Gym/exercise

All Poems, Family, Gardens, Gym/exercise, Health/Illness, Seasons, Spouses

Gardener’s Carry

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I’m doing the gardener’s carry, said Bob.

Hauling a twenty-pound bag of top soil.

From the front of the house to the back.

To cover peas.

The first crop of the season.

Planted three weeks late.

But, announcing the true arrival of spring.

Two afternoons of work in three blue pots.

Ready to catch cool mornings, sunshine, rainy days.

Necessary to sprout.

Grow strong shoots.

Just like the gardener.

Daily working out.

To vitalize muscles.

Lose excess weight.

Stand straight, tall.

Develop stamina.

Fulfill tasks like transporting soil.

Mimicking exercises in the gym.

The gardener was gleeful.

His first spring sowing done.

In a mere three weeks or so,

snap pea germination.

 

Lynn Benjamin

April 17, 2024

Aging, All Poems, Animals/Insects, Catalina Island, Family, Gym/exercise, Health/Illness, Humor, Spouses, Trips and Places

I Feel Triumphant

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I feel triumphant, said Bob.

Standing atop the Garden to Sky Trail.

Six hundred seventy-nine feet above where we started.

A hike taking us an hour, twenty minutes.

With our oldish bodies.

Reinvigorated with barbells, medicine balls.

At the gym at home.

Now scaling heights.

Able to view both sides of Catalina Island.

At the divide on top.

One side looking toward Los Angeles.

The other facing Hawaii.

So we stopped a few moments, rested.

When a small red fox popped out,

celebrating our victory.

Joining us on our route.

 

Lynn Benjamin

March 23, 2024

 

All Poems, Change, Children, Family, Grandchildren, Gym/exercise, Health/Illness, Humor

Sure

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I was sure I’d arrive in Santa Monica.

Demonstrate my new-found power.

To my son and his family.

Derived from lifting kettlebells.

Slamming medicine balls.

Pumping weights.

Till I crammed into a three-seat row on the plane.

Actually holding four passengers.

For a large service dog named Kin laid across the floor.

Taking up most of the leg room.

Till I watched my daughter-in-law.

Carry home a toddler, in one arm, his scooter, in the other.

After herding two older brothers from school.

Preparing dinner.

Till I saw her read a book with a crying three-year-old on her lap.

Soothe a five-year-old while gulping a few forkfuls of her meal.

Corral them all upstairs for baths.

It was she who had the power.

In decades past, was I.

In this nest of baby grandsons,

I’m a fragile butterfly.

I guess my quest for strength

at home, I’ll satisfy.

For here with whirlwind boys,

I’m just a passerby.

 

Lynn Benjamin

March 19, 2024

 

 

 

Aging, All Poems, Anniversaries, Change, Family, Gym/exercise, Health/Illness, Love, Spouses

In Sync

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You two are in sync, said the trainer.

Pointing toward Bob and me.

In our core strengthening class.

As we pulled, rotated orange bands.

That’s what happens when you’re together as long as you two.

At once, I did a silent calculation.

Fifty-four years of marriage in June.

Not counting years of dating, engagement.

Roughly six after another one, flirting.

I have suitcases of letters to prove it.

So, at the trainer’s observation, I smiled.

Added, in synchrony even with my eyes closed!

He laughed.

Moving us to floor time on mats.

Lifting legs, hips, backs.

Supermans.

Finally, the medicine ball.

New to me, but apparently an ancient exercise.

Used by Greeks for health.

Persians for wrestlers.

Romans for gladiators.

Re-appearing in the early twentieth century in the US.

In a volleyball-like game called Hooverball.

And today, I encountered it for the first time.

A ball-shaped weight.

Not a kettlebell or dumbbell.

Rather, a sphere filled with sand and mud.

To hold and pivot.

Wham down, pick up.

User-friendly, exhilarating fun.

Hold in both hands, twist.

Slam against the floor.

Play for a seasoned couple

to build yet more rapport!

 

Lynn Benjamin

March 17, 2024

 

All Poems, Art/Arts, For Children, Gym/exercise, Humor, Stories

Have You Ever Cleaned Out a Closet?

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Have you ever cleaned out a closet?

When moving residences?

Clearing out a vacated house?

Emptying a space in an office, now designated yours?

Who knows what you’ll find?

What you might save?

Toss?

An adventure you engage in to de-clutter, tidy up.

A task done by trainers at our gym.

In the back office of the director.

Where they found hidden equipment.

To add to the armamentarium.

But, also tucked away, a toilet paper holder.

Wooden, in the shape of a toilet.

With a hinged lid.

Decorated like a Valentine.

Though the lace black and white.

Who knows to whom it belonged?

