๐ Working Out (You know, with weights)๏
Iโm certainly NOT an expert at working out, but Iโve been doing it for about 24 years. It all started when I was working in my first casino job and after a year or so I mentioned at work one day that I had developed a VERY sore shoulder, and I could barely lift my right arm above a position parallel to the ground. It seems that pulling 22 lb. Quarter fill bags off the cashier counter and just letting them drop while holding on to them was pulling my shoulder just a tiny bit out of socket each time. OUCH!
A young woman coworker said โWhy donโt you try exercise?โ, and I said โNO, thatโs what hurts!โ I had just started daily walks about two months before that, and my wife went out on a limb and bought me a couple of 10 lb. Dumbbells for Fathers Day. I married a smart woman!
Thatโs how it started and now Iโve been working out for all that time. I have found out a few things.
Do NOT start throwing weights around. Those weights can cause a lot of strain on connective tissue if one does not use proper form, kind of like when I pulled the fill bags off the counter. Using proper form is essential. What that generally means is moving in a controlled way, in a motion that does not put a strain on those connective tissues from assuming unnatural positions, and moving at a controlled rate of speed in order to avoid strain on those tissues at the beginning and end of the move. One can increase strength and muscle mass by increasing the number of reps and by increasing the weight, but donโt try to toss them around (with the exception of some kettle ball moves, again, very controlled). The greater the weight, the more important that form is.
Iโve found stretches to be very helpful in order to keep flexible and of course there are a number of aerobic moves without weights that are very useful. So far, I have not found a way to injure myself with those, with one exception. I was doing push-ups, fast, and at the top of a push-up my left shoulder came out of socket. Man did that hurt when I came down!!! I guess the lesson is to BE CAREFUL.
Now that Iโm old (75), I donโt even think about running. I hurt my lower back one day after about a half a block of running. A little light jogging seems to be OK though.
I try to get in at least two work-outs a week and three is better. The hard part is just starting the workout. When I was going to the gym before COVID-19, it was just walking in the door. But I do it because the evidence that one will live longer with a regular exercise routine is overwhelming, and I KNOW that I will always feel better after my workout. Every single timeโฆโฆ. And the strangest thing of all is that I seem to hear better after a workout (I have severe hearing loss). Who would have thought?
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