We call it summer!

First day of Summer 2021 at 6:05 am and already hot!

Summer 2021 arrived yesterday with my approval, but my summer heat had already arrived earlier in my part of the world.

And, apparently, this heat has arrived other parts of the United States.  My former hometown contacts tell me it’s been very hot there.  The media seems to be on an uptick reporting a southwestern United States heat wave.

Is it time to switch gears from the rampant COVID reporting and start something new, or old, like climate change or global warming?

Some people call this heat climate change or global warming.  Yet others call it a “heat wave.” 

Here is Arizona, we call it summer!

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

New York Yankees baseball game tickets for 100 push-ups?

I think it’s stupid how all these government “leaders” are coming up with their nifty ideas of creating various carrots to encourage people to get their COVID vaccinations.  It really tells you what they think of average Americans; throw a hungry dog a piece of meat and he’ll devour it regardless of whether it tastes good or not.

In no order of stupidity, here’s a sampling of what some governments are doing to encourage average American knuckleheads to get their COVID vaccination:

ü Washington state says licensed marijuana stores can offer free joints to promote coronavirus vaccine clinics.

ü West Virginia is expanding its incentives to encourage residents get vaccinated with weekly lottery drawings offering cash, trucks, guns, and scholarships to those who've received at least one immunization shot. 

ü California has what appears to be the largest COVID inoculation incentive in the nation: the chance for 10 residents to win $1.5 million each.

ü New York state has a “Vax and Scratch” scheme, where when you get your COVID vacation, you are entered into a free New York State Lottery, where top prize stands at $5 million.

The list goes on and on, but I’ll stop with these representative examples.

As recently reported by Fox News, to reach his goal of getting at least one COVID vaccination shot into the arms of 70% of the nation’s adults by July 4th, Joe Biden unveiled a five-part plan to reach that goal, which included steps to make it easier to get the vaccine and incentives such as free food, beer, and tickets.

There’s no shortage of incentives being offered to encourage people to do what many people have decided not to do; get a COVID vaccination shot that they believe comes with unknown risks.  Can’t say I blame them because I’m one of them.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if these same governments offered incentives for people to eat healthy and less, and to engage in regular and vigorous exercise activities?  Do you think it would work?  Do you believe the outcome would be great?

How about if every American leading an unhealthy lifestyle started walking 30 to 60 minutes a day and losing weight?  If they did, they’d be entered to win a nice incentive; maybe something like a $250 gift certificate to buy some new clothes so they can toss away their fat man or fat lady clothes.

I think it would work for the same reason these government “leaders” think their silly incentives will work.

How about some New York Yankees baseball game tickets for 100 pushups? 

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Make America fit again!

 

My Burpees x 100 Summer 2021 Countdown is a work in progress and today is day seven of this countdown journey.  I’ll have more to share about how it’s going next week.

But I do have something to share this week.

Question:  How do you make American great again?

Answer:  By being fit.

A fit America is a great America. This is Pierini Fitness and I approve this message.

Do your burpees and make America fit again!

 Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Burpees 2021 Journey

Earlier this year, I began my Burpees 2021 Journey with a goal of performing a 100 burpees workout for 100 days in 2021.  I started my journey on January 1^st and completed 100 burpees that day in 15:56. I was off to a good start.

But along the way, this good start changed.  Lackluster enthusiasm for the task, a sternum injury along the way, followed with some right-hand and wrist injuries that still linger, and before I knew it, I was behind the performance pace needed to complete 100 burpees workouts for the year.  As of the end of May (yesterday), I’ve only completed 24 burpees workouts and my last burpees x 100 workout’s time of 15:46 is only 10 seconds faster than my January 1^st effort.  I have a long way to go.

By frame of reference, last year on June 1st, I began a Burpees x 100 Summer 2020 Countdown, completing 100 burpees in 12:48.  Therefore, it’s now taking me about three minutes longer to complete 100 burpees than last year.

My goal for the first day of summer last year was to complete 100 burpees in 11:00.  I accomplished this goal on June 19, 2020, with a time of 10:46.  

As is often the case with burpees, I eventually got burned out, distracted, and eventually lost the burpees conditioning gained from my Summer 2020 Countdown effort.

