New Habits
Wow, this year is flying by faster than I can keep up with! So much has happened, and yet, not a ton is different. Yet…
Towards the end of last year, I realized I had let my physical health get away from me, mostly by focusing on sedentary activities and not getting up and out more often. Well, that’s been one of the biggest changes so far this year.
First, I changed my diet and my daily habits. I’ve started walking as much as I can. Lunch breaks, after work, parking at the far end of the parking lot, whatever it takes. More on that later. I’m focusing on my nutritional macros for now, making sure I am getting the protein, carbs, and fat required to be healthy. I’m trying to get most of that from whole foods, without supplements and vitamins if I can help it. My biggest challenge has actually been eating enough, trying to hit my targets instead of skipping meals and not fueling my body properly. It’s a learning curve, for sure.
Next, I bought myself a Peloton bike, thanks to a great sale they ran around New Year’s Day. I wasn’t totally sure if it would work out for me, but after numerous conversations with my sister, I was willing to give it a try. And with minimal adjusting of my schedule, I am able to fit in a good 30-45 minutes of riding or general exercise every morning before I go to work. As a bonus to this, the new morning schedule actually reduces the amount of time that was wasted as “in between” time, which has been a nice efficiency side effect. Nearly four months into owning the bike, and I am averaging a solid 150+ miles each month. And that’s the part that has hooked me – it’s not just riding a bike while watching tv, like every other gym bike I have tried. The included classes are motivating (yes, the instructors yell sometimes…), entertaining, and well done, integrating music and course metrics into the video. Instead of just telling you to crank up the resistance, the instructor will say “we’re going up a hill, turn the resistance up and let’s climb!” which gives it a real-world effect. And some of the videos are actually recordings of real-world scenery. Also, the app has so much more than just cycling videos. There’s yoga, strength, cardio, stretching (which I find myself using almost daily!), meditation and running classes. I suppose it’s not any one thing that has hooked me, but the overall product. Nonetheless I am hooked. More significantly, for the first time in my life, I am actually enjoying working out, not seeing it as a chore or a task to “just get done.”
One good/bad effect of riding the Peloton so consistently is that my legs are almost always sore. Not always pleasant, but it has forced me to get out of my chair and walk around more throughout the day. I have added a 10-20 minute walk both before work and at lunch, plus I have set my watch to alert me every hour, so I remember to get up and walk around. It might only be the 2 minute walk to the office bathroom and back, but that little bit has helped me consistently hit some higher daily step counts. Every little bit helps, plus it gets me outside during the middle of the day to breathe some fresh air and listen to some bird song.
The most recent addition to the exercise routine has been a long time planning. After I realized that exercise was going to remain a part of my life for the foreseeable future, I made the decision to purchase some weight equipment. I know that the Peloton is great, but cardio alone will not keep me strong and alive. I need to build muscle. For the record, I have NEVER lifted weights before, and there are huge imposter syndrome thoughts going through my mind, even now. But all that said, I have converted my garage into my own personal mini-gym.
For the naysayers, yes, a gym membership would have been easier and cheaper. I was unable to find a gym that had both the equipment I wanted to use and hours that would work for me in my crazy schedule. What good is it to pay for a membership if I can never get to the gym while it’s open? Owning the equipment means I can workout whenever I want - at 0400 before work, at eleven at night when I get home from work, or anywhere in between. Bonus - I don’t have to drive to get there, I don’t have to pack a bag or prep a snack or even put on clothes (always knock first!), I can just walk into the garage and start lifting. Not only does it give me flexibility, but it has also given me opportunity… sometimes I only have 10-20 minutes of free time. That’s 10-20 minutes of exercising, instead of driving to the gym and getting 5 or 10 minutes of exercise - or none at all, because really, what’s the point of driving that far for 5 minutes. Hands down one of the best purchases I have ever made…
First task was to clean the garage out. Toughest. Task. Ever. And it’s still not completely done. There are a few boxes left to sort through and toss out, but for now, they are off to the side and not in the way.
