TheBanyanTree: Hercules

[Margaret R. Kramer]

I work out six days a week.  I do weight lifting.  I do cardio exercises
like swimming, walking, and moving along on an elliptical or cross training
machine.  I do yoga.  I work up a good soaking sweat.  I relax in the sauna
or whirlpool.

My resting heart rate is very slow.  My blood pressure is low.  My
cholesterol is low.  I don’t need to take any medications.  I have to work
very hard to get my heart to pump up to the required heart rate to make me
sweat.

I’ve never in my life been as fit as I am now at the age of almost 49.

And yet I don’t know how fit I am unless I do something outside the gym.
The gym for me is a routine, a way of meditating and relaxing.  When I first
started working out three and half years ago, my improvements were fast and
remarkable.  Now I have to push myself to lift that extra pound and to walk
a little faster.  I stay on a plateau for a while and then all of a sudden I
can do something more.  But it takes time and conscious effort to get to the
next level.

But when I have to do some physical activity outside the gym, then I
realize, hey, I’m good shape!

I ordered a bedroom set off of ebay last summer.  It was stored in the
garage until I got home from work, then Ray and I began the process of
moving out the old set.  The king sized mattress was moved outside the
bedroom.  We emptied dresser drawers and hauled them down two flights of
stairs and outside to the garage.

It was a hot and humid August afternoon and Ray’s lungs were giving him a
difficult time.  So he stayed inside in the air conditioning and I began to
haul the set from the garage to our bedroom.  First the headboard, then the
dressers, then the nightstands, and finally all the drawers.  I did it
mostly by myself.  Once my muscles were engaged and I regulated my
breathing, it wasn’t a big deal.

When we got the bedroom settled, I hauled most of the old stuff out to the
garage with Ray’s help.

I wasn’t even tired.  Sweaty, yes, but tired, no.

I do 5Ks from time to time just to get in a different sort of exercise
outside.  It’s wonderful to walk at a very brisk pace feeding off the energy
of the other walkers around me and breathing in the fresh air.  My son will
ask me how I am after the race, like it’s some amazing feat to walk three
miles.  And I tell him I’m just the same.  The walks are nothing special to
me, nothing I have to “work out” for, they’re just part of my general
fitness.

I can go ice skating and not feel sore afterwards.  I can lug heavy boxes
around and not get sore.  If we had any snow, I can shovel with the best of
them.  I don’t mind cutting the grass.  My grandsons wear out my brain with
constant chatter, but I can enjoy them in a physical way.  I can lift them
and participate in some of their activities without hesitation because I’m
in shape.

Exercise is the basis of so many good things, and I really appreciate being
fit when I do things outside of the gym.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at earthlink.net

http://www.polarispublications.com
Be a star!

http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the
other.
~Author Unknown