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This is the first sunrise of the New Millennium.
Skydiving Alternative
I guess I can understand the desire to pass on quickly. I
definitely think that skydiving would be thrilling. And it would put people
on notice that I am a heroic guy, a super hero geezer if you will. But
sadly I'm a coward basically. I don't want to be scared to death. And I
would like to live as long as possible. I need some alternatives to
skydiving and quick death.
The opposite of skydiving is dedicating myself to a program of exercise. It
isn't dangerous. In fact it should improve my health, extend my life and
also improve the quality and energy of my retirement activities. If you
already are into exercise you probably already have your own ideas, if not
then maybe I can make some suggestions. First get started as soon as
possible start today don't wait until your actual retirement date. It seems
hard but your just feeling inertia probably caused somewhat by overweight.
Start now because your health is the most important asset that you have. A
health retirement is a blessing. A sickly retirement is a torture. Start
NOW! Start NOW! Start NOW! When you come back from the gym go on to the
next paragraph.
The Next Paragraph is now that you have started it is up to me to give you
some suggestions. First start slowly, don't overdo it.
Get your doctors OK. Exercise will be like stealing money out of his pocket,
but that's alright he is probably a rich guy. The most important thing is
that you have a regular exercise program. It should be something that you
will do every week. I think it is important to exercise every day. But if
you will exercise Monday through Friday, I give you the weekend off. Build
exercise into your routine. I think early morning is the best time because
you have the most energy. Exercise is the highest priority so do it first.
Start slow, for some reason many people over do their first exercise
session and then they have trouble returning because they have built an
effort barrier that seems impossible to continue. Start slow at an easy
level for you. The idea is that gradually over time your workouts should
slowly become more difficult. I think a gym is the best place to exercise
because they have the equipment that will allow you to exercise your entire
body and they should have variety that keeps you interested. Gyms are
warmer and dryer that the outdoors. They also have scantily clad, sweaty
workout *divas*. Pick a gym that has the best looking women at a price you
can afford. My gym costs $37 a month, a dollar a day basically. If you can,
start a gym membership in the Spring like mid-March. First you will avoid
the "new resolution" people who are so annoying in January and
the beach body builders in the summer. Also the spring is when the divas
start wearing less clothing. Gradually they take off more and more as the
temperature warms up.
Warm up is important especially for the old geezer. Start your workout on
the tread mill, walk for 5 minutes at a comfortable pace. Three miles an
hour is a good safe starting point. This allows you muscles to warm up and
become more limber. It also avoids strains and shocks to you cardiovascular
system. At this point stop the machine and take your pulse by grabbing on
the sensors that usually on every treadmill. Let us call this measurement
your resting heart rate say it is 60 beats per minute. Again assuming that
your doctor has oked you to exercise it should be safe to double your
resting heart rate. so this is your initial speed limit a heart rate of
120. Ok now start walking again and gradually increase the pace.
Periodically check your pulse to make sure it is less than 2 beats per
second, 20 beats in 10 second might be a good rough indicator. If you can
walk and hold onto the pulse sensors this is probably the best, most
accurate approach. The goal is to have your pulse be less then double the
resting rate. If at any point you feel uncomfortable slow down. See how
long you can walk at this rate, I'm guessing you will be walking at between
4 and 5 miles per hour. To start with only walk at this fast rate for ten
minutes Then gradually slow the pace and let your heart rate return
to near its resting rate. This should only take a few minutes. I hope that
was easy. Over the course of your first workouts you will find the exact
the exactly right pace for yourself. Remember use your pulse as a
speedometer. At some point you might run instead of walk, your heart will
tell you when. Overall I would say that twenty minutes is enough
cardiovascular exercise, thirty minutes tops. This includes the warm up and
the cool down. If you really enjoy the exercise experience ask someone to
gift you a heart monitor strap that automatically tells the treadmill what
your pulse is. This makes the measurement easier and excise safer.
The second part of your workout is stretching and weight lifting. You don't
need a tatoo to lift weights. You will never be Mr. Universe so don't put
your emphasis on large weights. Except for exercising your legs and back
the weight should probably never be over 100 pounds. The focus is not on
building strength although that will happen to a surprising degree. The
emphasis is on flexibility and functionality. The goal is to keep you bones
strong and to keep you joints flexible. There are 650 skeletal muscles in
our bodies. As the name implies these are muscles attached to bones,
contraction moves the bone. A very simplistic classification is arms, legs,
back, stomach, shoulders, hips, and neck. Hand and foot muscles are also
very important, see piano playing and tap dancing for further instruction
on their exercise. For the main skeletal muscles try to exercise them all
over the course of a week. I usually exercise all classes every day. But
some people like to have arms day and leg day etc. I would say the most
important are the back and the stomach muscles. Again don't overdue it be
trying to use too much weight. I usually exercise in groups of thirty
repetitions, but for the back and the stomach eventually you want to build
up to 200 to 300 crunches a day. Muscles come in pairs that balance each
other, try to exercise both muscles in equally. Try the different machines
in your gym, most will have diagrams that show what muscles they exercise.
Don't forget the shoulders, they are the most often overlooked. If you
don't keep your shoulders limber you will gradually loose their range of
motion. And some day when you want to scratch your ear it will no longer be
possible.
Stretching is also very good for muscles. Be careful to do it after you
have warmed up. Hanging from bars, pulling on rails, touching you toes are
all good. Be innovative in your exercise, try different things, watch what
other people do and maybe try that also if it makes sense. I think my next
big project will be an exercise video so be sure to watch that when it is
available.
And finally if this seems like way to much effort then maybe
skydiving is the preferred activity for you. It is a simple ONE STEP
program. But don't look down!
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