To jumpstart my lethargic effort thus far this year, I’ve decided to start today a Burpees x 100 Summer 2021 Countdown with plans on completing 100 burpees each day until the first day of Summer 2021 on June 20^th.  It’ll be like last year’s countdown except I’ll not set a time goal for the first day of summer but promise to make my best effort each day.  It would be nice, however, to knock three minutes off my current time, which would be a time of 12:46, but we’ll see.

If I get a burpees workout in every day until the first day of summer, that’ll give me 45 burpees x 100 workouts year-to-date for 2021, a much better position to be at mid-year with a goal of 100 burpees x 100 workouts for 2021.

Wish me well and follow along as I share the details of my Burpees 2021 Journey.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Memorial Day 2021

 

Pierini Fitness remembers all soldiers who died in the service of our U.S. military.  You will never be forgotten. 

Thank you for the freedom I have this Memorial Day 2021. 

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Makes this middle-aged man’s heart cry

Dear Aiden, I never knew you but will never forget you.

You may have read the same news I did about the 6-year young boy who was fatally shot last Friday during a road rage incident as he innocently sat in his backseat car seat while being driven to school by his Mom.    

Kindergarten student Aiden Leos was shot and killed in Southern California when a bullet fired from a vehicle passed through the back of his mother’s car and through his back while he was sitting in his booster seat.

The currently unknown murderer fired a shot at the trunk of Aiden’s Mom’s car and the bullet continued its journey until it struck little Aiden, whose initial word was “Ow!” and then "Mommy, my tummy hurts."

He made it to the hospital but didn’t come out alive from this horrific road rage incident.

His Mom and other family members will never get to see him play baseball, ride a bicycle, graduate from high school, or grow into a young and handsome man.

As a grandfather of four little grandsons, the oldest being the same age as deceased Aiden, this news brought me to my knees.  I couldn’t get little Aiden off my mind yesterday while driving to church and driving home.  While my prayer life has been weak as of late, I found myself saying some prayers for the repose of little Aiden’s soul and that God comfort his Mom and other family members in their grieving and mourning journey. 

The tragic death of little Aiden Leos makes this middle-aged man’s heart cry.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

From these roots

Growing up as a young boy and spending time at my Grandmother's house, I remember one of her favorite  television programs was a soap opera named From These Roots.  It was a daily soap opera that aired on NBC from 1958 to 1961.

Its storyline was about a successful writer who had returned to her New England hometown to run her family newspaper.  Honestly, I wouldn't have even known this but thanks to Wikipedia, I now do.

What made me think of this?

Well, like the successful writer who had returned to her hometown, I've returned to my hometown where I've been the last four days.  My stay here is a brief one week.  

I've had time to spend visiting my Mom who will soon turn age 90.  And, I've had a couple opportunities to return to two parks where I would regularly do my fitness workouts.  One day I went on a great four-mile run and enjoyed every minute of the it.  The weather was great and evidence of Spring was everywhere I looked.  The other day I had a great pull-ups workout and the weather was amazingly awesome that day too.

I've taken drives here and there that not long ago were part of my daily doings.  It seems surreal taking these drives because now I know when doing so, it's as a visitor to a place that can now best be described as from these roots.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Do I really need to know this?

 

In my olden days, I’d read the newspaper daily to learn what, at the time, was important for me to know.  Like most people who are creatures of habit, the stuff I read each day was about the same – front page headlines, local news headlines, sports page and maybe the weather.  At some point that I can’t remember when, I started reading obituaries and funeral notices.  And on Sunday, I typically read the Sunday “funnies.” 

Conversely, the stuff I skipped was about the same.  It didn’t interest me, or I never found the time to get to this news. 

I suppose it’s not much different now but, then again, maybe it is.  With a smartphone in my hip pocket and daily access to a desktop or laptop computer, I’m bombarded with, or seek out due to boredom or habit, whatever headline and related “news” happens to be on the computer screen staring at me. 

For good or bad, this is information overload, and a lot of this information is pure junk.  I’m not alone so together we seek out, or are seduced in, to headline after headline that in the olden days would never get our attention or cross our eyes.  Consequently, we carry much more “news and nonsense” in our minds because of a modern technology landscape that’s a never-ending and increasing part of our lives. 

