Of Dumbbells, Kittens, and Knuckles
Dave Price
Glenn tries out an interesting workout gadget, and is mostly happy with it. I've ordered a few representatives of the genre over the years, with mixed results (usually initial enthusiasm is followed by amnesia). Lately I’ve found just keeping a dumbbell or two by the computer and doing a couple sets during the day helps a lot. Just don’t stub your toe on it!
I was pretty serious about bodybuilding in college, less so now (and a lot of the stuff I used then is sadly no longer legal to sell here). In those days I went from a scrawny 6’3” 165 lbs all the way up to a fairly intimidating 215; now I try to stay around 190. I’ve transitioned the opposite way Glenn has, from gym to home, because it takes me half an hour to get out of the house and into a gym and with 3-4 jobs it just makes more sense for me to save the 3.5 hrs/wk. I do miss the gym sometimes though.
I’ve got an elliptical machine, a weight bench, a situp bench, and a set of barbells and dumbbells. Before work every morning I do 70 slow bicycle kicks (if you rotate your upper body and go slow this can be a great anti-RSI workout because it works all the little stabilizer muscles in your torso; just be careful to support your neck), 2 minutes at highest resistance on the elliptical, and 2 sets with the weights. All that (along with a daily morning protein shake and general avoidance of starches) keeps the sixpack going pretty strong. My workout also often includes dodging or absorbing random kitten attacks (they know if I’m holding something I’m more vulnerable), which adds an unsolicited element of suspense.
Like Glenn, I also do pushups with feet elevated, for a longer range of motion and more intensity. These days I vary between fingertips, knuckles and palms. When I was a kid I always did knuckle pushups (as Glenn says he does) on the theory if I had to hit something it would be helpful to have a nice big callous there, though that's generally not a concern for me anymore (but is Glenn trying to tell us something?).
So, I've taken a second look at resistance bands, or tubes, whatever you want to call them. Even though I'm a female, I like to use a lot of resistance, and I always thought elastic bands were too wimpy. I bought a stout set recently, though, and I've found that if you learn a few tips on how to use them, you can get a lot out of them. I keep the set of tubes in our living room in a drawer under the TV set, near the computer, so I have no excuse to avoid a workout. Already, I've seen a big improvement in my upperbody strength.
This may not not be news to anyone else, but I've been pleasantly surprised.
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.