Perpetual Motion
My doctors agree about one thing: I need more exercise.
My cardiologist asked me how I’d handled the pandemic. I responded that I’d remained pretty much sedentary, isolated and frozen in fear. “I can tell,” he responded.
“How did you know?” I asked, truly perplexed that he knew.
“You lost three minutes of cardiovascular fitness on the treadmill test.” He had clinical evidence.
“You need to do High-Intensity Interval Training,” he informed me, with great authority.
I did not want to hear this. The type of training he wanted me to do involves short bursts of very intense activity, with a brief rest before the next intense burst of activity, lasting as long as four minutes. Apparently, the heart effects are better than regular exercise. The mere idea of this much effort exhausts me.
Physical therapists and doctors for other ailments gave me separate instructions for different exercise programs. I started to tally the time required if I combined all the exercises assigned to me. I roughly estimated I would be busy for six hours a day, trying to stay well. That would leave me with time to eat and bathe, but little time for enjoyable activities.
I envisioned me responding to a friend’s invitation to see a movie. “Well, I don’t really have an available time slot. I like to sleep for eight hours, and the movie theaters are closed when I first wake up. I must have time for coffee to get the energy to complete my exercise programs.” My friends list would shrink rapidly.
I could come up with a thousand reasons I had no time to institute my exercise program. I was uninspired. My therapist suggested that I required an exercise partner, that I was not self-motivated. I was in full agreement.
I lamented my laziness with a good friend and learned that she is also not self-motivated. Eureka! She agreed to partner with me, and we began our new endeavor with regular walking. She is a trojan, far more disciplined than I am. She has a program on her phone, and she assigns agreed upon appointments which magically show up on my phone calendar. I have commitments and must show up.
We began with gentle walks, fresh air and lively conversation. She has no fear of trespassing, and we are frequently on gated properties, clearly posted as private, enjoying lovely private gardens. I must say there is an element of adventure here.
One day she called and suggested we walk around city hall. “Why would we go downtown?” I asked.
“Oh, there is going to be a protest rally! We really need to attend.” I had never attended a political protest. I figured we should go.
The rally had all types of individuals in attendance. Young people with colored hair, older military veterans, middle-aged matrons, all eagerly made their presence known. Some protesters had prepared and carried signs supporting science and against Nazis and fascism. I agreed with the crowd and chanted along with a woman carrying a megaphone. We walked the square for almost an hour.
I am mentally shifted now and look forward to my physical activities.
The conversations are spicy and keep me stimulated. Last week my friend told me about all the people she had heard were swingers. Many were stuffy people, some religious. That walk was as interesting as a podcast!
Tomorrow is Saturday. I don’t care what is on my calendar, as long as we walk. I can’t wait to get moving and see what surprises are in store for us.
- Vexations and Conundrum – May 2025 - April 30, 2025
- Vexations and Conundrum – April 2025 - March 29, 2025
- Vexations and Conundrums – March 2025 - February 27, 2025
