I have been away from the gym for too long, and even when I have been there in the last year or so, I had strayed pretty far from my original routine, a series that was crafted to help my personal resilience as much as a physical program of fitness.
After the terror of Saturday night's dreams and the echos that lingered, I couldn't think of a better plan to shake myself back toward center. I gave myself permission to go slowly, to do as much as I wanted and nothing more. This was about the process, not the tick marks on a page.
A half mile in to the walk and I was stopping to grab a pen -- notes for the writing piece started coming forth. By the time I was at a mile, my center was back in place, at least temporarily, and I headed to the stationary bike, my first friend along this path. Ten minutes of biking had my sweat going on and my heart rate where it needed to be; I might have only burned 56 calories during that 2.5 mile stationary excursion, but it was familiar enough to have me back in the groove, so I headed to the rowing machine where I spent just under six minutes getting that first meter in. Not the worst time by a long shot, and it was rhythmic and welcoming. In the weights room there is a new machine near the stand that I use for the twisted angels. I was suspicious of it; it looked far too comfortable. It had padding and a half-moon-shaped thing to lean over, with a spot to brace my feet straight out behind me. I did 16 face down, then 16 face up before deciding it was just too strange and moving back to the familiar stand and finishing the core work routine.
For arms I was surprised to see that a lot of the dumbbells were missing. This is sad. I grabbed the 5 pound set and did what has become a standard set for me -- this morning it was all about the number 8, except that I did two sets of swimmers' presses before I was aware of what was going on.
I had thought it would be nice to swim a bit, but there was a water aerobics class going on and the hot tub was just too inviting, so I soaked in that and it was an amazing way to relax before a trip to the sauna.
The shower afterward helped ground me perfectly for the rest of the day.
No wonder I followed this routine for so long.
At home after the shower, I made a protein bomb meal, snacking on watermelon while the bacon did its thing in the pan and the eggs fried in the resulting grease. Some cheese, tomato and basil made it especially wonderful.
Since then there have been errands and reading, writing, a book idea and some graph paper moments. There is yoga tonight, as long as I don't fall asleep before the class starts -- a real concern as the rain falls on a lazy late afternoon.
Workout Details
After the terror of Saturday night's dreams and the echos that lingered, I couldn't think of a better plan to shake myself back toward center. I gave myself permission to go slowly, to do as much as I wanted and nothing more. This was about the process, not the tick marks on a page.
A half mile in to the walk and I was stopping to grab a pen -- notes for the writing piece started coming forth. By the time I was at a mile, my center was back in place, at least temporarily, and I headed to the stationary bike, my first friend along this path. Ten minutes of biking had my sweat going on and my heart rate where it needed to be; I might have only burned 56 calories during that 2.5 mile stationary excursion, but it was familiar enough to have me back in the groove, so I headed to the rowing machine where I spent just under six minutes getting that first meter in. Not the worst time by a long shot, and it was rhythmic and welcoming. In the weights room there is a new machine near the stand that I use for the twisted angels. I was suspicious of it; it looked far too comfortable. It had padding and a half-moon-shaped thing to lean over, with a spot to brace my feet straight out behind me. I did 16 face down, then 16 face up before deciding it was just too strange and moving back to the familiar stand and finishing the core work routine.
For arms I was surprised to see that a lot of the dumbbells were missing. This is sad. I grabbed the 5 pound set and did what has become a standard set for me -- this morning it was all about the number 8, except that I did two sets of swimmers' presses before I was aware of what was going on.
I had thought it would be nice to swim a bit, but there was a water aerobics class going on and the hot tub was just too inviting, so I soaked in that and it was an amazing way to relax before a trip to the sauna.
The shower afterward helped ground me perfectly for the rest of the day.
No wonder I followed this routine for so long.
At home after the shower, I made a protein bomb meal, snacking on watermelon while the bacon did its thing in the pan and the eggs fried in the resulting grease. Some cheese, tomato and basil made it especially wonderful.
Since then there have been errands and reading, writing, a book idea and some graph paper moments. There is yoga tonight, as long as I don't fall asleep before the class starts -- a real concern as the rain falls on a lazy late afternoon.
Workout Details
- Walk 1 mile: 25 minutes
- Bike 2.5 miles: 10 Minutes
- Row 1m: 5m45s
- Core:
- Straight angels: 16 back, 16 front
- Twisted angels: 16
- twisted situps: 24
- Toe Dips: 8 l,r
- V-Ups: 8
- Weights 5# l, r:
- Glute Press:8
- Skull Crushers: 8
- Back Scratchers: 8
- Swimmer's Presses: 16
- Monkey Scratches: 8
- Kettlebell Squat:8 (10# bell, both hands)