Dufisthenics

So today was the first time I have returned to the gym since my mom had a sudden, massive, heart attack and passed away three days later.  To say it was a difficult, life altering event would be an understatement.  My mom was only 66 years old, only two decades older than myself.

The only conventional exercise I did was one treadmill 5K last week, otherwise all of my activity has been from the physical labor of cleaning out her apartment of her belongings.  Obviously it was not a fun. During this time period I somehow managed to lose three or four pounds.  I figured today was the day to get back in the saddle.  The only real choice a person has in this situation is to keep moving forward.

The loss of a few pounds seemed to equate to the loss of a few pounds on my bench press.  I only went up to 225lbs for three single reps and it was a struggle.  After finishing up on flat bench I did a couple sets of incline benching before heading over to the VMX continuous rope machine.

You may recall I tried this out for the first time a couple weeks ago and found it quite difficult on it’s maximum resistance setting.  I did a set of 200 feet followed by three shorter 100 foot pulls if memory serves me correctly.  It was tough.

Well today I decided I was going to pull the entire 500 feet in one set and do so in honor of my mom.  I’m sure there is some symbolism I could draw here but I just wanted to do something hard and complete it.  As I crossed the halfway mark the burn in my scalpula steadily intensified.  I just ignored it and kept pulling.  Short of the skin peeling off my hands there was no way I was going to quit before the meter read 500.  I completed the pull successfully and have a feeling there may eventually be a Mom Memorial 1000 in my future.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Barbell bench press – 135lbs x 10, 185lbs x 5, 225lbs x 1, 225lbs x 1, 225lbs x 1, 185lbs x 8, 185lbs x 8

Incline barbell bench press – 135lbs x 10, 185lbs x 3

VMX rope pull – 500 feet