Week 2 of the quarantine has come to an end and I don’t even know what to do with myself anymore. Today is Friday, which means I worked out at 8 a.m. until 9:30 and then made breakfast for my son and fed the dogs.
That ended about 10 a.m. and with the grey, miserable, cold, windy and wet weather out there, I’ve sat in my easy chair and watched two straight movies end to end, which marks the first time in years I’ve had an opportunity to do that when I wasn’t actually at the cinema.
That’s also an outing that doesn’t happen nearly as often as we would like, given the fact I have to arrange to sell one of my kidneys on the black market to afford popcorn and sodas for the kids when we go to the theatre.
I kid, I kid. I would never get enough from just one kidney to afford popcorn AND drinks. That’s just science.
Back to the morning, though. It was a weird feeling. After my workout, I had my protein shake – with 60g of protein!! – I then commenced to aggressive lounging. I thought about eating a real meal, but couldn’t decide between eating great and eating garbage because I’m anxious and stressed out – so I ended up not eating until the first movie, Pacific Rim, was over. When the second movie, The Equalizer 2, was half done, I ate a decent, nutritious meal that did not include potato chips in any form.
I’d say that’s a start.
I sat around moribund, feeling like this is as good as life is going to get for a very long while. The most excitement I get these days is when someone I don’t expect to hear from messages me and then, I can manage some excitement for a few minutes. Other than that, I’m like a dog. I lie around, go sniffing for food every so often, get told ‘no’ a lot and end up just walking to alleviate my boredom.
Then, I put on the third garbage movie of the day around 3 p.m., and Death Race began and I sat down to talk about it to my friends on the Internet, because that’s pretty much the only place I’m talking to them these days.
This pandemic sucks, and has upset our very way of life. It’s a shitty situation and we’re all in it. Together. Whether we want to be or not.
I find my feelings on the topic of self-isolation vacillate wildly from hour to hour and even minute to minute. In one breath, I’m extolling the virtues of self-isolation and not spreading disease, and in the other minute, I’m angry because my way of life is being threatened by something that literally will not have one single iota of effect on me or my day-to-day life.
Then, I get regretful at my silly anger because my mother, father and many other older adults are at risk, as well as immunosuppressed kids and friends. These are the people for whom I fear the most, but that only lasts for about 20 minutes until I get bored and angry again. Then, the cycle of irritation begins anew.
Being this annoyed and stuck inside my own head is really, really not good for my psyche. I hope some nicer weather is on the way.
Oh, such fun!
So I thought I’d lay out what was great and what was bad about some of these mobvies and other craptastic entertainment that I’m watching, if only to help you, dear friends, not make the same mistake I made. For instance, Death Race, the 2008 remake of a 70s dystopian classic, starring Jason Statham and Tyrese Gibson is a joyless slog through a monolithic prison and without a single redeeming quality in the film. I silently judge all those involved with this unfortunate remake.
TRAINING!!!
Second workout of the day will take place at 6 p.m., and will be leg day for me tonight, interspersed with eight-minute rowing segments.
You can follow along as we go through it. The set will look like this, and all you need is a set of small dumbbells, or failing that, something you can hold in your hands that can add to your body weight.
20 of each of the following exercises, with a 3-1-3 tempo, which makes it all the more difficult. Three seconds to do the contraction, one second at te pause of the contraction and three seconds to relax the contraction. As a fellow trainer told me the other day, ‘time under tension = strength,’ although, I’m paraphrasing loosely.
Goblet squats (resistance held under chin for maximum efficiency and posture)
Alternating front lunges
Alternating back lunges
Right leg split squat
Left leg split squat
Lateral lunges (alternating side to side)
Calf raises
Right leg step ups
Left leg step ups
Finish with 45 seconds of sprinting in place
RINSE AND REPEAT AS NEEDED.