Just man up

It’s a confusing time for many who are biological men but for some strange reason have doubts and now publicly identify as a woman. Who invented this gender confusion stuff? 

Several years ago, Pierini Fitness wrote about one such confused man named Bruce Jenner: A confused middle-aged man 

 

A lot has happened since then and where it will end, who knows. 

 

Biological males competing as athletes against women just isn’t fair. And that’s just my first of many manly rants.

 

Now we have a biological man parading around and appearing on a beer can promotion as a woman. Beer company Anheuser-Busch recently celebrated a transgender activist’s confused identity of 365 Days of Girlhood by pasting his face on cans of Bud Light beer. Boy, is Anheuser-Busch paying a price for this marketing disaster, and rightfully so. 

 

There are countless other examples of this gender confusion crap taking place in America and around the world, but Pierini Fitness will spare you of the details because chances are, you already are aware of them.   

 

I remember a conversation I had almost ten years ago with my now deceased Dad.

He was disturbed about some of the stuff going on in the world at the time - it’s weirder now – and commented on how his grandfather (my great grandfather) would turn over in his grave if he saw the world as it was today. 

 

I can only imagine that my Dad would do the same – turn over in his grave – if he were to witness the gender confusion shenanigans going on today. 

 

Fortunately for us men, and I suppose unfortunately for other confused biological men who carry a big cross of being a man as created by God, we’re stuck with our manly selves and no amount of pretending or chemical and surgical doings can change that fact.

Men, dressed as women, don’t belong in women’s bathrooms, in public to scare the living daylights out of little children, or competing as women in women athletic competitions. 

I wish you gender-confused souls my very best. It's challenging at times being a man but you need to just man up.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Time for another 100 burpees at the park birthday party

How time flies when we're having fun, or not having fun.  It's a little later now and since my last reflection here at Pierini Fitness, Father Time has given me another present, a birthday that has come and gone.  Pierini Fitness is now 68-years young and is very grateful that thus far, good fitness, health and wellness continues to be his blessing.

I must admit that I get a school letter grade of F for my effort, or lack of it, adding new and interesting content here the last year.  It's probably my worst effort in the 14 years plus that Pierini Fitness, the blog, has been in existence. I hope to do better this year than I did last year.

Until I step up to the plate, take a viewing of my 68th birthday 100 burpees in the park effort from a few days ago.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Something to be celebrated

As an older fellow still on the fitness training saddle, chasing fitness goals need to be age-adjusted for best results.  What might have been a goal in my 20’s to do 100 burpees in under seven minutes may now be do so in less than ten minutes.  This has been a goal for several years that for some strange reason, lack of patience and perseverance come to mind, has alluded me.

Until last week!

I finally completed 100 burpees in under ten minutes - nine minutes forty-seven seconds to be exact.  

While my goal has been to do 100 burpees with hands extended overhead jumps for each rep, I had to further tailor downwards my goal sans the jump.  Now that I’ve accomplished the sub-ten-minute benchmark, I’ll soon start doing burpees again with this demanding jump and see how long it’ll take me to enter sub-ten-minute land again.

Here's my recent effort:

I received an accolade from a fellow cyberspace fitness brother from a different mother who shared the following brilliant wisdom soundbite:

“Every day we’re the oldest we’ve ever been and the youngest we’ll ever be so every (fitness) personal best is something to be celebrated.”

Thank you Gus GainBros for your sage wisdom and, yes, I agree, my recent age-adjusted fitness accomplishment is something to be celebrated.

 Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Merry Christmas 2022 greetings

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Thanksgiving Day fun run memories

I'm currently a retired runner and have retired several times. But there was a time when I was a fun runner and would enter a couple fun runs each year. One of my favorites was the Run to Feed the Hungry, a very large (probably over 17,000 runners) Thanksgiving Day fun run in the city where I used to live. I would enter the 10k distance and each year I tried to run a better time. I believe at my best, I completed the 10k distance at about a 7:18/mile pace. I have many pleasant Thanksgiving Day memories running it, along with my son who was an excellent high school track distance runner.

I came out of retirement last in 2019 and ran a couple fun runs and also trained for a goal of running one mile on a high school track in 7:30 or less. I trained hard and finally achieved this goal on the last day of Summer 2019 (age 64) with a time of 7:20. Then, I retired again.

