Here to Pump You Up

Has it really been two months since I last checked in? I'd like to think it’s because I’ve been so busy working out. While blogging is a good form of finger exercise, I have been neglecting my other major muscles groups for some time now.

Exercising and my physical health have been on the decline ever since leaving college. It took its biggest dip when I got hitched. No need to impress anyone anymore, right? Plus, with the addition of daddy duties, exercise was the last thing I wanted to do after a long day at work.

But I finally tried to turn over a new leaf this summer. I didn’t want our daughter growing up thinking that being a couch potato is ok. Physical fitness is important. After all, a healthy body leads to a healthy mind. And we all know that a healthy mind leads to an Ivy League college.

Plus, the new school that I just started teaching at is gung-ho about fitness. How gung-ho you ask? Let’s just say that in order to graduate on to the next grade level, the students have to pass a specific physical test. One grade has to bike around the whole of Taiwan, another has to swim across the largest lake in the country, and for one unlucky grade, they get to hike up the highest peak in the country.

A grim mental image of me laid out on the ground, gasping for air and help while a pack of 8^th graders casually hiked by me was enough motivation for me to get back in shape. And to give me a helping hand was none other than my new workout partner, Caitlyn.

Not having a membership to a gym and too cheap to get one, I started doing simple exercises at home. Being at an age where kids copy everything that others do, Caitlyn also started exercising alongside me. We’d do stretches, push-ups, sit-ups, dips, and arm curls together. On days I didn’t want to exercise, she’d call me out and insist we get our daily workout in.

To balance out our physical regimen, Caitlyn also started teaching me how to meditate, which she picked up from Grandpa the last time he visited.

“Close your eyes!” “No! This is how you place your hands!” “You’re not doing it right!” she’d bark as she’d try to teach me the proper way to get in touch with my inner-self. Somehow, she'd morphed from being my workout partner to being my overly enthusiastic trainer.

But the funniest has to be when she insists I shout out, “Hercules!” every time I do a rep of arm curls. A bit strange if you ask me, but she’s my trainer, so I suppose she must know what she’s doing. After all, I do feel fitter than I did two months ago.

Pre-workout stretch

Graceful push-ups

Hercules!!

The Zen Master

In the zone

Workout for the brain