Fighting Inertia

It's not that I spent the entire weekend in a sedentary pose, but that after 2pm when the heat became unbearable, I kept myself from sweating by moving as little as possible while sipping cold water, and sitting in the direct stream of a noisy fan. I had the mornings to run errands to various stores, but shopping doesn't count as vigorous activity. It's not like mall-walking. (I'm kidding.)

I'm also not sleeping very well, averaging about 6 hours a night, which is below the recommended 7-8 hours for a healthy adult. No matter what time I go to bed, I wind up waking at roughly the same time every morning, which for me (without a pressing school schedule), is around 8:30 am. I don't feel stupid tired. If I wake after 4 hours, let's say to go pee or take a sip of water, then I'm uncoordinated, dizzy and definitely stupid. Six hours is the absolute minimum for me to be functional. Being functional doesn't mean motivated though. I know I'd sleep better if my room was colder, but there's no a/c in the bedroom. I aim a fan at the bed; that's sufficed in the past. However, heatwaves are totally different creatures and we are in the grip of an unusually widespread one.

Even though I'm up at 9 am, I don't get to the gym until nearly noon. It's virtually empty with about a dozen people and half of those are on the cardio platform interspersed between the treadmills, cross-trainers, recumbent bikes and step mill. Nike is right. Just do it. Don't think about how much doing Norwegian 4 x 4s is going to suck, and about all the other things you'd rather be doing. Just do it. Don't think, just do. And for someone like me who spends an awful lot of time inside my own head, doing is the key and the cure. With headphones on and a good workout mix, I'm all action and very little thought. Not quite meditation, but such a relief to move with purpose. Exercise is mental medication.

Recently, I read an article advocating a music-less workout for runners because music is too much of a buffer from the surrounding world. It's a valid point if you're an outdoor runner. But working out in a gym that insists on fun "ambient" music themes (like Country Western Wednesdays and Throw-Back Thursdays) means some of us need headphones to keep distractions at bay. Music is also motivation. Most of the time I don't hear the lyrics anymore because they've become part of my background noise. Yet, the rhythmic beat helps me keep pace so I'm obviously aware of the aural input in some capacity. Or rather, my body is aware. I'm not really thinking about it, not even when I surreptitiously start mouthing the words to myself as I sing along.

I always feel better after the initial cardio, so the rest of the workout isn't a grind. Today I have to think about what I'm going to do after the abs and core routine. My boys got back from Boy Scout camp yesterday. I let my son sleep in today, but I'm bringing him to the gym tomorrow. A basic full-body routine with cardio is what I believe to be the most beneficial. With that in mind, I proceed to do a modified push routine, with exercises that I don't do with my son: DB incline flys, DB laterals superset with DB reverse incline flys, Rip Skulls. Finish with more cardio and stretching.

My lower back doesn't bother me at all anymore. Exercise is medicine if you do it correctly. (I'm not talking about physical therapy, which needs a prescription from a doctor in order for your insurance company to cover it.) I know that adequate blood flow is crucial to healing injuries and reducing inflammation due to those injuries. The best way to get your blood moving? Move! Doctors (mostly) don't tell you to stop exercising (or rest a body part until it's atrophied from disuse). Even for chronic joint pain like arthritis, treatments include gentle movements like walking and swimming. No one advises sitting still.

I feel an odd twinge here and there, a hip, a knee, right elbow, left shoulder. Nothing serious or chronic. Everything feels better after doing cardio: oxygen-rich blood has been coursing through the body for several minutes, muscles are warmed and limber. Even my mind feels clear. It's not important what you do for cardio. What's important is that you do something you like, something that you will continue to do because there are no benefits if it's something so distasteful you never do it.

Being sedentary, especially at home, is supposed to shorten your life dramatically. Although no direct causes have been ascribed to binge-watching while sofa surfing, many reasons have been conjectured. Studies have determined that sitting at work does not increase your mortality risk, the way that sitting at home does. Mostly because sitting at a desk is not correlated with a lower social-economic class, poorer food choices, less access to healthy foods and activities, less education, increased likelihood of diabetes and obesity, increased likelihood of alcohol abuse. (Wow, the list goes on and on and becomes a social treatise on the inequality of healthcare. Just say it: the poor don't exercise or eat salads.) But I'm digressing. Obviously, the cure to inertia is easy -- just move.

Don’t Wanna Monday Small Push

Norwegian 4x4
5 min w/u (4 min on / 3 min off) x 4
5, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30, 33
Calories 288
Miles 2.65
HR 133-194 (115, 97, 87)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 23

Crunches Legs Up 50
Bicycles 50
Crunches knees bent 50
Horizontal Scissors 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

DB Inclined Flys
20lbs x 12 reps x 3 sets

DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flys
20lbs x 12/15reps x 3 sets

Rip Skulls
40lbs x 12, 10, 8

20 min elliptical + 5cd
Program 1
Miles 2.04
Calories 227
HR 143-179

Mat Stretch