Greetings again, #engagetheweekend folks! For this round, I thought I’d share some of my exercise routines that have worked “ok” for me over the years. As I’ve gotten older, the knees and back aren’t quite what they used to be, so I’ve learned some things to get the heart rate up in shorter intervals.
I used to enjoy quite a bit of trail running. Then on one unfortunate softball evening, while playing 3rd base, I somehow cracked my sciatic nerve diving for a ground ball to my right. I lost feeling in my legs momentarily…then got feeling back. On the next ground ball, I went to throw it to first base and my legs lost feeling again and I collapsed. I thought perhaps I was paralyzed…great stuff! Needless to say, that was my last season of softball!
Since then, I’ve found it difficult to run extended distances, so I know do more cardio intense activities in shorter increments. My favorite daily exercise is to climb a local bluff in the morning…
No need for podcasts or music while doing this. It usually takes me about 40 minutes, round trip, from bottom to top to bottom again, and I find it very relaxing. The heart rate is forced to up as one fights gravity, and then has enough to time to cool off on the way down.
When I’m in a more bit of a time crunch, I’ll head over to the local university’s football stadium and climb the bleachers. Up and down is the way to go. For this one, I’ll listen to podcasts on UFOs, Gnosticism, or whatever else conspiracy theory is the rage for the day. It’s not as exciting as being in nature, so listening about archons and the demiurge helps keep the brain entertained!
Of course, if I have the time, I’ll always opt for a multi hour hike somewhere, but with work and family, that’s a tough find for time.
That’s my exercise regiment, at the very least. Any time I can get the heart rate up for at least 20 minutes, I feel that is very healthy. So to do that, I always choose to fight gravity. No exercise machines required!
Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to the weekend!
