๐Ÿƒ Working Out (You know, with weights)๏ƒ

Iโ€™m certainly NOT an expert at working out, but Iโ€™ve 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 โ€œWhy donโ€™t you try exercise?โ€, and I said โ€œNO, thatโ€™s 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!

Thatโ€™s how it started and now Iโ€™ve 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 donโ€™t 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.

Iโ€™ve 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 Iโ€™m old (75), I donโ€™t 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 timeโ€ฆโ€ฆ. 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?

About the Author๏ƒ

Harley Armentrout is a happy husband and father, former silversmith, aerospace electronics prototype assembler, test, calibration & repair technician, also writing test procedures at BallAerospace. Then 21 years in the gaming industry, in a range of positions, culminated as a Gaming Inspector, observing and reporting on rules violations, safety issues and criminal activities for the Yavapai Prescott Indian Tribe. After โ€œretiringโ€ Harley taught himself a few graphic design skills and he works as a freelance designer.