As I’m developing my new workout routine I have undertaken a series of projects over the past month.
- I moved my gym from the garage into my living room. This included mounting a pullup bar, rearranging furniture, moving artwork and figuring out how to make this space work. This was accompanied by minor repairs, patching, sanding and painting.
- I purchased kettlebells, suspension straps, exercise bands, books, sandbags, Indian Clubs, an Airbike and miscellaneous equipment.
- I planned my new workouts. As soon as I got started, I had to make adjustments and modifications to work around my injuries, capacity and strength levels.
- I spent the last two weeks working with spreadsheets to create a workout tracker, exercise list and plan.
- I worked out each day, modifying my plans and resetting my initial high expectations, as I discovered what’s working and what’s not.
Yesterday, while working with my Apple Numbers spreadsheet, I concluded that I needed to use different software. Numbers just sucks. I wanted it to work because I’ve simplified and standardized my tech on Apple. But Numbers is missing so many basic functions that any spreadsheet needs – like being able to setup fixed printing areas, sort single columns, linking drop down lists, etc. I could easily do all of this in Excel and Google Sheets more than 10 years ago. Apple really dropped the ball with Numbers.
After some digging, I landed on LibreOffice which is an open source “Office like” suite of products. It rocks! With a bit of googling and working with perplexity AI, I was able to figure out how to do everything I wanted to automate my workout planning system. I spent several hours setting up everything I need.
It’s been…fun.
I like figuring out new software when I have a reason to use it.
I am thoroughly enjoying diving down the rabbit-hole of kinesiology, fitness, strength, cardo, mobility, flexibility, training and recovery.
Hell, I’m even enjoying building my own rehab/PT program for my injuries since I can’t get in to see a PT until the end of February and I wanted to get started rehabilitation immediately.
I love having a project. I haven’t had one for several months.
I haven’t had one as all encompassing as this one for years. Quite possibly the last time I had something this big was when I moved to Raleigh in 2019 to rebuild my life.
I’ve had plenty of setbacks and challenges since I started down this path. Most of them are physical – especially relating to my shoulder and lower back injuries. I’m happy to report that both are steadily getting better.
This week, for the first time, I started feeling a bit of a groove. My Indian Club workouts are less stiff and awkward. At times, I felt a little bit of flow and gracefulness instead of stiffness and pain.
My strength is already developing with the weight lifting and suspension training. While nowhere near what I initially (naively) expected, some of the weights I’m using are more than double what I was able to use just a few weeks ago.
I’m hoping that within another week or two I’ll be ready to start doing more intense HIIT workouts and lots of kettlebell lifts. Fingers crossed.
Begrudgingly I can admit that my early limitations are a blessing in disguise. They have forced me to go slow, use lighter weights and be hyper-focused on form. They’ve made me look at every single movement and exercise I do to evaluate whether I should incorporate them into my routines or drop them altogether.
My dogs seem to like the new routine too. We’re now together 95% of the time which makes all of us happy.
Having an all consuming project has made the first two weeks of January fly by. it should easily occupy all of my attention through February and into March. I’m looking forward to entering the spring season as a fitter, healthier, stronger and more balanced man.