Hey everyone – it’s me! You know, that goofy guy who pretends to write every now & then!
Well, I’m still around. Obviously, I’m not writing as much as I once did. Simply, other things have taken precedence in the hierarchy of priorities in my life. These days, if it’s not actively ensuring the welfare & safety of my kids/family, making me money, getting me drunk, or making me healthy, it’s on the back burner. I still run, when I can – in fact, I’ve been running pretty regularly, but running keeps me healthy. And writing – while I once used it to “keep the crazy at bay,” I now regularly see a professional to talk things out – it’s certainly a far more direct way of dealing with some of the crazies in my head.
But I’m here today because I’m having some fun with my new workout regimen. I have a limited lunch time, and I don’t have shower facilities available to me, so running over lunch, right now, simply isn’t in the cards1. As I painfully slowly work my way toward a black belt in Tang Soo Do with my kids and bitterly accept the bullshit that is getting older realize I’m not as young as I once was, I’m finding that I don’t move all that well. I mean, sure, I can make my way through an hour-long class with my kids a couple times a week . . . but trying to get into a split? I watch everyone in class, happily complying with a stretch as sweat pours down my brow and I wonder if my groin is just groin to up and depart my body. Then I watch the more-advanced students practice their skills & realize “there is no way I’m ever going to manage that shit without some sort of intervention.”
I stumbled upon a workout plan by getting tricked into following an Instagram ad. Basically, it showed some middle-aged guys moving fluidly. GASP! “Hey, I’m a middle aged guy” I thought as I clicked through the ad. Minutes later, I was begging them to take my money.
Now I’m spending my lunches these days working on making myself stronger, more flexible, with more control over the way my body works. The focus is on three moves: The Bear, the Monkey, and the Frog2. I’m…having fun working out (though I’m certainly getting a few weird side-glances from my coworkers as they, you know, do things that normal people do, like use their lunch hour to go out to lunch).
The Bear: start on your hands & knees and push your butt into the air so that the soles of your feet and the palms of your hands are flat on the ground. Keeping your butt high, “step” forward with one hand, then the opposite foot, then the opposite hand….
The Froggy: start in a deep squat, place your hands in front of yourself (fingers facing out). Slowly shift weight so that more & more of your weight is supported by your hands and your knees are just barely off the ground, “hop” forward” back into a deep squat.
The Monkey: again, start in a deep squat. Place one hand in front of the opposite foot, the other hand outside of that same foot. Put your weight onto your hands and push your body so that you switch the foot/hand which are together.
It’s an 8 week program, and today marks week 2, day 1. I’m certainly getting myself sweaty over my lunch break (though nothing like what would happen if I were running). I’m sensing improvement – that may simply be because of the number of isometric holds you end up doing. I’m usually someone who feels a weakness & tries to compensate with something else that isn’t so weak. If I hold my ground when something doesn’t feel strong, though, well, it makes me think about how things feel as I get stronger.
I’ll see if I can chime back in every few weeks, just to show how things are going. Because, frankly, loyal readers3, I miss posting here.