Day 7
I slept! Well, sort of. I woke up six times. Hmm....
Six, The number of Adam. The day of rest. Six days since I was diagnosed with Parkinson's.
-------------------
After a breakfast of fish and avocado, John and I hit the gym.
I had the key to the gym and was eager to get started. But, inside the lobby, John got into a looooong discussion with someone about MMA. So, I wiggled, and I danced to the music. I even waved my arms! I wanted to go inside the gym and start, but John was clearly procrastinating.
We have a joke that we share. Usually when we arrive at the gym, we change our shoes. John changes his shoes slowly and sits for a minute. If he's lucky enough to get a short conversation going with one of the coaches, that is even better. He says, "I'm stalling." Meanwhile I shake my head and grin at his silliness.
This morning, the coach who likes MMA fighting was in the lobby. As soon as I saw him, I knew John would strike up a conversation about MMA.
At one point, John said, "Oh. You didn't see that fight yet. I probably shouldn't tell you about it." Smiling, I started to head for the gym entrance.
Nope. Their conversation continued, about - oh, I don't know. I was no longer listening. My mind was thinking about lifting 100-pound weights. When I got bored with this imaginative scenario, I thought about MMA.
I pictured a green-haired gorilla and a clean-shaven monk. They were set on clobbering each other. Gorilla punched the monk. The monk flipped the gorilla. Gorilla got mad and started pounding its chest. But John saved the monk by running into the ring and offering the gorilla a banana.
Imagination only distracted me for a short time. I really wanted to start my workout. So, I started acting silly, just off to the side of John, where both guys could see me.
Another coach laughed. She knew what I was doing.
I stopped to check ... Did either man notice me?
Nope.
I shrugged. The coach and I laughed.
I started to dance some more. I stopped to check again.
Again, neither man had taken notice.
The coach threw her head back and laughed. I joined her. Then she motioned for me just to go inside and start. I nodded. I knew John would find someone to let him inside the gym.
----------------------
I did a warmup.
It was just about when I had finished warming up that John appeared.
John led me through another good warmup. Then we went over to the barbell.
After he set it up, I laid on the bench and prepared to do 1 set of 10 reps. It felt so good that I ended up doing 3 sets of 10 and an extra rep for John to check my form. The barbell only weighs 25 pounds and I press it empty, so it isn't a whole lot of weight. But for me, it is a good challenge.
This said, on my next arm day, I intend to bump it up to 4 sets of 10 reps. And if that goes well, it will be time to start adding weight.
John went off to do cardio, while I did functional exercises: 10 seated toe raises, 10 seated heel raises, 3 x 10 standing toe raises, 2 x 10 TXR incline pull-ups, 30 rope pulls, 10 assisted lunges, stability disk for 3 minutes three times, knee raises 3 x 10, lying side leg lifts 10, bicycles 10, toe touches 10, invisible bar squats 10, cobra presses 5, raised knee with upper torso twist 3 x 10, invisible balance beam forward and backward twice, wall pushups 30, side clam shell 3 x 5, pickup/set down the 25 pound kettle ball 10 times using knee bends, with sitting breaks as I needed.
Next it was time for dumbbells: 20-pound rows 4 x 10, 15-pound triceps 10, 15-pound behind the head triceps 10, 15-pound side curls 10, 10-pound triceps 2 x 10, 10-pound side curls 2 x 10, 10-pound behind the head triceps 10, 5-pound shoulder raises 10, 10-pound wrist curls 10.
After a walk around the gym, I could see that John had finished. I figured I would do a few of the machines before we left.
I decided to start with rope triceps pull-downs at 30-pounds. I managed 5. Switching to 20-pounds I did another 10. The second set, I could only manage 9. The third set, again, I gave out after 9. And suddenly, I couldn't do anymore. I mean, nothing. I was pooped, done, and over!
I didn't do as much as I wanted, but it was a decent workout and I felt great.
------------------------
Oh wow! I almost forgot to tell you what happened before we went to the gym!
John and I went out to the orchard, where we got six strawberries. I think there was a theme today!
Out in the yard, John showed me a strange orange fungus that had popped up overnight. Each mushroom was a hollow tube, that was covered with flies! They had grown in a semi-circle. What amazed us both was how the flies were attracted to the mushrooms. Neither of us had ever seen such a thing before. Six slightly curved, hollow, orange mushrooms covered with flies. Each mushroom was about six inches tall.
---------------------
Found out that mushroom is called Mutinus elegans. It is also known as devil's dipstick. According to wikipedia, it is antibacterial and antifungal against six microorganisms.
