Stay Strong!

So my CrossFit coach sends me a little message each morning with a workout. I could just ignore them but since I signed up and am paying good money, I am more motivated to continue to work out.

It would be so much easier just to get up in the morning and just let exercising slide.

I could just drink coffee and do all those other summer things. Like weed the garden, pick veggies, walk Charlie, brush mules, pick flowers...and wander around aimlessly picking berries and finding bears.

Ahhh.

Would it be so simple.

So today's assignment was to 'go find something' in a junk pile on the farm that I may have to lift to move or clean up. The workout asked for Deadlifts and Burpees.

A burpee is like a combo of a push up that turns into a jumping jack. It calls for a lot of coordination and takes quite a bit of energy.

So..."Val, find something around the farm and use it for your deadlift, 4 rounds of deadlifts and burpees. Send me a photo of what you found."

See?

He is clever, he knows that I will be obedient and make my search for a deadlift item some sort of adventure.

So I took a photo of some of the things I'd LIKE to move but can't. They actually need to be moved by a skid steer. However they are handy things to hook Sven to. Sven does a great job of trimming around such items.

I need to be better at my warm ups. Most of my gym work outs in the days pre Pandemic consisted of about 30 minutes of warm ups and then a pretty intense but doable work out.

I need to keep the strength and mobility I had gained in my shoulders. 

So here is my Deadlift item I found today.

It is solid steel. Kind of heavy. Rich said it was about 75 lbs. It challenged me with my reps. However, my personal best for one lift is 125 with real weights and a bar.

I put on the sweat. Doing lifts and switching to Burpees.

Here's a look at my grubby knees after doing Burpees.

I was going to go work in the woods with a scythe afterwards so I just wore my work boots. No gym clothes while combining work outs with farm work!

Why do I keep doing this?

I'm 64 and am a little person with a farm to take care of. Over the years I lost a lot of strength in my arms from Frozen Shoulder and Elbow Tendonitis. In 3 years I had 3 surgeries and pronounced weakness in both arms...and...

My shoulders, elbows, wrists, and fingers are arthritic. 

[It seems logical that other joints that ache are a bit arthritic too.]

But here is the thing. Since starting to work out my bad days are less and the good days are more.

I need to stay strong. I want to stay mobile and strong. Those are my simple goals.

Hopefully my mind stays strong also!

Ask my son or husband and they will tell you I lost my mind a long time ago.

Be well.