​This was the week working out in the great outdoors got real.  Fall has come to inland southern California.  Early morning lows have been in the high 30s and low 40s.  Rain, the mythical falling of water droplets from the sky, came earlier than it usually does.

​My gym is doing their damnedest to comply with Governor Nuisance’s diktats so they can stay open and their customers (i.e. me) can keep working out. It had to be a tremendous pain in the ass to move as much equipment outside as they did.  They even moved a bunch of cardio machines outside and use a generator to power them.  I imagine Nuisance, being an effete prima donna, never considered they can’t safely run a generator in the rain.

​I don’t even think it is possible for the gym to move the largest pieces of equipment outside.  Of course, there is no way they can bolt down the large pieces when everything is in a parking lot under portable tents.  That means anything that uses cables stayed inside.  The same goes for squat racks.

I have had to skip some exercises because they just can’t be done on the available equipment.  For others I can make some substitutions in order to get in a half-decent workout.  My mantra is something is better than nothing.

I was reintroduced to hammer curls this week.  To do a proper hammer curl grab the dumbbells and hold them so your palms are facing the outside of your legs.  Maintain that orientation while curling the dumbbells upward.  At the top of the curl, rotate your forearms so the dumbbells are parallel to the ground with your palms facing down.  Slowly, lower the dumbbells.

The last movement is an eccentric contraction.  “Eccentric contraction refers to any movement that lengthens a muscle at the same time it is being contracted. It is a braking force that directly opposes the shortening of a muscle.”  A regular curl has the same eccentric contraction (but without the focus on your forearms on the way down.)

With the limitation of available equipment, I’m looking for alternative ways to get the most out of my workouts.  Candidly, I’m also looking to stay motivated.  The gym, when we could go inside, wasn’t warm this time of year but it was fine.  Having to be outside when its rainy or windy is not what I signed up for.  What are you Glibs doing to stay motivated when you governors make it difficult for your workouts?

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Non-sequitur 1:​

Nearly all of California’s propositions went down to defeat.  This includes propositions sponsored by the state’s biggest unions, introduced by our Team Blue legislature, and supported by our governor with presidential aspirations.  It makes me think that for all the stupidity regularly displayed by the electorate, there is in fact some limit.  I’m grateful for small favors.

Non-sequitur 2:

​While I hope to be wrong, it looks like we are getting President Biden.  Here is one plausible scenario how Covid disappears as a problem.  It’s served its purpose.  A good number of states have giant holes in their budgets.  Those holes are only getting worse under Covid restrictions.  I strongly suspect Biden knows this crap has to end.

I’m currently watching Massachusetts shoot itself in the foot.  They are literally testing their own shit.  I have close friends who live there who voted for Biden.  These friends are political centrists.  I’ve already heard from one about his growing anger.

Which leads me to a silver lining in a Biden administration.  Team Blue will destroy themselves in 2022.  Pelosi claims Dems have a mandate.  Remember what happened after the first 2 years of Obama’s first term? Pepperidge Farm does.

I’m not as convinced as some of you that Biden has dementia.  But he is clearly in mental decline.  The more the electorate hears from Kamala Harris the deeper the hole will be dug.  She has trouble when her words are scripted.  Without one, she is the living embodiment of progressive condescension.  Team Blue will be the author of their own reckoning.

​My earlier talk about prima donnas made me think of this so that’s what you get for music this week.  Unless you’re MikeS who mysteriously reappeared this week after I asked Minnesota Glibs to give him a poke.  Welcome home MikeS.

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