Thursday, January 1, 2015

Exercise, Day One: Calisthenics? NO!

My Year of Daily Exercise, Day One.

Six-thirty in the morning, and all is quiet. I do not want to wake the family by performing calisthenics in the living room before sunrise.

Hah! The absurdity of that last statement astounds even me. I giggle at the thought that it could now be me, who might actually make too much noise by thumping the floor vigorously with set after set of perfectly executed jumping jacks. I would love to be able to expect that it might be this couch potato who is waking up the next-door neighbors due to the intensity of her earth-shaking exercises. But the reality is, that body-moving is an activity that hasn't happened to this body in such a very long time that it seems so very unlikely that it might be happening any time soon.

"Not waking up the family" also sounds like it might provide a great excuse to avoid many difficult forms of exercise, especially the hard ones I used to enjoy doing with ease but haven't attempted in years. However, "not performing calisthenics" is already a part of my new and improved exercise plan. I want to avoid any exercise that might hurt me. I quite consciously avoid damage to any of my body's important parts, e.g., any organ or tissue that is in any way connected to a sensory organ that might possibly be tempted to send a message to the brain entitled "PAIN."

For a body unused to regular exercise, performing calisthenics is a definite no-no.

We want to strengthen our bodies and become fit. We do NOT want to injure ourselves and be forced to give up exercise and suffer for years in pain (like we did last time).

We will ease into our daily routine of exercise, gradually.