WORKING OUT AT THE GYM

The Old Rusty Nail

AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE

Russell Burton, an Old Person

I started this essay when I remembered that I had written previously on the same topic.  So I checked the Table of Contents I have made up for my many essays and yes there it was, ‘Exercise for Old People’. After reading that old essay I realized some things have changed so here is an update and somewhat of a different take on my exercise for old people.

Like I have written before I think exercise for old people is important in maintaining a good quality of life. I workout at the gym four days a week which is twice the times I reported in my previous article.  I write ‘workout’ is a bit of an inflated description for I see so many young men and women really working out.  I use what are called stationary weights.  These are stacked and attached to a cable which I in a sitting position, can pull with a bar to lift them.  In this configuration this thing is sometimes called machine weights.

I have been doing this weight thing at the gym ever since I retired some 14 years ago.  Most of the time I am not anxious to get there but once I do arrive I do my stretches then lift the appropriate weights. Of course many years ago I used much heavier weights than I do now.  But, then I had a different take on this weight lifting thing.  Back then in my young 70s I was always trying to increase the weights I could lift.  Now I have backed way off those sized weights to about half of what I once did.  Of course then I thought I was building bigger muscles now it’s just keeping what strength I have left.

In recent months I have added what I call my aerobics exercise. I pedal a stationary bike at a moderate speed for 30 min trying to get my heart rate up to 100 bpm.  It notes that I have traveled some 5.5 miles which of course I haven’t. This exercise I believe is an important one because it exercises my old heart which is a muscle and muscles need to work. You know use it or lose it and I surely don’t want to lose what’s left of my heart function.  You only have one heart so better take care of it.

This stationary bike in exercise terms is equivalent to a regular bike but it is not as much fun but it is much safer.  I have never heard of anyone falling off one of these things nor crashing into something.  For these reasons you don’t wear a helmet.  In fact a person wearing such a thing on his head would look rather silly. 

Even though with this bike you don’t get the adventure and changing outdoor scenery you can watch TV.  I am not a big TV guy but it does take away the boredom and allows the time to go by faster.  Also, I forget the leg pain while I watch it.  When I first started this bike thing I did have considerable leg pain but as I have adapted to this exercise the pain is greatly reduced especially after I have ridden it for five minutes or so.   

I want to say I enjoy these workouts but that would be stretching my idea of fun.  Still, I continue to do these things because I think they are essential to maintain a healthy physical condition which is required for a good quality of life.  And, as one gets older the quality of life becomes a very important factor in living. In that regard, it is clear to me that with my serious falls, which I have written about my injuries were minor because of my relatively good physical condition.

I have friends at the gym which I say ‘hi’ to when I enter or when they enter.  I am not much of a talker there.  For that reason I go in the mid afternoon about 3 when there are fewer people.  And, most of them are retired and of course many are old.  Still, there are always young people there with their very muscular bodies stretching their flimsy shirts. I always wonder why these guys are not working at some job where those muscles might be useful.

There are subtle rules at the gym regarding when a person can lift a particular weight.  That is if two weights are being used alternatively, the one weight not in use at that time should not be picked up by another person.  Still, many people don’t know that and I am too cowardly to show them the error of their ways.

But like I just mentioned I try to go there when there are few people working the weights.  Of course when I select the weights I am about to use I find that I am selecting a lighter weight than the one the previous person had used – not always but usually.  As a man I am particularly cognizant when I follow a woman at a particular machine.  And, my manhood is disturbed when I have to select a lighter weight than the one she had used. I rationalize this situation by reminding myself that she is much younger.  When I was her age I lifted heavier weights than she does now.

Oh yes, the young women who are there with their shorts on showing off their shapely rather muscular limbs.  That is a sight which brings back old memories.  Of course there are old women their doing their thing - I think.  I never really noticed.

When I went in the morning the gym was crowded with many friends talking with each other.  I watched some talk for half an hour before lifting another weight.  I always thought that was rather a waste of time but maybe I am just not the congenial type of person.  I go to the gym to workout not talk.  If I want to talk with someone I go to a bar.

The older people I see there I want to ask their age hoping I am older but thinking that I look younger and in better condition than that guy without much hair and more wrinkles in the face than me.  One man who is usually there when I am I believe is younger than me but he must have had a stroke for he walks with a cane and a noticeable limp.  He always has a smile as we greet each other.  He remarks, ‘Never give up’ as he begins to life a weight. I think that is the reason that every old person is at the gym for it surely can’t be for the fun of it.

12/14

I wrote this blog more than 2 years ago.  I still go to the gym but less frequently and I use lighter weights.  But like I ended this blog, I hope to ‘Never give up’, but it is becoming more difficult as I turned 85 years ago in January.  This old thing is coming at me faster than I expected and I want.

I am posting this blog later in the month than usual because I just finished going on a cruise for a couple of weeks.