It’s as if we’re the General Manager of the world, always needing to be prepared for a “State of the World” address to, or discussion with, everyone who’s part of our lives. 

It’s a tremendous burden and responsibility that we probably never sought out; it just fell on our laps thanks to this boundless information age modern technology has given us.

Lately, I’m trying to use a filter in my mind’s eye to chisel down my reading content to what’s only necessary. 

So, when I stare at my smartphone or computer screen and headline after headline shouts at me, “Come on in, I have something interesting that you need to know!”, I now ask myself before accepting the invitation, “Do I really need to know this?” 

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Nothing great to say?

I’ve shared more than once here at Pierini Fitness about my daily practice of reading obituaries in my, now, former hometown newspaper.  I initially shared it over twelve years ago here:

Reading the obits 

Living in a different town in another state, I still read my former hometown obits each morning, but have also started reading them in my hometown weekly newspaper.  Now, however, I don’t occasionally encounter reading about the passing of an old elementary or high school buddy or a former client.

Still, I enjoy reading the obits of those who have passed, learning about the life they lived and the good person they were, even if skeletons in the closet details of lives they lived, or the jerk they were, are omitted. 

Now at the tail end of my middle-age manhood, I’m approaching the timeline in my life where I’ll soon be able to count the years of life I have remaining with the fingers on my hands.  It’s an eerie realization that my date with the Grim Reaper is getting closer by the day.

Another similar math-oriented realization mental exercise is making a wild guess of how many years of life I may have remaining and then adding it to the current age of my four little grandsons.  I did that yesterday while driving to Sunday Mass. 

If, for example, I make it to age 80, my youngest grandson will be 16 years old, the only age during which when I looked in the mirror and truly saw a 16-year-old kid.  If that happened to be my exit planet earth age, I’d miss his high school graduation.

That would be a shame.

If I thrive reading the obits of others, maybe I should grab a paper and pen and compose mine. 

Would I enjoy reading my obit?

What would it say?

Maybe it’ll be like the obituaries I typically read; a wonderful story about a great person who lived a great life.  I’m sure such a fictional composition is within my literary paygrade.

But in a moment of truthful reflection, I ponder what if there’s nothing great to say?

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Dead butt syndrome

Reflecting on the last 40 years working in the rat race, now that I’m a retired man, I realize that the work I did came with an occupational hazard of sitting for a living.  So much that when people saw me standing while they were sitting, they’d often tell me to have a seat, to which I replied that I sit for a living and, therefore, choose to stand.

Yup, I put a lot of time sitting on my seat that it’s a wonder I didn’t develop bed sore-like outcroppings on my gluteus maximus.  Maybe I did but didn’t know because I couldn’t see them. 

I suppose, maybe, all the fitness training I’d done canceled the damage from all this sitting, not to mention the known health risks.  There’s no shortage of internet articles warning us about the perils of a seated lifestyle.  While sitting, I’d always skip these articles because they didn’t have “preaching to the choir” content of interest.

Now that I’m a retired man, I realize that I still spend time sitting, perhaps more than the average retired man, but honestly, I don’t know for sure.  In the words of an internet fitness brother from a different mother who once shared his thoughts about this subject, “I enjoy a good sit.”

But a recent internet article I skimmed brought to my attention a condition caused from sitting too much.  It’s familiarly coined “dead butt syndrome” but the medical term for this ailment is called gluteus medius tendinopathy, although it’s also often referred to as gluteal amnesia.

Digging a little deeper, while sitting and reading, I learned that this condition results from the gluteal muscles essentially “forgetting” their main purpose: supporting the pelvis and keeping your body in proper alignment.  It’s caused from spending hours a day sitting and not getting up frequently to stand, walk, or otherwise move around.

This new knowledge begged me to answer the question if I might be afflicted with this malady, unbeknownst to me. 

Or maybe the fitness training of high-volume kettlebell swings, Asian Squat holds, burpees and running has given me a protective hedge from this comfortable lifestyle ailment.

Time will tell as I pay more attention to my hindside, hopefully though, not living in fear that I’m sporting a serious case of dead butt syndrome.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum