Pumping Iron -- The Musical

My new philosophy of fitness can best be summed up by quoting Apollo Creed's former trainer, Duke, talking to Rocky in the sixth and final installment of that franchise:

"To beat this guy, you need speed - you don't have it. And your knees can't take the pounding, so hard running is out. And you got arthritis in your neck, and you've got calcium deposits on most of your joints, so sparring is out. So, what we'll be calling on is good ol' fashion blunt force trauma. Horsepower. Heavy-duty, cast-iron, piledriving punches that will have to hurt so much they'll rattle his ancestors. Every time you hit him with a shot, it's gotta feel like he tried kissing the express train. Yeah! Let's start building some hurtin' bombs!"

I don't like running. The treadmill and eliptical are boring. What I have always liked, though, is picking things up and putting them down.

So I've been lifting weights. It's a challenge, given my shoddy rotator cuffs, but I have to say, it's fun. I used to be strong. Real strong. And now, slowly but surely, I can feel it coming back.

I just bought a used copy of Joe Weider's Ultimate Bodybuilding. It's great because it lays out some simple plans and principles to follow. So I guess I'll fool around with this for a while.

Anyway, time to fix me a protein shake and flex in the mirror. :-)