EXERCISING RIGHTS FOR BETTER LIVING

Exercising rights are a mental thing; also a physical thing.

The mental part is realizing the benefits of the physical thing.

How often has someone doubted the benefits of either?

When they do cast doubt, they do it from a couch eating bonbons.

By now no one should have any questions about the benefits of exercise.

Sure there are those unconvinced because their workouts have never got them anywhere close to their unreasonable expectations, like losing weight and getting strong.

Why?

Because they didn’t change their diet.

They joined a gym for the company and never break a sweat.

Or, they have the wrong metabolism.

And it’s all valid. What isn’t valid are the expectations of expressing exercise rights.

If you can get up, then get up.

If you can get up and move around, then by all means do it.

But there’s no where in this world that you’re waking up to the thrill of an exercise routine and suddenly think you’re ready for the Paris Olympics.

How about the Olympic Trials? Nope.

Any professional league? Huh uh.

Run a marathon? Don’t do it just to say you did.

But if you have those things in mind, things that are over-achieving for your former self, keep up the momentum.

 

Working Out For The Next Generation

Before I got married I used the Portland State University gym.

It was full of strong men and women, athletes, and power lifters.

You could tell the professional staff, the teachers, instructors, and professors in the room.

They seemed interested in the other people there instead of focusing on their gains.

I worked in the neighborhood and got in there during lunch hour. I felt very virtuous.

One of the young women at work asked me about my workout, so we made a date after work.

She wasn’t used to seeing strong men and got distracted. It happens.

We went a few more times until it became clear she was working on more than her body; she wanted to work on mine.

She was nice, more than nice, but when does a gym date turn into something else?

I don’t know, because once she got straight on her purpose I ignored her.

Gym guys can be like that with their mono-focus.

Besides, I didn’t have time or room to fit her into my schedule.

She was a serious woman looking for a serious man and it wasn’t me.

I already knew how it would go if we spent more time together.

She would get overwhelmed thinking this was the one, that I was it, then I’d have to meet her parents, her friends, and the rest of the serious stuff.

Working around her was enough fun for anyone.

Once I was sitting on the couch in the break room and she came in behind me, covered my eyes with her hands, pressed her boobs against the back of my head and said, “Guess who?”

She was more than nice, so nice and so fun that any responsible guy wouldn’t take a chance at wrecking her happiness.

It wasn’t going to be me. I’d already wrecked enough happiness. All I was up for was gym company and that was fading fast.

 

Then I Got Married

My wife thought I spent too much time in the gym.

As a compromise we got a single stack weight machine.

I barely used it, she didn’t use it, but we kept it for three moves, which was a workout in itself.

Eventually I gave it away to a guy who wanted to return it once he figured out he’d never use it either.

I suggested he donate it to his church.

Once we settled into suburban life and had kids, they were my workout.

As they got older I coached their teams until they got into high school.

And I got fat. Not fat fat, just more than I’d ever weighed.

Since I still felt good and still felt connected to my exercise rights through sports, it didn’t bother me much.

Time passed, the kids went to college, and I joined 24Hour.

Like young adults the world around, my kids found their true love, got married, and have kids themselves.

Being A Role Model

Me: If you’d had a real wrestling coach in high school you would have wrestled in college.

Kid: The guys I knew who wrestled in college got messed up. Even the good ones took a beating.

Me: That’s part of sports. You don’t know how thing will turn out until you get there.

Kid: Maybe, but I still stayed busy playing basketball all the time and going to class. I don’t know how college athletes play, travel, and keep up their classwork.

Me: They get help. Some of the help is taking classes from the coach’s friends who understand the stress on the student-athletes.

Kid: I wanted more than a General Studies degree, or a Bachelors in Communication.

Me: You got more, but what I’m saying is with the right environment, the right culture in the high school wrestling room, you would have made the jump.

Kid: It was a weird room with the older guys sticking together and not helping anyone.

Me: Where I was raised the good guys took pride in handing down what they’d learned to the new guys. It was expected, and everyone got better from it.

Kid: Sounds good. That sort of happened when I was a junior and a senior.

Me: I was proud of you for helping out. Now you can help more.

Kid: Doing what?

Me: By being a role model for your kid. Let them see you running and lifting and invite them to join in. Make time for them to learn their exercise rights.

Kid: How does that work?

Me: I’ll ride your bike while you run. When kids see that they want to join in. You did great with potty training, now it’s time for athletic training.

Kid: I’m not a fast runner.

Me: You don’t have to be. I used to run under a six minute mile.

Kid: I doubt I could do an eight minute mile.

Me: That’s in the future. What you want to do is create an exercise habit, make it fun, and enjoy the benefits. One of those are faster times than you thought you could do.

Kid: That’s it?

Me: And then be prepared for when your kid runs you into the ground.

Kid: That happens?

Me: That’s one of the goals. Fun, huh?