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This past Christmas, I came up with the perfect idea for my 15-year-old son’s “big gift”—a set of Adjustable dumbbells And one Adjustable weight-lifting bench. It was perfect for two reasons. First, because my son and his friends got into lifting a few months ago, and he loves it, but the weather (or life in general) doesn’t always cooperate to get him to the gym when he wants to. And second, because we live in a 100-year-old house that generally lacks space—or even a garage—we’re limited on how much of a “home gym” we can actually fit in. Essentially a complete set of weights, plus a bench that can be folded and stored, was a great solution.
Dumbbells can be adjusted from 10 pounds to 55 in five-pound increments; The bench can be flat or can be adjusted to essentially eight different angles. Plus, they match, which is fun.
The bow was a nice touch, don’t you think?
Credit: Meghan Wolbert
He was thrilled and immediately started showing off some lifts while I sipped my coffee and watched from the couch. “Maybe you can create a little routine for me,” I whimpered. “Like arms and shoulders and stuff.” With zero hesitation, he put his phone up on the floor in front of the bench to video several lifts that he thought would be good for me (shoulder press, hammer curls, bicep curls and such). I asked Beth Skwerki, Senior Health Editor at Lifehacker For a recommendation for a good lifting application, and from the few suggestions she sent, I settled on this one Heavy applicationWhere I was able to find a few more lifts that I liked to add to the routine (incline bench press and hex press if you’re curious).
Now, almost four months later, and for the first time since having that 15-year-old, I’ve stuck to a regular lifting routine. Pre-kids, it was a lot easier to stick to that sort of thing—I’d just go to the gym on my way home from work to get in some cardio time and work my way around the weight machines. But now, I work from home, and my kids need constant rides from this school to that activity, from this practice to that friend’s house. Find the time you need to workout And The time and energy it takes to pack myself up and actually move to another location is just not something I’ve been able to do. But moving to my basement is undeniably doable. I also take my laptop with me to edit articles between delegates; One cannot be more productive than that.
What do you think so far?
(Go to the birds.)
Credit: Meghan Wolbert
These days, I actually use dumbbells more than my son, who likes to lift with his friends at our local YMCA whenever possible. However, as this photo shows, he used it yesterday and I have yet to use it today; Mama is getting stronger, but not 35-pound per arm. However.
