This, not that

Some things aren't always great and we don't like them. Nothing wrong with that, but we often enough don't realize there may be an alternative to it. (with the exception of women, zing!)

Here are an easy 5 I suggest taking a look at.

1) Front squat: It's not so much the exercise that people have trouble with, but the grip set-up.

Elbows up with wrists bent back and sticking your chest out isn't convenient for some. Luckily, all you need is 2 kitchen towels to work around that. And yes I'm aware that this trick has been around for a while.

Just put one in each hand and fold it around the bar to keep it hugged in. This allows you to keep the bar balanced on your shoulders without excessively bending your forearms and wrists.

Straps are shown, but towels work fine.

2) Crunches: Overused and overrated with many people doing them wrong. The best part is that our replacement exercise is simple and effective.

Enter the dead bug. The section of that article titled "The Dead Bug Series" describes how the exercise is performed, but here's a video of a modified version.

Between the two, you should be able to understand how it's done.

3) Oatmeal: I'm not a fan of oatmeal and neither do a lot of other people I know. But, the mushy baby vomit-like oatmeal most people are familiar with is made from rolled oats.

Another type of oats is steel cut oats which have a completely different texture. If you think the typical oatmeal from rolled oats is gross, then this is definitely more up your ally.

4) Running: Unless you're training for an event or sport, why focus your energy on half of the body? Crank it up by doing a full-body effort session.

If you lift twice a week, end your workouts with a "finisher" which could be a number of things. Tabatas are popular. Do 20 seconds of an exercise then follow it by 10 seconds of rest and repeat for a total of four minutes.

5) The Wasteful: You know all the unproductive things you do, coughFacebookcough. Oh heavens, I must be coming down with something.

But seriously, take some time out of the day to do something that isn't fully immersed in technology like reading, meditating, or laying down and doing some calm easy thinking.

Even 10 minutes is better than nothing. It can go a long way.

There you have it. 5 tidbits that hopefully help you all out.

Maybe if I think of another 5 I'll write another post like this again someday.....eh, maybe not.

Who knows.