Weights of Glory

I have always been a pretty athletic person. First, through organized sports, and then to more of a personal regimen. I like working out for the most part. There is always that inertia at the beginning to overcome but once I am at it, then I am good to go. I am relieved to have escaped team sports. They have almost always had highly dysfunctional elements to them that created enormous downsides. Teams can be great when they work, very painful and discouraging when they don't. I have found avoidance to be the best solution in regards to fitness. My bad knee always makes me feel that my performance suffers and that is exacerbated by the winning and losing element and keeping score.

When I do my fitness activities now, I am not trying to beat someone else or some entity. It has helped me inordinately to have less of that competition vibe. It doesn't motivate me. In the least. Not anymore. I have nothing to prove to anyone.   

With my personal fitness, getting started and not dawdling, has been the challenge. I am better able to run without a kick in the pants. I might delay but I will do it. Perhaps hours after I could have, but I will do it. Or, feel bad that I didn't. Lifting weights has always been more of a challenge. I'd lift for a few months and then stop. I'd skip workouts. So, it became a task to figure out a plan that would work and one that I would stick with over the long haul.

I am confident that I have found it: Make all my basic aerobic and weight training in the morning, 6 days a week. Alternate between running and lifting. I am on a very strict time schedule which evaporates the delay getting lost in my mind piece. Take Sunday off. I had to move my lifting back to Saturday because I was feeling the work-like pressure of doing it Sunday. It was stressing me out. Now, I chill on Sunday completely, besides writing this reflection. I have debated quitting blogging but I don't get too worked up about it. I just write and don't revise much. My Ph.D. taught me how to think, write, and type extraordinarily fast.

So, I am up at 5:00 am. Eat breakfast, drink coffee, do a devotional, meditate upon it, and work-out from 5:45 to around 6:10. Hit the shower, dress, and get to work, out the door by 6:50. I have been in this structure for a couple of years now and it is working great. At 55, I am more consistent with my fitness plan than ever. I sweat after showering but recognize that I can't get everything to work as I want it. There are always trade-offs.

It frustrates me quite a bit that it took me so long to figure it out. "Better late than never" and "Almost, not quite" pretty much describe my efforts in life. I am not a total screw-up but I also had potential where time and chance worked against me due to my own lack of whatever. Some tendencies to shoot myself in the foot when things are going my way. A fear of success I guess. And I have been successful despite myself. I learned a long time ago that life is a mixed bag.

Here are some of the lessons that lifting regularly has taught me:

- Consistently good is much better than occasionally great. Stick with the plan and don't think change is going to happen in a day, week, or month. Those expectations suck the motivation out. Instead, be patient and let the process do what it is going to do. You will see results over time. Imagine what success is going to look like for you.

- Buy the right equipment, Don't cheap out. Get gear that will last and you won't have to buy again. Take some time to study the type of lifts to be done and focus on proper form. For years, due to the wrong type of bench and lifting with bad form, I was hurting my back. Which caused enormous issues when I played rugby. My back was in constant spasm because of the lack of right equipment and form.   

- Find what you can commit to and stick with it. If you start to bail, it means that you need to retool and find a better plan. Skip the commercial gym. It costs a lot of money and it wastes time. Put the equipment in a prominent place in your haus. I have my bench and weights in my bedroom. If I ever get in a serious relationship again (i.e. married) I know that the equipment will have to go but I will put it in a place where I will see it consistently. I will never work out in a dark, damp, and mildewy basement ever again. 

- Lifting is just as important as running or another aerobic activity. Too many people are trying to lose weight by cutting calories and starving themselves (i.e. the Keto Diet). They are miserable and thin. Building muscle burns calories and will also keep us more likely to age well. Decrease of muscle mass happens to the elderly and reduces mobility and increases injury. We are all going to die of course but dying of old age is quite a bit different of dying slowly from a disease prematurely that could have been avoided.

- Find additional fitness activities to do after work that are fun. For me it is mountain biking and kayaking. Working out and getting in shape is not really the purpose. That is the purpose of the morning. This is just an add-on and is fun regardless of the fitness benefits. I find those activities at night help with my overall fitness plan and keep me from wasting time doing other things that are not as beneficial. It is also social as I have friends that I connect with doing these things.

- Working out doesn't always feel good while doing it. But, afterwards there is a huge rush of relaxation (endorphin release). Be willing to push within reason yet if you are in danger of creating injury, stop for goodness sake. Don't play through injury and rehab properly.

There are obviously spiritual analogues to all of this of course. It is not my purpose to delve into those too deeply today but having a plan, being consistent, making the time and finding a time that works for you, getting good resources, having some fun with it all, surely are similarities.

- Do you spend time in reading the Bible?

- Do you have Commentaries to assist in your understanding?

- Do you carve out time do so?

- Do you read a book or books that help you spiritually? I am reading a book right now called "Leading with a Limp" and a book about the All-Blacks Rugby team. Both are providing a lot of insight and encouragement. I also listen to a ton of helpful podcasts. The only TV that I watch is CSPAN BOOKTV, PBS, and some sports here and there. Guilty Pleasure: Watching the Eagles, which also creates a lot of pain historically. TV is a gigantic waste of time. I do watch movies, usually redemptive stories. 

- Do your friends align with you own best practices? We are who we hang out with to some degree. Choose your friends wisely. Your inner core of friends should not require a lot of damage control. You don't have time to be somebody else's conscience. Be willing to jettison unproductive relationships. Be willing to help others but pay attention as to whether the person or people show signs of taking the necessary steps.

It is often a question of timing. Outside of opiod addiction (and alcoholism to some degree) where getting clean is nearly impossible without getting into treatment and breaking the chemical addiction which is extraordinarily difficult to do (not a failure of willpower) it is usually fairly obvious when someone wants helps and is willing to receive it. Don't chase people unless they are truly in a death spiral where you must intervene at all costs. Don't go it alone.