Muse back!
February 23, 2007 / Friday
Dumbbells Are My Friend
Given that my disappointing upper body workout on Tuesday resulted in half a day of mild pain while my much more satisfying lower body workout on Wednesday has left me in 2 days (and counting) now of severe pain, I decided that the Tuesday upper body workout was of unacceptable quality. I returned to the gym this afternoon to do it right: No weight machines, free weights only, and a pulley station for seated rows.
I'd switched to machines out of laziness sometime last year, which made things worse because it allowed me to relax on form. Machines allow you to shove and yank on handles without paying attention to what you're really doing. Do that with free weights, and you'll likely hurt yourself.
And so, with the threat of hurting myself with poor form, lack of focus, or the selection of too heavy a weight, I gave this week's upper body workout another go. One set of military presses later, I realized why weight training has recently become so boring for me: Pushing and pulling on machines is for zombies! It requires no skill, coordination, or focus whatsoever. I'd forgotten how much balance is required to properly lift a pair of dumbbells; those hunks of metal sure don't balance on their own.
As an added perk, I got to stare at myself in the mirror instead of at people on exercise bikes smearing snot on themselves. Me, not smearing snot. I'd much rather look at that. Hello, me.
Hooray, it's the weekend. What better way to start it than with every muscle group sore?
February 23, 2007 04:42 PM | Gym