Once the garage was (mostly) clear, I laid down rubber horse stall mats throughout. It wasn’t cheap, but the garage has now become my favorite place to hang out, simply because the mats feel so nice. They don’t look as bad as I expected, either, especially once I got them taped up to prevent shifting and leakage of any spills. I often find myself hanging out in the garage instead of the couch, just because I enjoy the space so much now.
After the mats were down, I started to unbox. And unbox. And unbox some more. Lots and lots of cardboard. The bonfire will be epic. In all seriousness, the packaging was amazingly secure and well-done. It was designed for shipping, and had to be as intense as it could be to protect from UPS, FedEx and DHL. No complaints here.
Ninety-four bolts later and the rack was standing. My shoulders were dead and I’m pretty sure I broke a toe (don’t drop solid steel parts on your bare feet… why bare feet? Rubbers mats, of course…) but it’s a beautiful thing to open my garage door and see a red and black power rack with low row/lat pull cables sitting there waiting for me. Much fun will be had for years to come.
I looked at numerous brands for equipment, even visiting a few that have showrooms or distribution centers. I decided to go with REP Fitness, not because they’re the best (they’re closing the gap quickly though) but partly because they’re significantly less expensive than most other brands, and mostly because they offer a substantial discount for local pickup in lieu of delivery. Bonus - they have a showroom less than an hour from my house making this a viable option. The staff in Carlisle were phenomenal, answering all my questions and giving me setup tips during the many many research trips I made before my purchase. Once ordered (which can be done in person, but I opted for online ordering to be able to play with parts and pieces without wasting a salesman’s time), the entire package was ready for pickup less than 24 hours later. They helped me load the rental truck, and wished me well as I drove off with a huge smile on my face.
And setup was straight-forward, well documented, and not particularly difficult, even though I did it alone and had to rig some temporary supports to get everything aligned. With an additional person, the whole assembly process would have been much easier and faster, but it CAN be done solo.
The only real issue I had was of my own unpreparedness. When I purchased my house, I inspected the trusses over the house. I didn’t expect those over the garage to be any different. But… the garage used to be a carport, and was framed with rafters. So the ceiling purlins run side to side instead of front to rear like the trusses. Due to the height of the rack, I knew I was going to have to pop a hole in the drywall ceiling, but I was not prepared to need to rotate the rack 90-degrees in order to avoid the ceiling rafters. Once figured out, the rack was positioned - and honestly, it works just fine, so I’m not too worried about the change. The drywall hole will get a proper finished look soon, so it doesn’t look like I fell through the ceiling.
I’ve already completed a couple short workouts, mostly to get safety heights and rack hook positions dialed in, and restarted my workout progression. I had been lifting from the ground for a few months, but having the racks makes the motions safer and more effective. I am enjoying it, even if I am discovering a few muscles that I didn’t know I had.
Joseph and the team at REP-Carlisle, along with REP Fitness in general, get my full endorsement. They answered every question I had, gave me ideas on how to make the setup I wanted work in the space I had, and were endlessly helpful with letting me take measurements, offering advice, and generally being welcoming and non-pushy at all.
As a side-note, I was highly disappointed in the Rogue Fitness staff at their Columbus, Ohio retail store. With at least 6 staff visible when I walked in, and only 2 other customers, not a single staff member greeted me, asked if I had questions, or otherwise acknowledged my presence in their store. And I didn’t just walk through and leave, I spent over an hour looking at equipment for future purchases, lifting barbells out of the rack to see how they felt in hand, and looking at nearly every item in the retail space. Not a single word from staff. As the generally accepted leader of the industry, this was not the experience I expected, and was one of the factors I took into account when I made my purchasing decision. Ok, rant over.
That’s where my year has taken me so far. I look forward to the gains I’ll make as the year progresses. And I hope your year has started with positive movement, too.
Remember to always Spin the Compass!
