My current apartment complex has a real gym. It’s not as extensive as I would like, but it’s far, far better than the previous place. If you stand near the door, this is what you see looking back toward the far end. The dumbbells range up to 50 pounds each.
When things got brutally cold here in central Oklahoma, I spent a lot of time in here. This was the only way I could workout without risking frostbite. I can’t use the treadmills, but if I wear a brace I can use the ski machine, and certainly the recumbent bike. But I’ve been lifting the dumbbells a lot and discovered my arthritic joints tolerated more now than in the past. Indeed, lifting weights is doing a lot more for me than riding did in the past.
If you stand in the middle of the gym and look back toward the door, you can see some more equipment, much of which I don’t use. The big Smith rack (the weight machine in the corner) I use primarily for pull-ups and to work my calves. I don’t use the weights built into it for anything; the machine is not well designed for someone like me.
My low-sodium and low-sugar diet is working. At first I lost a bit of water weight, maybe 5 pounds or so. But that was a couple of weeks ago. Now I’m slowly losing actual lard, and I’m down 10 pounds total. If this keeps going, I’ll have some nice abs to show off.
I hit the gym Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Mon/Fri is the weight room, but Wed is this outdoor gym. I do my best to emulate most of the same moves I do with weights, and I bring along a couple of elastic exercise bands to supplement what this outdoor gym can accommodate. The idea with the outdoor gym is a circuit workout with very little rest between events. I don’t try to hit my max on anything, just doing enough repetitions to stress my body. I’ll take a short rest and rehydrate, then hit it again. In a couple of weeks I should be able to finish three circuits.
My hydration drink is home brewed: 2 table spoons of lemon or lime juice and just a pinch of regular salt in a 20 ounce bottle with water. The whole thing with a sodium sensitivity is that you still need some sodium, just not very much. I’m also drinking an herbal tea in the mornings of hibiscus and hawthorne, both known to lower blood pressure. Lately I’m hitting 110s or 120s on the top number, and under 70 on the bottom. Finally, to keep my joints from complaining too much, I’m using an herbal cream that is mostly arnica, but includes a few other supportive herbs. It works.
I still ride a bit, but it’s no longer the emphasis. It’s more for getting out to places where I can pray and take pictures, etc. I also do some shopping with my folding bike. However, I seriously doubt I could do any more bikepacking. But, we’ll see when I lose some more weight.
That outdoor workout…park?…is fascinating. We don’t have anything like that here that I know of, except for maybe some kids’ playgrounds. I’ve done a few workouts at my wife’s gym that they hold outside and I tend to like it much better than indoors.
It’s something sold to a lot of municipalities across the US. OKC and surrounding suburbs have them in several places I’ve seen. The picture is simply the one closest to me.