I have plans of coming out of retirement again on New Year's Day 2023. I'll slowly begin training for a 5k fun run in April 2023. I'll train with my little grandsons who will enter the kid division 1/2-mile run. It should be fun.

Regardless of how I do - I don't believe I'll set any personal "world records" - I'll have fun on fun run race day and will always have my forever to cherish Thanksgiving Day fun run memories.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Three up and three down

In my bodyweight exercise training journey, like others, I’ve been seduced into volume training for reps and sets of an exercise. For pull-ups and bar dips, for example, I’ve had a fascination with 100-rep workouts. Many of these workouts were timed; how fast could I complete 100 reps. I’ve always liked the game “Beat the Clock” but, truth be told, often it was the clock beating me. But I’ve always had fun trying.

 

Another variation of training with these two exercises has been adding weight and seeing how heavy of an added weight I could use to perform a single rep. Or how many reps of, for example a five-set effort, I could complete with a given weight, with progress measured by adding weight or trying to complete more reps with a given weight. Progressive resistance has always been the name of the game in my fitness training department.

 

Lately, I’ve been toning done the volume and doing something different that is currently a joyful change from my past training efforts. I’m doing a single set workout when doing pull-ups and bar dips. Yes, a single set for the day, no more and no less. To make it a beneficial single set, I’ve incorporated pause holds during the reps. My current variety of this is to hold a three-count at the top and bottom range of the exercise. Here are two recent videos of me doing this for pull-ups and bar dips:

Pull-ups with 3-count pauses

Bar dips with 3-count pauses

Add fitness training variety to your bodyweight training by incorporating pause holds with your reps like how I’m doing, three up and three down.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Work faster old man!

Yesterday afternoon, I decided to work on my Navy Seals burpees speed and gave myself a quick test of how many Navy Seals burpees I could complete in one minute; I completed nine.

Work faster old man!

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

At a gentleman's pace

You get older and realize the fitness stuff you did as a younger man can't be done, or if it can be done, it takes a lot of hard work begging the question is it worth the effort.  My great friend and now deceased Mr. Tommy Kono - America's greatest Olympic weightlifter - best explained it when he told me the following:

"When I was a young man, I trained to get better.  Then as I aged, I trained to maintain what I have achieved.  Now, as an older man, I train to survive!"

 

Is this now me talking to myself?

 

Not yet is my initial answer but maybe yes.

 

Regardless, there comes a chapter in one’s middle-aged man fitness journey when the road traveled is a bit slower.

 

Like, for example, my workout the other day at the park, consisting of 100 double-pump burpee pull-ups done at a slower pace.  The workout was still hard, but I got it done at a pace that was age-appropriate for me.

 

I’ve arrived at a point in my life where my fitness pursuits are being done at a gentleman’s pace.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

I'm still living and training

 

I'm still at it but doing it off the cyberspace grid.  I'll be back eventually.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

The pull/push part of my last workout

 

I’ve been doing weighted pull-ups and bar dips lately in my fitness training and am pleased with the recent progress made reclaiming my strength. I say “reclaiming” because whatever I’m currently achieving with my training – weight used, reps completed and time to complete a specified workout - is what I’ve done in the past. At this point in my gracefully aging fitness training pursuits, there’s nothing new under the sun and this includes workout performance.

Sometimes I’ll do the weighted pull-ups or weighted bar dips on different days but sometimes, I’ll pair them together as a superset. When I need pushing variety, I’ll substitute the weighted bar dips with double kettlebell overhead press work.

Other exercises I’m including in my training are double kettlebell rack squats, an occasional kettlebell complex or chain workout and burpees. I’ve discovered the challenge of Navy Seals burpees and have been trying to get about two workouts a week doing 100 repetitions of them. I’ll also do other burpees work because it (the burpee) has become my primary cardiovascular-respiratory conditioning exercise. Like other burpees enthusiasts, I “hate” burpees but love the benefits they provide. And they keep my humble. 

Here’s part of my workout last Monday.  I’ve been off since then because I caught the flu and had to take a training time out. I’m projecting to be ready to get back with my fitness training tomorrow or the next day and am sure I’ll notice the time out.

 Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum