Persistence

We live in an age of mixed messages. There's no absolutes anymore. And what we believe is dependent on how we were raised and what our core values are. Where's the fine line between stalking and persistent courtship? Between the romantic "I can't live without you" and murder-suicides? Extremes populate all areas of our lives, from junk food afficionados to anti-vaxxers. Even in exercise physiology, there's little consensus as to what will benefit people most. Most agree that the sedentary lifestyle is deadly, but duration of exercise, intensity, and cardio vs load-bearing are still subject to discussion. Studies abound supporting every premise. In the end, it just comes down to what you personally can sustain on a regular basis, because persistence is the key.

In a recent online article about newbie runners, the author writes that muscles are the first to adapt to the stress of a new exercise. Ligaments and tendons will takes weeks longer. And bones will also adapt, but they take even longer due to the nature of bone loss and restoration. The point of the article was to encourage new runners to be kind to themselves and not court injury before the full benefits of exercise have had a chance to restructure the body.

I will admit that I've never thought about how long it takes for tendons, ligaments and bones to adapt. I had been told (by trainers and doctors alike) that ligaments and tendons can't be exercised. I guess that's very old school. And even though I'm pushing 60 (egads!), I hold the firm belief that lifting weights makes my bones thicker and stronger, and I'll be less susceptible to shrinkage and fractures when I'm older. I'm already under 5 feet tall so I really don't want to lose any more height!

Finally at the Smith! 

There's a 2-hour delay for schools due to icy road conditions. I get the call at 5 am and reset my alarm clock. The snow on my windshield is soft and melts off easily once I get my car started. Heavy fog shrouds the surrounding trees, and roads disappear into a blur of grey fuzzy clouds. Even though my car comes with daytime running lights, I turn my headlamps on so that I'll also have tail lights. I really don't understand people who not only refuse to clear the snow and ice from their windshields (peering out from the clear arc of the wiper path), but don't turn their headlamps on when visibility is poor. There's a Wiper Law in NYS, but I've never seen anyone enforce it.

Needless to say, I get to the gym much later than usual. After my cardio warm up, I look around to see what equipment is available. The skinny old Walrus Mustache is at the Smith. I do my push ups and crunches in the classroom. When I reenter the free weight area, he's still on a propped up bench, but he's gabbing with Loud Mouth. Ugh. The old guys are worse than the old women in the locker room. Today is a Pull Day so I set up at the T-bar Row, but first I have to wait until the Professor stops flirting with some woman standing next to the Step Mill. She's blocking a gal from the paper towel dispenser, and he's blocking me from using the machine properly. Yes, my gym has equipment crowding each other in not optimal spacing.

Re-purposed soda bottle

Today I remembered to bring my "new" water bottle: a re-purposed seltzer bottle. It holds 32 oz which should be adequate compared to my old 20 oz bottle. I put rubber bands on it to improve "grippability". And I think it'll fit into most of the water bottle holders, unlike my old nalgene camping water bottles. At least I'm not carting around a gallon jug of unnaturally blue water, like I've seen some members do...

After T-bars, I look up and see that A-rod is on the Smith. He's going to be there a while. He's not actually A-rod, but looks like he could be the slugger's more muscular older brother. Looks like I have no hope of getting doing Smith RDLs today.  The Mayor is at one of the Lat Pull Down stations. I drop my gear at the other station and grab the close grip neutral handles. The T-bar rows were hard and I had stopped at 12 reps. Then I looked up the last time I did this exercise and realized that I usually go for more reps. Nothing quite like shaming myself into more reps, hence those last two sets of 20 reps. This is the best reason to record all your workouts in a way you can easily access, whether it's a notebook, or in my case, on a notepad in my phone. (Yes, I've tried a lot of those fancy workout apps, but after a few round of "upgrades" that make the app prettier but harder to read, I've given up on them.)

I feel weak, probably because I haven't done Lat Pull Downs in a long time. Uh, looks like at least a month! Oh jeeze. Well, nothing like kicking my own butt and picking up where I left off. The max weight of 115 is still hard, and I can barely get my feet hooked under the knee bar to anchor me. 8 reps is all I can do though. I feel lighter, an illusion, based on how hard it is to get back into the seat. A-rod has wandered away from the Smith and is now chatting with the Professor and the Mayor. Oh jeeze. Well, that's my chance to get to those Smith RDLs!

I'm a bit nervous and wonder if I'm going to have a lot of trouble since I normally don't do this primary movement so late in my workout. Apparently, it's not that much of a problem, and I only feel a bit winded after the last heavy set. That's a relief! It's getting late so I skip directly to RG BB Curls for my tiny lagging forearms. Structurally, I'm never going to have big forearms, just like I'll never have big muscular hands. I just don't have the genetics for it. But I can strengthen what I do have.

I do some quick yoga stretch moves on the mat before heading to the locker room. The Mayor is chatting by the front desk. While I'm showering and changing I hear lots of loud male voices, mostly because there are no doors to the entrances of the locker rooms and machines are just a few feet away. When I exit the locker room, the Mayor is still at the front desk, talking loudly as usual.

Icy Tuesday Pull Day
30 min elliptical + 5 cd
Program 3
Calories 2.85
Miles 317
HR 156-203 (79-96)

Push Ups
Crunches 30/30
Bicycles 50

T-bar Rows
Bar x 20
25 x 15
35 x 15
45 x 12, 20, 20

Lat Pull Downs
85lbs x 12
100 x 12
115 x 8, 8, 8

Smith RDLs (?!!!)
Bar (30) x 15
80 x 12
100 x 12
120 x 12, 12, 12 hard

RG BB Curls
30 lbs x 25 reps x 3 sets

Mat Stretch