Frugality and Fitness

I wrote yesterday about the climbing ladder into the loft. It dawned on me that I've been climbing another kind of ladder, this one maybe even slower, but that's OK.

I stumbled on this when reading The Simple Dollar. He, Trent Hamm, talked about this website. It sounded interesting so I downloaded the chart (it doesn't make a lot of sense on its own, so if you're interested, go visit the link):

Rung	Bend	Sit up	Leg lift	Push up	Steps	Count
1	2	3	4	2	105	1	30
2	3	4	5	3	140	1	65
3	4	6	6	3	170	2	20
4	6	7	8	4	200	2	50
5	7	9	9	5	225	3	0
6	8	10	10	6	255	3	30
7	10	11	12	7	280	3	55
8	12	13	14	8	305	4	5
9	14	15	16	9	325	4	25
10	16	16	18	11	350	4	50
11	18	18	20	12	370	4	70
12	20	20	22	13	390	5	15
13	23	21	25	15	405	5	30
14	25	23	27	16	425	5	50
15	28	25	30	18	440	5	65

I had a go last year sometime, but it fell through after not very long. I found the running, oddly enough, was what put me off. To put it bluntly, if I was going to run and do jumping jacks, I needed to be wearing a running bra; and if I had to change clothes to do something that was only going to take 15 minutes, I couldn't be bothered. As I already run something like 15-20 miles a week, I decided not to worry about that part, but to concentrate on the other exercises.

I have no noticable upper body strength! However, if I want to be able to carry the things I want and have the muscle to stand erect, shoulders back and all that, I need to get some.

I used to be the queen of stomach crunches; Bill remembers when I did about 200 a day. Then I got really obsessed with running, lost a bunch of weight and had no tummy to speak of. When I didn't have anything I needed to hold in, I lost my motivation to do all those crunches! So now I'm finding sit ups a bit of a challenge.

There has just about never been a time when I couldn't bend over a touch my toes, mainly because I have relatively short legs! Well, and flexibility seems to be my natural gift. I start each of my bends by stretching upwards and bending back just a bit (thankfully I have no back problems). I remember Bill talking about little old ladies who had lost the ability to fix their own hair: they couldn't reach and hold their arms up above their heads anymore. I don't want that to happen to me anytime soon!

The idea is to spend at least 4 days on each rung, more if needed. I've been averaging about 6-7 days on each, just to be sure I'm not pushing myself too hard. I can manage the bends easily enough, and the leg lifts and sit ups are do-able. It's the push-ups that hold me back! I wouldn't even swear that I have good form, but I'm pleased as anything to be 'up' to 4 of them; paltry I know, but definitely progress.

I can do all of the exercises in my PJ's, my jeans or my running kits, and it takes so little time that it's hardly any bother at all, but I feel really pleased with myself when I've done it. Almost best of all -- after feeling fitter -- is no gym membership, no special clothes or equipment....a frugal exercise if ever there was one!