what's the point?

 my wife asks me one day when I was telling her about one of my recent workout sessions. of course my reply was 'what do you mean?'

but it was a question that stuck with me for a few weeks. what is the point of me working out with weights like I do? i'm an old man. i'm not here to do 10 strick pull ups, or a bunch of muscle ups. i'm not seeking out a community. I work out alone in my garage. 

a quick back story...one of my good lifetime friends got me into working out in high school. it stuck with me through out my life. I was never massively into it to get a crazy big body, but I have always enjoyed it. so it has been something constant in my life. sometime ago I did crossfit. I loved it. I had a really good time there. the people were amazing. everyone was very supportive of each other. it was a community that I never experienced. everyone supported and cheered the newbies achieving their new goals and accomplishments. to the veterans getting a new pr. however; there was one problem for me, I couldn't ride my bike. I would work out early in the morning, and then I wanted to ride to the shop I worked at. it was difficult. I was cooked after my workout, and riding a bike just killed me. so my time there changed, but it was better for me to achieve some riding goals. fitness for life if you will. the box closed down and I sought a new avenue as I built up my garage space which was coming along nicely. however, I lacked direction. so I found a coach through my daughter's soccer club. he knew how important riding my bike is to me, and developed a strength plan around that.

from this strength plan, I have noticed some things changing. first, and obvious, is my lifting has gotten better. i'm moving more weights; which in and of itself, feels great. i felt more complete in my workouts. that is true progress that you are able to see. to feel the numbers go up. this is really what my wife was asking...haha. why lift so heavy?

i've then have done some reading on this aspect. there are some studies out that lifting may help with alzheimer's. this is one "point". I want to be an old man, and have my faculties. 

second, I have noticed improvements in my riding. last season I was getting pr's on some strava segments without even trying. so that was really uplifting. to 'see' progress without putting forth a major effort. now, truth be told, there are a few segments out there that I do want & will need a major effort...haha. another cycling related note, is that the other week I noticed that I was stronger climbing some hills. not faster, but stronger. I wasn't wearing out as quick. I felt different muscles in my legs doing some work; which was really cool to experience.

third, I believe that I am "fit". not crossfit fit. not strongman fit. no way in hell am I GQ fit. my wife calls me the "fittest fat guy" she knows. hahaha. but I can throw the weight around. I can ride my bike for long distances. hell...I can even go on a 5k run if I wanted to. once and awhile that happens, but not often. a friend of mine once called me "unassumingly fit". as you couldn't tell actually how fit I was. he knew what kind of work I was putting in and what I was lifting. however; to be clear, I spend from 3-5 hours a week in the garage. the rest of the time I try to get out on my bike. this is the balance i'm looking for. this is what is right for me. a "normal" (whatever the hell that means) functional fitness.

so what's the point? I want to be fit for life. what do you want to do? i'm in. i can do it. I want to move. I want to be able to move. now. tomorrow. when i'm 80. i want to walk up steps. bend over. pick up the remote (if that even exists when i'm 80) and that's the most important. 

take care of yourself for yourself and your loved ones.

amitabha...

unsocial social

 I heard, or more so read, this term about a month ago; and it really stuck with me. it came out of the notion that all these social medias are really turning to shit in recent times. it used to be that we had three big ones. FB, where you kept up with your family members and "outer ring" people. the bird; for news, making new connections of interest and just yelling at people. IG for sharing pictures. Now on my phone I have 3 or 4 apps that are bird related, and I don't know why. I barely check any of them. I look at the book of face only because of a cycling group I still have active, and I only check this during the time of the ride I host. IG has just become a way to send funny things to my friends anymore. then obviously the group texts i'm in with my close friends, or "inner ring".

without getting into why this is happening, mostly because I don't care; maybe the thing to do is get back to this this. maybe a fun simple way to get back to our thoughts. ideas. words. i've said that i'd get back into this in the past, but maybe it will stick this time. plus my wife has said to me that "you should get back into it, or a podcast." that's the last thing I need, is another hobby like that. I have thought about a diy with my gopro and posting, but that's another time. so here I thought about starting back up with posting about three things I really dig that are not my family/people.

one: bed. sure it seems easy, but other than my house and my car; this is easily the most expensive thing i've ever purchased. it's a Sleep Number that adjusts head and feet, firmness or softness, and warms my feet. my wife talked me into it and i'm happy she did. it tracks my sleep. how well I slept, heart rate, breath rate and heart rate variability which deals with stress. if something is off, then the next night adjust the bed to improve your overall rest. the better your sleep the better your mood the next day. plus, on average, the bed is the place where I spend a big constant chunk of my 24 hour period.

two: the garage. more specifically garage gym. I really enjoy lifting heavy objects and putting them back down, but I hate going to a gym. being around other people. finding the equipment. waiting for said equipment. and all the other things that go with that. so I picked up a bunch of stuff for the garage to work out there. I was lost for a bit, but (long story short) got a coach that has a program that I don't have to go think about and I just go do it. I now, for the last two years, have felt better and more focused in the garage. i've seen advancement and that makes me feel good. my goals? that's for another post.

three: the bar. with the help of my dad, we remodeled the basement a bunch of years ago; and with that we put in a bar. I don't know what to say other than it's really cool. it's fully stocked (with what I like anyway) with a kegerator and two mini fridges. plenty of goodies to keep one busy. I really enjoy mixing drinks. playing with ideas for new ones. I bartended (I am a mixologist, I have the paper...somewhere) for a little bit, but late nights were not my thing so I quit. As I got into spirits some more, and beer as well; the kitchen cabinets were becoming full, and I didn't like the idea of putting a fridge out in the garage. so with the remodel, I made sure to put in a bar. so we built a custom made one that seats three. more on this i'm sure as I go.

but those are my quick three things. how this blog will continue in the future? basically my perspective through this thing called life. philosopher, bikes, bike mechanic, gym, bar, existence, family...my wife at least feels that I have something to say; so let's see.

namaste