Take a close look at the brand name of this exercise bike. 

It's called an ASSAULT bike.  Or as I like to call it, the ASSault bike. 

One thing I've learned since starting Cross Fit is that the warm up is extremely important.  It includes stretching to help prevent injury and getting the heart rate up a bit.  I much prefer the rowing machine for my warm-up.  But, sometimes I'm asked to warm up on one of the ASSault bikes, and it's not my favorite machine in the gym.

For one thing, the seat on the ASSault bike is not really meant to be sat upon...at least not for someone round like me. It's tiny and narrow and not the least bit padded.  It's like trying to sit balanced on a fence post...like a 4 X 4 fence post that is old and weathered with rusty nails sticking out of it.  That kind of fence post.

There's also something about the way the ASSault bike is constructed or balanced.  You perch on it rather than sitting on it.  You really have to use your core muscles just to keep from falling off!  It would be easier to balance with one of those long poles the Wallendas used, but I guess that would defeat the purpose.

And if that weren't tough enough, the handlebars on the ASSault bike move back and forth at a rapid rate sort of throwing you forward and backward while you're trying to balance on the fence post and pedal the required number of meters or calories. 

The result is that the whole time I'm cycling, I feel like the darned thing is trying to throw me off like a half broke mustang at a cheap rodeo!  It would be good exercise for bronc busters. 

I must admit, it's a good workout.  Four or five minutes on it, and I'm plenty warmed up...and usually pretty pissed off.

But, I'm also saddle sore!

So, I've decided I'm going to start taking a pillow along to the gym.  I have a nice little quilted pillow in floral pastel colors that will be just right.  There I'll be, perched on the ASSault bike with my white hair and my pink and yellow pillow, like a little old lady going for a Sunday afternoon ride on her fat fluffy Shetland.

I'm sure it will be a first in any Cross Fit gym.  But, I'm gonna show that ASSault bike who's boss!  

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This contraption I'm holding over my snowy white head is called an Earthquake Bar.  

Imagine holding a barbell over your head.  There's not much weight on the bar, so you figure you've got this.  Piece of cake!

Now imagine the ground moving beneath you.  

The reality is that the bar moves.  The weights are suspended from the ends of the bar with elastic bands, so they are constantly in motion.  As far as your brain, your inner ear and your muscles are concerned, YOU are moving.  So the synapses are firing like a machine gun in an effort to keep the bar steady.  It's a whole new take on isometrics!

Now imagine standing upright with the bar over your head while maintaining the correct posture...head up, chest out, back straight, tummy pulled in, breathing steady.  My daughter calls it "pageant posture".  I call it, "punishment posture."  

Once you've got everything all aligned you take about twenty steps, turn and walk back.  After forty steps you feel like you've had a full work-out. You're done.  Bye bye.  Headed home now.

But, more important for me...every aspect of my body that is associated with staying upright and not tumbling down the stairs, falling off a step stool or tripping on a curb and landing on my face (and I've done all three) has been slapped awake, scrubbed up and given a good talking to!

Our bodies are efficient little machines.  They store fat efficiently, they conserve energy efficiently and any brain cells we're not using are shunted off to a corner to shrivel and die. That's why exercises like this are so valuable for those of us who want to continue running on all cylinders.  After all, what's the fun of driving a high performance sports car if the steering doesn't work? 

I already feel a bit more "balanced" after just a few weeks of this kind of work-out.  It's not because I have built my muscles or become stronger...though I have.  It's because my brain has re-awakened the part of itself that needs to deal with the challenge of the Earthquake Bar.  And that translates to easier and more balanced movement all day every day.





 

This is me dead lifting 95 pounds.  My trainer at Cross Fit Run-A-Muck said I could have lifted 110, but I didn't want to be a show-off!

I had not really intended to try anything like this.  After all, I am going to the gym to improve my balance issues and increase my over-all strength and stamina...not to become a power lifter.

But, when I was presented with the challenge, I surprised myself and gave it a try.   I'm glad I did.

I have found that as I get older, the opportunities for challenging myself are fewer...especially physical challenges. But, we all NEED new challenges of all kinds.  Otherwise we end up limiting ourselves and begin to shrivel in our minds, bodies and spirits.

The neat thing about this particular exercise was the extent to which it challenged more than my muscles.  

Lifting is a delicate coordination of mind and body.  There is much more to it than just bending over and picking up something heavy.  There is lots of thinking involved and lots of concentration and focus...all of which we can lose to one extent or another as we age if we don't "exercise" them.

There are details to remember such as position of  the body in relation to the barbell, when to breathe, how to breathe, where to focus the eyes, correct position of feet and knees, what to relax, what to tense and so on.  Furthermore, all these details must fall together in the right order for the lift to be successful and injury free.    

It is this kind of focused attention combined with muscle movement that exercises the brain as well as the body.  And like learning any new skill, it grows new connections in the brain that help keep us mentally young.

But, there's one more aspect to this kind of exercise that I was surprised to discover; and that is what I would call "the courage factor."  

A big part of me was afraid of trying this.  I was afraid of failure.  I was afraid of looking silly or failing in front of other, younger folks in the gym and I was afraid of getting hurt. 

 Well, I quickly realized that the other folks in the gym are supportive and I have no reason to feel embarrassed.  Everyone struggles...just at different levels!  

As far as fear of failure is concerned, that's natural when we try something new.  I overcame it with the realization that I'd kick myself if I didn't at least try.  

