Running with Babies

As an import to LA, I often wonder if anyone really feels at home here.  I know people who really like LA; who feel connected with the entertainment industry–and thereby the city–but frankly, it’s more common to complain about it.  I do it all the time.

Item:  Today I had occasion–it’s rare, but it happens–to go to Beverly Hills.  The seriously swanky area, near Wilshire and Rodeo, those famous street names that, improbably, have actually come to mean something to me since I moved here nine years ago.  I’ve never been a New Yorker, but it’s a little like saying, “Take the A Train to Canal Street; go two stops up towards 195th street…” and on and on.  That weird “I know this city” pride thing that New Yorkers get…well, Wilshire and Rodeo:  that’s the LA version.

Actually, it was Wilshire and Cañon, which is right next to Rodeo.  I’m over in that neck of the woods, driving my dinged-up Ford Escort, feeling like a real human being amongst people who still own Hummers and Escalades.  They drive them a little less aggressively these days.  It’s like they’re trying to blend into the scenery while driving a 100,000-dollar, seventeen-ton behemoth.  They wash them less.  They look sheepish in them, letting old ladies cross the street in front of them. 

Anyway, I’m driving around in Beverly Hills and wondering, what’s going on here?  Does anyone still want to buy a 200-dollar t-shirt? 

I actually saw a “SALE” sign outside of one of those swank shops.   Astounding!  A Beverly Hills shop that acknowledged the recession!    I almost walked in and applauded the managers. 

So, yes, LA is a weird place.

LA is a place where you can feel a fashion trend literally groundswelling underneath your feet.  It’s like someone clicked the “Paint Bucket” icon all over LA and suddenly everyone–seriously, everyone– is wearing Ugg Boots.  The one that I noticed lately–because I’m at that phase in my life–is the baby-stroller one.  Now, I’m not going to mention the name of this particular stroller, because heaven knows they don’t need my endorsement, but these days, if you drop in on the average Angelino with a baby, chances are they’ll be pushing one of these strollers.  Let’s call them the “Evolution Mob” stroller.   They run about five hundred bucks. 

Now–we don’t have an Evolution Mob–though Iet me tell you, I wanted one just before they became ubiquitous, and then, suddenly, I strenuously resisted getting one.  I’m contrary that way.  I’m also contrary when it comes to paying five hundred bucks for something that should cost–at most!–half that. 

Anyway.  All this has been a huge digression.  The other day I took our perfectly-serviceable-but-not-overly-trendy stroller out for a run.  I put our six-year old in it, who weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 55 pounds.  Then I found the biggest hill I could and sprinted up it, pushing her in the stroller with all my might, for about a minute.  Then I stumbled down to the foot of the hill and repeated this senseless, but exhilarating, exercise five more times.  If I slowed down, my six-year-old let me know about it. 

Much fun, and a great workout in less than 20 minutes.  I almost barfed numerous times.  Such fun.  Essentially an uphill sled-pushing exercise, which I highly recommend to people with kids.  You can get your workout in and bond with your kids at the same time. 

Along those lines–here’s an article on the benefits and pitfalls of shoving a stroller around while you run.  Upshot:  it’s all good. 

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Okay, is Nick Tumminello the most prolific web trainer out there?  He produces as much free content as some of the bigger sites, and he’s a one-man band!  Here’s a great new piece of his on working the lower body when your knees are giving you trouble, or if, for whatever reason, horror of horrors, you can’t squat and deadlift. Do a few of the movements that Nick demos in this article (on multiple videos!), and you’ll be begging to get back under that squat bar.  Nick’s article answers the hotly-debated question of whether conventional squats and deads are essential to complete lower-body strength and development–resoundingly, I’d say, the answer is NO.