Never mind that once my grandmother discovered I wrote and drew with my left hand, she bought me left-handed scissors that I could not use. Because I'm not truly left-handed. Or right-handed. I'm asymmetrically ambidextrous. If I try, I can hold a pen in my right hand and actually produce a drawing. I can write in cursive and sign my name. It's uncomfortable and makes my brain itch. However, I can switch obliviously between my right and left using cutlery, making my dining companions crazy. Chopsticks, however, are resolutely in the left hand and there have been many instances of dueling sticks at the supper table.
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| Truly severe asymmetry! German arm-wrestler Matthias Schlitte |
My right side is stronger than my left. But my left is bigger, and more coordinated. During One-Arm Seated Cable Rows, the movement seems almost natural in my left hand, but I struggle with it in my right. Catching and tossing a ball is right-handed, as is drawing a bowstring. My right eye is dominant as well. It's also the eye with troubling Visual Field results. But my vision is better in that eye. My vision keeps changing though. I suspect that there's some flexibility in my lens because sometimes I see people or objects and I swear they looked bigger, or taller than they did before. Everything is mutable, from my heart rate to my IOP., and that's probably not a good thing.
My right side has a lot of physiological issues including a confluence of snaking blood vessels that double back on themselves in my shoulder and neck. I've been warned not to do shoulder presses since congestion there leads to a disturbing hearing loss in my right ear. It's only temporary, but unpleasant. It happened last week while I was pedaling on the elliptical. I thought my headphones were either broken, or filled with sweat. Instead, my ear was plugged. Eventually it popped and I could hear normally again.
When I look down at my feet, I notice that my right foot travels across the pedal. The left foot stays fairly put. My right hip isn't as flexible as the left when I'm at the Stretch Cage. My right shoulder cramps and knots when I'm at the computer too long even though I mouse on the left side. I can trackball ambidextrously, but mousing can only be done right-handed. Go figure. Wielding a sword, even a mock wooden one, makes me right-handed. Kickboxing the Nexersys machine makes me right-handed. My right is my Power side. With caveats.
Cross-training is always the smart way to go unless you're training with a specific goal in mind. I just want great overall fitness. Today is Day One of the Abbreviated Workout. I'm using Cardio as a base, and then adding what seems important at the moment. Today is cardio, core and two basic strength and endurance movements: push ups and pull ups. Pull ups are the only exercise I'm a bit leery of injuring myself with because I have weak flaky joints. So I do hammer grip pull ups, and I space my sets far apart to give my elbows plenty of recovery time.
I haven't done sets of push ups in a really long time. Even the first set of 50 was a bit more difficult than I remember. I had to pause at 40 for a second before doing 5 reps, pause and then finish with the last 5 reps. I do planks in between the push ups, which I'm sure doesn't really make push ups any easier. Nor does it make planks any easier! But the hammer grip pull ups are easier than I remember. I actually don't feel my arms or elbows doing this, probably because I'm concentrating so hard on getting my face clear of the Stretch Cage Roof. I do admit to keeping my arms slightly bent to prevent over-stressing my elbows. They actually feel okay when I'm done. Yaaay! Maybe I really am stronger than I used to be? I'm certainly bigger. Monday: Day One Abbreviated Workout
(6.79 miles total)
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