I want my television on, but sitting and watching television for hours (let’s face it, sports games aren’t always short…at least 2 hours or more) is not exactly healthy.  Several weeks ago I was working out and thinking how much I enjoy a little competition with myself.  I am not a huge competitor against others (I don’t like comparing myself to others) when it comes to exercising, so running against others or entering events that are timed races are not my cup of tea.  However, I DO love a great competition against myself.  What exactly does this mean?  I love improving the amount of reps I do when I exercise.  For example, if I do 3 sets of 50 crunches, then next time I want to do 3 sets of 60 crunches.  I like the extra push and how I feel once I have surpassed my previous amount of reps.

So, now you might be thinking how does March Madness and having a healthy competition with yourself fit together?  One involves a lot of sitting and the other involves health and competition.  As an avid sports freak and exercise lover, I thought it might be fun to put them together and have a little game against yourself during March Madness.  Why?  Because it’s a great opportunity to combine March Madness and health without allowing yourself to sit for hours at a time!

My challenge to you is to make an exercise bracket when you make your March Madness bracket.  For example, lunges versus squats, see which one you can do more of in a 1 minute interval.  Consider push-ups versus crunches, burpees versus jumping jacks and so on.  Fill out an entire bracket with exercises competing against each other.  I suggest placing the exercises you choose on an actual bracket and have your March Madness basketball bracket with it because here’s how it will work:  You will do each exercise that you have corresponding to the game on your basketball bracket.  For example, if Oklahoma State and Gonzaga are playing, you would have two exercises written next to them.  Lets use squats and lunges for this game.  At some point during the first half you will do squats for 1 minute and write down how many you achieved and once the second half begins, you will do lunges for 1 minute and write down how many you were able to do.  Like with the basketball games, whichever exercise got the most reps during the 1 minute wins and moves on to the next round! 😉  Keep doing this until you have a winning exercise. Get creative, there are lots of exercises you can use, you might consider one yoga pose versus another.  Remember, it’s all in good fun AND it is all to get our butts up off the couch as we sit and watch the upsets and unpredictable outcomes of March Madness unfold!

Here’s an example of an exercise bracket if you are having a hard time coming up with exercises or can’t quite picture it.  Remember you will do the corresponding exercises with the corresponding game that’s on your March Madness basketball bracket (one first half and one second half).  You can either do each exercise for a one minute interval and count the reps for each or choose a goal and see which one meets or comes closest to the goal.  Have fun with this and realize it’s to keep you from sitting the entire time during March Madness!

EAST (yoga): high plank hold v. low plank hold, cobra v. downward dog, spinal balance right v. spinal balance left, tree pose right v. tree pose left, triangle pose left v. triangle pose right, warrior pose left v. warrior pose right, bird of paradise left v. bird of paradise right, staff pose v. mountain pose

WEST (strength training): pushups v. squats, bicep curls right v. bicep curls left, tricep curls right v. tricep curls left, lunges v. wall sit, bicycle crunches v. floor crunches, side pushups right v. side pushups left, right leg balance v. left leg balance, shoulder raise left v. shoulder raise right

MIDWEST (cardio): high knees v. butt kicks, jumping jacks v. burpees, mountain climbers v. russian twists, pogo right leg v. pogo left leg, squat jumps v. plank walks, side2side squat heel touch v. side2side ski jumps, scissor runs v. standing leg kicks, one arm push up left v. one arm push up right

SOUTH (misc): jump rope v. hula hoop, arm circles front v. arm circles back, standing calf raise left v. standing calf raise right, chair left lift right v. chair leg lift left, left arm punches v. right arm punches, wall pushups v. marching in place, right leg lift and hold v. left leg lift and hold, right leg kick v. left leg kick

Hope this provides some March Madness inspiration!  Happy bracketising!  Enjoy your exercise bracket and your basketball bracket.  Hope your basketball bracket is doing better than mine! 😉

~jj