TWO GEEZERS, TWO BIKES,
A GYM AND A GOAL--
There are a couple of stories loitering in today’s blog.
One involves two aging geezers who are starting to push the envelope a wee bit—and enjoying every minute of it.
You see, about 4 years ago I rode my bicycle 65 miles one day during the week I turned 65. Now, already, birthday number 70 is coming up next fall and I want to do the same thing; 70 miles of bicycling one day near my 70th birthday.
This time I will have a serious riding companion in the form of Ken Johnson of Bellville who turns 70 just a week or so behind me and who eagerly embraced sharing the ride.
We just discovered this mutual interest so we are embarking on a conditioning program in preparation for the challenge it represents--especially for me.
Ohio winters pretty much shut down comfortable bike riding from now until those first mild days of spring so our task is to not only retrain our current level of conditioning but build on it so we can tackle the endurance venture we have set for ourselves.
This brings me to the second story here. Ken has a miniature version of a fitness club of his own in his basement. And, while it contains some very spiffy exercise hardware, lots of our planned conditioning work will involve very simple exercise tools like most of us already have or can easily concoct around the house.
That’s story number 2.
The heart of Ken’s fitness gym is a multi-purpose contraption. It can exercise about everything you want exercised. From a web site of similar appliances I discovered a modern home gym could cost easily $850 or more. Lots more.
Toss in a weight bench and a set of weights, a rowing machine and, well, you get the picture.
We will gladly take advantage of Ken’s machinery as we launch our conditioning program. But, lots of exercise also will be done with home-contrived appliances which he also has in abundance.
There’s a pulley hung from a floor joist with a bar on one end and adjustable weight loads on the other, for example. There are lots of exercise contortions possible with that rig alone.
How about his simple set of steps where we can climb, or stand still and flex our antique, Achilles tendons, both till our heart’s content?
A simple rubber line with handles around a pole allows lots of exercise to happen; inexpensively.
Then, picture this: a short rod with hand grips and free turning wheels in the middle. Just get down on your knees with the wheeled gadget rolling slowly away from your outstretched arms—but don’t touch the floor with your body. Then pull yourself back up onto your knees. Think of push-ups with a wheel on a stick.
A GYM AND A GOAL--
There are a couple of stories loitering in today’s blog.
One involves two aging geezers who are starting to push the envelope a wee bit—and enjoying every minute of it.
You see, about 4 years ago I rode my bicycle 65 miles one day during the week I turned 65. Now, already, birthday number 70 is coming up next fall and I want to do the same thing; 70 miles of bicycling one day near my 70th birthday.
This time I will have a serious riding companion in the form of Ken Johnson of Bellville who turns 70 just a week or so behind me and who eagerly embraced sharing the ride.
We just discovered this mutual interest so we are embarking on a conditioning program in preparation for the challenge it represents--especially for me.
Ohio winters pretty much shut down comfortable bike riding from now until those first mild days of spring so our task is to not only retrain our current level of conditioning but build on it so we can tackle the endurance venture we have set for ourselves.
This brings me to the second story here. Ken has a miniature version of a fitness club of his own in his basement. And, while it contains some very spiffy exercise hardware, lots of our planned conditioning work will involve very simple exercise tools like most of us already have or can easily concoct around the house.
That’s story number 2.
The heart of Ken’s fitness gym is a multi-purpose contraption. It can exercise about everything you want exercised. From a web site of similar appliances I discovered a modern home gym could cost easily $850 or more. Lots more.
Toss in a weight bench and a set of weights, a rowing machine and, well, you get the picture.
We will gladly take advantage of Ken’s machinery as we launch our conditioning program. But, lots of exercise also will be done with home-contrived appliances which he also has in abundance.
There’s a pulley hung from a floor joist with a bar on one end and adjustable weight loads on the other, for example. There are lots of exercise contortions possible with that rig alone.
How about his simple set of steps where we can climb, or stand still and flex our antique, Achilles tendons, both till our heart’s content?
A simple rubber line with handles around a pole allows lots of exercise to happen; inexpensively.
Then, picture this: a short rod with hand grips and free turning wheels in the middle. Just get down on your knees with the wheeled gadget rolling slowly away from your outstretched arms—but don’t touch the floor with your body. Then pull yourself back up onto your knees. Think of push-ups with a wheel on a stick.
Think of pain.
When you get good at that exercise, imagine trying it with just your toes and the wheel touching the floor.
So, there you have it; a couple of geriatric adolescents launching on a mildly improbable goal for senior citizens with an eclectic mix of hardware at our disposal.
We hope you will come along for the ride. Vicariously, of course.
So, there you have it; a couple of geriatric adolescents launching on a mildly improbable goal for senior citizens with an eclectic mix of hardware at our disposal.
We hope you will come along for the ride. Vicariously, of course.
_______________________Ken Johnson shows this rookie (top photo) the technique of exercising with his wheel-on-a-stick. That’s a name I imagined as I began to realize how challenging it was going to be duplicating his demonstration.
In the lower photo he is using his home gym machine to replicate sit-ups; a marvelous exercise for those troubling bulges that appear around the waistline when we are not otherwise careful.
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