Six, The number of Adam. The day of rest. Six days since I was diagnosed with Parkinson's.
-------------------
After a breakfast of fish and avocado, John and I hit the gym.
I had the key to the gym and was eager to get started. But, inside the lobby, John got into a looooong discussion with someone about MMA. So, I wiggled, and I danced to the music. I even waved my arms! I wanted to go inside the gym and start, but John was clearly procrastinating.
We have a joke that we share. Usually when we arrive at the gym, we change our shoes. John changes his shoes slowly and sits for a minute. If he's lucky enough to get a short conversation going with one of the coaches, that is even better. He says, "I'm stalling." Meanwhile I shake my head and grin at his silliness.
This morning, the coach who likes MMA fighting was in the lobby. As soon as I saw him, I knew John would strike up a conversation about MMA.
At one point, John said, "Oh. You didn't see that fight yet. I probably shouldn't tell you about it." Smiling, I started to head for the gym entrance.
Nope. Their conversation continued, about - oh, I don't know. I was no longer listening. My mind was thinking about lifting 100-pound weights. When I got bored with this imaginative scenario, I thought about MMA.
I pictured a green-haired gorilla and a clean-shaven monk. They were set on clobbering each other. Gorilla punched the monk. The monk flipped the gorilla. Gorilla got mad and started pounding its chest. But John saved the monk by running into the ring and offering the gorilla a banana.
Imagination only distracted me for a short time. I really wanted to start my workout. So, I started acting silly, just off to the side of John, where both guys could see me.
Another coach laughed. She knew what I was doing.
I stopped to check ... Did either man notice me?
Nope.
I shrugged. The coach and I laughed.
I started to dance some more. I stopped to check again.
Again, neither man had taken notice.
The coach threw her head back and laughed. I joined her. Then she motioned for me just to go inside and start. I nodded. I knew John would find someone to let him inside the gym.
----------------------
I did a warmup.
It was just about when I had finished warming up that John appeared.
John led me through another good warmup. Then we went over to the barbell.
After he set it up, I laid on the bench and prepared to do 1 set of 10 reps. It felt so good that I ended up doing 3 sets of 10 and an extra rep for John to check my form. The barbell only weighs 25 pounds and I press it empty, so it isn't a whole lot of weight. But for me, it is a good challenge.
This said, on my next arm day, I intend to bump it up to 4 sets of 10 reps. And if that goes well, it will be time to start adding weight.
John went off to do cardio, while I did functional exercises: 10 seated toe raises, 10 seated heel raises, 3 x 10 standing toe raises, 2 x 10 TXR incline pull-ups, 30 rope pulls, 10 assisted lunges, stability disk for 3 minutes three times, knee raises 3 x 10, lying side leg lifts 10, bicycles 10, toe touches 10, invisible bar squats 10, cobra presses 5, raised knee with upper torso twist 3 x 10, invisible balance beam forward and backward twice, wall pushups 30, side clam shell 3 x 5, pickup/set down the 25 pound kettle ball 10 times using knee bends, with sitting breaks as I needed.
Next it was time for dumbbells: 20-pound rows 4 x 10, 15-pound triceps 10, 15-pound behind the head triceps 10, 15-pound side curls 10, 10-pound triceps 2 x 10, 10-pound side curls 2 x 10, 10-pound behind the head triceps 10, 5-pound shoulder raises 10, 10-pound wrist curls 10.
After a walk around the gym, I could see that John had finished. I figured I would do a few of the machines before we left.
I decided to start with rope triceps pull-downs at 30-pounds. I managed 5. Switching to 20-pounds I did another 10. The second set, I could only manage 9. The third set, again, I gave out after 9. And suddenly, I couldn't do anymore. I mean, nothing. I was pooped, done, and over!
I didn't do as much as I wanted, but it was a decent workout and I felt great.
------------------------
Oh wow! I almost forgot to tell you what happened before we went to the gym!
John and I went out to the orchard, where we got six strawberries. I think there was a theme today!
Out in the yard, John showed me a strange orange fungus that had popped up overnight. Each mushroom was a hollow tube, that was covered with flies! They had grown in a semi-circle. What amazed us both was how the flies were attracted to the mushrooms. Neither of us had ever seen such a thing before. Six slightly curved, hollow, orange mushrooms covered with flies. Each mushroom was about six inches tall.
---------------------
Found out that mushroom is called Mutinus elegans. It is also known as devil's dipstick. According to wikipedia, it is antibacterial and antifungal against six microorganisms.