Last night’s movie was Pumping Iron, the old Arnold Schwartzenegger bodybuilding movie filmed while he was winning his 6th Mr. Olympia title. I had seen the film back in the late 70s or early 80s, and I used to watch bodybuilding competitions on Wide World of Sports back in the Schwartzenegger and Ferrigno days. Those guys motivated me to do some strength training while I was a gymnast in high school and college.
I had a weight set, one of those old plastic-covered concrete sets, but I had no bench. I did mainly squats and curls, and a few other exercises that required no bench, and I got myself into pretty decent shape. There was a weight room at the high school, and I used it during my open hour, but the room was often full of football players.
I continued lifting in college, though after the school dropped men’s gymnastics as a sport and I got busy with upper division math and physics classes, those workouts tapered off.
That old weight set disappeared when my parents moved from Wisconsin to Missouri, but I eventually bought another one–this time with a bench & lat tower. I’ve used it on and off since then, most recently off.
I’m pleased to say watching Pumping Iron motivated me to get back at it again. Unlike my gymnastics days, I’ve actually got it in mind to bulk up and bodybuild rather than strength train. I’m not sure whether I’ll ever try to compete–I like to eat enough I don’t know if I can diet to the extent I would need to diet in order to cut up. But, we’ll see. Even if I wanted to compete, it’s a long way off and so many things can derail you. That’s true at any age, but especially after age 50.
That said, I did work upper body this evening and, yeah, I’ll be sore in the morning. I actually love that pain the day after exercise. It tells me I did something the previous day. If you’re not much of an exerciser, you might not know that the next-morning soreness is a phase you have to push through. It’s a big reason so many people quit working out, but eventually, you don’t feel it anymore except when you focus on smaller muscle groups you don’t hit very often.
My main disincentive is the summer heat, but that’s several months away. Hopefully I’ll find a way to work around that. Stay tuned for updates.