How long or why it resided there?

Who assembled it?

One of those mysterious artifacts.

From a closet dig.

The instructors dusted it off.

Displaying it at the registration desk.

A little piece of whimsy

making those who notice laugh.

Or, at least, do a double take

as they sign in with the staff.

 

Lynn Benjamin

March 12, 2024

All Poems, Gym/exercise, Politics

Enough News

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I’ve had enough news, said Bob.

Who normally would flick on MSNBC or CNN at 8 or 9.

I cannot listen to another story.

And then a rant.

Asking how a person charged with crimes can run for president?

In what world we live today?

He could not listen to another story.

Not about Trump.

Not about polling.

Not about the Supreme Court.

Not one more interview.

Opinion, perspective.

Enough is enough.

Turning on news is like jumping into the undertow.

Letting it suck you away.

Drown you.

Instead, Bob looks at newspapers.

Chooses articles he wants to read.

Listens to respected podcasters.

Now, mostly keeps himself fit.

Going to the gym, taking a class or two.

Making the rounds of machines.

Noticing contours of his body change

Something he never dreamed possible.

Life can be upbeat

when goals are small, defined.

Instead of getting whipped about,

harness body, mind.

 

Lynn Benjamin

March 11, 2024

All Poems, Change, Family, Gym/exercise, Health/Illness, Hope, Humor, Spouses

I Feel Younger

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I really feel younger, said Bob.

Since I began going to the gym.

He seemed younger, too.

Bouncing along without pain in his hip.

Each day, finding a new muscle.

Increasing weights he lifts.

Showing improved stamina.

Always ready to take a second, third walk.

Jumping up to turn off a light.

Run back for a forgotten scarf.

Inviting people to socialize.

Eating more protein.

Losing excess pounds.

Even wrinkles receding.

Discovering ways to be lighter and limber

makes aging more of a friend.

Bones stop creaking when you rise from the floor.

With ease you can squat and bend.

 

Lynn Benjamin

March 3, 2024

 

All Poems, Family, Gym/exercise, Health/Illness, Humor, Spouses

Another Muscle

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While undressing, I found another muscle, said Bob.

Excited to tell me as we circled the track.

Warming up for gym class.

Wow! I exclaimed. Where was the first muscle?

We continued to power walk, Bob in the lead.

Pushing ahead of me by a foot.

Not using his usual leki stick.

I found the first muscle on my thigh, the second on a pec.

He continued, a layer of fat is gone!

I could feel his zest, gusto.

Taking leave to go to class.

Strengthening the core.

But once training ended, he wasn’t done.

Going to work out on machines.

Stretching arms, legs, hips.

One labor after the next.

The following morning, discovering a rectus abdominis.

On my formerly flabby belly, he texted me.

I, receiving the message, on an elliptical downstairs.

He, just waking up.

Maybe like spring bulbs

bursting forth through the ground.

Each new week a muscle.

Inner Hercules unbound.

 

Lynn Benjamin

February 19, 2024

 

 

Aging, All Poems, Emotions, Gym/exercise, Health/Illness, Mother Love, Thank-You

Back to the Gym

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Away for a month, it was time to get back to the gym.

To stretching arms, legs, core.

It’s called Farmer’s Carry, explained the trainer.

Like a farmer carrying two pails of milk.

As he demonstrated, carrying a weight in each hand.

Keeping shoulders back, breathing.

Walking erect, one end of the room to the other.

Back again.

So, I emulated him.

Carrying, then being carried.

Right back to age twelve.

My mother sending me to Charm School.

At Gimbels Department Store.

To learn to pull shoulders back.

Stand up straight.

Walk gracefully with balance.

Perching a plate atop the head.

Daring it to fall.

Now, doing it again.

In old age.

Never having thanked my mother

for the thoughtful care she gave.

I felt the ocean in my stomach,

a strong regretful wave.

 

Lynn Benjamin

February 10, 2024

 

All Poems, Gym/exercise, Health/Illness, Humor, Spain, Trips and Places

Squeezing in Gym

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What motivates a person to squeeze in gym?

On a crazy busy morning?

While getting ready for a trip?

Waiting for a limo to JFK?

Two-and-half hours away?

Tossing out expired food?

Feeding sourdough?

Fitting in breakfast?

Doing dishes?

Last minute wash?

Filling bottles for a niece to water plants?

Pulling out trash cans?

Remembering last minute items?

Why add to the rush?

Go to a gym class?

Because it’s the last for a month while away?

For the comfort of stretching?

Working out?

Or the soothing voice of the coach?

Telling us we can.

Thirty minutes thrice a week.

Lengthens our  healthspan!

 

Lynn Benjamin

January 5, 2024