Fitness

Since my baby arrived, I've not exercised much, I've run a lot of time on adrenalin and exhaustion, I've found energy through eating, and so I've got fairly fat. I wasn't too worried until I tried my customary high-intensity interval training and got no corresponding rev up.

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We'll get a new dog, one with an untwistable stomach...

Homer's solution to Santa's Little Helper having a bowel torsion.

Meanwhile, my unpuncturable tyre:

Picked up a nasty puncture from a quite mild piece of wire.

Whenever it is damp, drizzly november in my soul

The perfect answer to a damp drizzly May:

And of course, sitting in the warm living room blogging with my feet on the coffee table.  There needs to be a fair bit of that too.

The Fortress of Solitude

Well a 'human' 'interest' item for today:

In my back yard I have built a roof on legs over my exercise gear, because there is no room in the shed.

Free Weights in Tool Box

Shown here are my 2 x 10kg, 2 x 5kg, 4 x 2.5kg weights and two dumbells.  The toolbox is lockable but astonishingly non-waterproof.  If it rains, water gets in. I am buying weight from K-mart: 5kg = $13, 10kg = $25, 20kg = $39.  This is close to the floor price for weight, and they have nice handles inset.  They rust very readily, though.  I am hoping to add 2 x 20kg next.  I have a straight bar and the wiggly one (good for biceps and triceps) (the wiggly one was $25 from KMart).  With a collection of low-ish weight and not much safety equipment I am working in the higher rep range, primarily derived from a Pump-style circuit demo-ed by Simone R from Another Something.  I am starting to branch out - I added Hack Squats today, to try to balance a weak VMO (the quad muscle inside the knee).

A basic 'power tower'

This picture shows my 'Power Tower' and my bike, and you may be able to discern the shape of the Fortress - four pillars, a plastic roof, fence on one side, shed on another and open on the remaining sides.  The power tower lets you try to do a variety of chinups, whole body-weight dips, leg raises, and push-ups on handles, so that you can extend the range of motion by lowering your body between your hands.  I have some shoulder posture issues to work on that are still making a full wide-grip chinup a problem.

The bike I use almost exclusively for riding to work - about 16km, largely cycle path.  I recently broke the handle bars by pulling on them too hard trying to accelerate (weird eh?), but show here with the new ones.

I lack:  larger weights, and the ability to safely handle them.  If I ever want to squat anything like a 5-8RM squat, I need to work out how to get the bar on and off my shoulders safely.  I'm not going to be able to overhead press that.  But with VMO -> kneecap tracking problems, that'd be a nice problem to have.

How much has all this cost?

• $450 - the fortress itself (surprisingly much for a pretty flimsy bit of structure)
• $120 - via ebay, the power tower. There are better ones available - this is a little low and a little narrow for my size, I think.
• Weight ~ $105.
• Bars ~ $50
• Tool chest - $67
• Bike - $500 (but every time I ride I save probably $5 of petrol so it has probably paid for itself since I bought it in 2007)

So far, the cost for weights is well below a year's subscription to a local gym.  And the freedom to go out there and exercise as hard or as light as I feel like or as novelly as I wish is terrific.

Under 40 minutes

For the rides to and from work today.  That's about 16km.  It can take me that long to drive the 5km using the big bridge that bikes aren't allowed to use.  Fairly pleased with that.

Exercise tolerance

I've ridden to work three days in a row, done my weights sunday and tuesday, and also had pilates today. I am pretty stiff and tired now!