The Holidays have come and gone and like so many others I fell victim to the many festivities and now it’s time to get back to business. I had a very wacky schedule the last 2 weeks and was fortunate to get in as many Joust workouts as I did and was able to go to recreation center to make up for missed workouts. The last workout I did was Saturday at the recreation center, a 30 min NuStep session and a fun interval set on the rower – row for 1:40 and rest for :20 and repeat nine times. To recap my last Joust workout was Wed. Dec 30th, took Thursday 12/31 and Friday 1/1 off, Saturday 1/2 at the recreation center and took Sunday off. I am out of sorts and can not wait to get back on track even though I know that 1st workout is going to hurt, but I have to do it.  Boy, was I right it was painful

One of the reasons why I wanted to write this blog is especially evident this time of year, when so many folks are trying to live up to their New Year’s Resolution. I saw it Saturday when I went to the recreation center, normally it’s almost empty on a Saturday afternoon, on this particularly afternoon it was jam packed.

I think it’s great that so many folks want to get active, however it is disheartening when I see an individual at an exercise facility with that "deer in the headlights" look. They’ll hop on a machine load it down with weight and do the exercise improperly or they’ll look at a machine like it is from outer space and just walk away, sadly never to be seen again.

I always thought that folks were intimidated or afraid to ask questions and possibly look stupid, who cares? Most machines will have directions on them, take the pertinent information down and look it up on the internet to find the proper use. I will caution that just because someone has big muscles and appears to be in shape does not mean they know how to use the equipment correctly.  Remember this is a lifestyle change and you take baby steps, the main thing is keep coming back-sticktoittiveness-if you will.

Two anecdotes come to mind, the first was when my Mother was diagnosed with Type II diabetes, Mom never did exercise, she was busy chasing around seven kids and taking care of the household.  It was a different time and setting aside certain amount of time per day devoted to exercise was not the norm.

When Mom got the news, the doctor told her to lose weight and start exercising.  Here was a woman in her mid-60's with no athletic ability instructed to exercise.  I gave her a recumbent bike and gave her instructions on how to use it.  We started off very slow with a goal of 5 minutes a day and built up from there.  She actually built up to the point where she was able to do two, 20 minute sessions a day and within six months she had dropped 60 pounds and was able to control her diabetes with diet and exercise.  I am still amazed at how much she enjoyed it, I gave her a little license plate and I can still picture her riding-nothing fast, she actually reminded of Tim Conway from the old Carol Burnett Comedy show when he played the old man that would slowly shuffle his feet.  The point is she did it and saw the tangible results from her work.

The second story literally started with one step.  My oldest sister was diagnosed with breast cancer, had both breasts removed along with some lymph nodes. Once again a woman that never exercised and was instructed to start doing something.  Another sister went to assist her after surgery and all my oldest sister could do was one step and my other sister had to hold her.  Fortunately, five years have passed with a clean bill of health and now she takes her daily 3 mile walks and gets a bit irritable if she doesn't get her walks in.  I find it funny in our family that the two most un-athletic, uncoordinated people have proven to be the most inspirational.

Bottom line just start moving, use the internet to educate yourself, try not to be intimidated, ask questions and always use proper form when exercising.

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Joust class schedule

The Joust experience

Joust Strength and Fitness is the gym I have been working out at since August 3^rd, 2009.  They are a member of the CrossFit family and employ the CrossFit training methods.  The staff is very knowledgeable and are sticklers for fundamentals which works out fine for me.  I have seen too many injuries due to improper form, myself included.

After explaining my knee situation to the various instructors they have been very accommodating with providing modifications and alternatives to exercises I can not or am limited in performing.  Everything is in place, now the onus is all on me-I have to show up and do it.  After working all day problem solving and dealing with corporate minutiae it is so nice to just show up, not have to think and bust your ass.

Finally, the numbers when I started at Joust:

Age-45

Height-6'2"

Weight-315

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