And as far as getting hurt is concerned, I am utterly confident in my trainer who has a degree in Exercise Science and has trained many people over the years.  I quickly realized he wouldn't let me do anything that would hurt me.

So, I pulled up my big girl panties, gave it the ol' college try and picked up that sucker!  

Next time, I'm going for 110.

     So, yesterday was "rest day" at the gym. So, I went to the gym and rowed 5,000 meters.

     That may not sound like much of a rest, but I found that I didn't really want a day off.  I wanted to keep moving.

     There's something about exercise...especially for people my age.  Once we stop moving, it is SO easy to just settle into the recliner and doze as time goes by.  It is easy to stop moving.  It is TEMPTING to stop moving because for many of us, moving often hurts.

     Most of us have aches and pains.  Osteo arthritis is common in folks our age.  We wear out...as is illustrated by the number of knee replacements that are done every year in this country.  We are the bionic generation.  Thousands of Baby Boomers are walking around with titanium knees, hips and shoulders.  Others sport pacemakers and defibrullators.  I read an article the other day that said that soon heart transplants will be a thing of the past as artificial hearts will become smaller and more technologically viable.  It's truly amazing.

     But, none of the medical breakthroughs really matter if we spend our days sitting.  They say sitting is the new smoking.  It's dangerous.

     So we have to get moving.  And to do that, we have to get out of the recliner.  It's that first step that is so important.  I found that once I got moving, I now WANT to move.  I didn't want to miss a day of exerting myself a bit.

     So, I went to the gym and rowed.  And as I rowed, I realized that just a few short weeks ago, rowing 5,000 meters would have been impossible.  It is AMAZING how quickly the body begins to strengthen.  I don't even have any sore muscles today.  And I think that's because the natural state of being for us is movement.  We weren't meant to be couch potatoes.  We were meant to be constantly moving, bending, stretching, twisting and using our heads, hearts and hands.

     And I gotta tell ya...it feels good.  In fact, I'm going back today!

As I mentioned in my first post, I began this adventure to improve my balance and strength...both important for staying healthy and avoiding injury at my age.

I am not concerned so much about looks anymore.  The wolf whistles stopped when the gray hair came in...and that's OK.

What I am surprised about though is how, even this early in the endeavor, I FEEL different.

There is so much truth to the idea that it is of paramount importance to keep moving.  When we stop moving, we soon find that we CAN'T move!

Well, I had begun noticing in the past year that everything was becoming difficult.  Just getting out of a chair seemed an effort.  I felt I was slogging through mud most of the time.  Going down stairs took advanced planning because I needed to make sure I could get back up them again.

Part of the problem, of course, is hauling around excess weight.  But, much more of it is the loss of muscle tone.  Without the growth hormones we have when we're younger, things fall apart!

Well, amazing as it sounds, I have found that life is getting a bit easier in this regard.  Getting up from a chair, getting out of the car, going up the stairs and down them...it's all a bit easier.  And I haven't been at this strength training all that long!

The owner/operator of the Cross Fit gym I frequent explains that as we work our muscles, that tissue actually tears a bit, then quickly re-generates bigger and better.  That's how we become stronger.  And though I will never be as strong as I was in my younger days, I CAN be significantly stronger than I have been for years.

And that means a lot of life becomes a little bit easier every day.

     I am the oldest member of Cross Fit Run-A-Muck.  

     I think that's kind of cool!

     I'm in my mid-sixties, over weight, out of shape and pre-diabetic.  I huff and puff going up stairs and groan at the pain in my knees going down them.  If I have to get on the floor to do something, I check around to make danged sure there is nothing else that needs doing while I'm down there, because it's such a chore to get back up again.  I've been fighting the same fifty pounds since I was fifty.  I buy my clothes from Omar the Tent Maker.  

     But yesterday I was dead lifting 45 pounds. 

     I know. I know.  That doesn't sound like much.  But...baby steps, baby!  I just embarked on this journey a couple of weeks ago!

      I joined the gym to get a handle on my balance issues.  Like most women my age, I have taken a couple of bad falls. 

     There's something different about falling at this age.  The fall goes on forever.  I have time to think about what it will be like in the nursing home, whether my kids will come visit, how much it will cost and just how much it is going to hurt when I land.  Oh...and of course, whether there's anything else that needs doing while I'm on the floor!  Thus far, I haven't done any major damage to myself.  One advantage to being overweight is that I'm round.   So I bounce!  

     But, after watching my younger and much thinner baby sister go through hip surgery and recovery after a bad fall last year, I realized I'd better get a handle on this thing.  

      Fortunately, my daughter is wise enough to be dating a fine young man who is also the owner of a Cross Fit gym.  He is extremely knowledgeable about such things having studied exercise science and physiology in college and having earned multiple certifications after graduation.  After a couple of visits to the gym and a conversation about my goals, I took the plunge and put my money down.

     So, here I am, the gym's oldest member...the elder stateswoman...the token senior citizen...the crazy old lady with white hair, bat wings, thunder thighs and all...learning to breathe and squat and lift and lock.  I know I look ridiculous.  I'm probably the most UN-fit person who ever walked through the doors of Cross Fit Run-A-Muck.  And I'm definitely the fattest.

     I would have been too embarrassed and self-conscious to do this in my 20's, 30's, 40's or 50's.  But, now I'm in my 60's, and you know what?  I'M TOO OLD TO CARE!

And, yeah...I think that's kind of cool!