Doing it Manually

by Posted on

I’ve recently hit a bump in my workout routine. I’ve grown tired of The Pump workout, which is not surprising since I’m repeating the same workout, I completed earlier this year. Day in and day out, it’s the same thing over and over again, with a small handful of exercises I really do not enjoy doing. This has led me to cut back on the number of days I’ve been working out and to also branch out in doing different workouts, specifically with kettlebells.

I’m almost finished with my ACE Personal Trainer course, and I’ve learned quite a bit about the development of workouts and the importance of making them enjoyable. There is no reason to dread a workout, unless you are trying to become a bodybuilder or working towards some specific performance goal. Being that my athlete days are behind me, I’m just looking to be stronger, more flexible, and mobile. So, why am I doing exercises I hate, when there are plenty of alternatives out there?

Creating a workout program has never been an issue for me. Back in the early 2000s, the first time I got into shape, I designed my own program with very little research, and it did wonders. Armed with the knowledge I have now, not to mention proper training in Personal Training, I’m more than equipped to create my own workout plan. So, for the past few weeks I’ve been searching for that perfect app, which I have not found.

What am I looking for? Well, I want something with a large database of kettlebell exercises, preferably with video or animated demonstrations, and bonus points if there are pictures with the specific muscles worked. I’ve lost count on how many apps I’ve downloaded, but I gave up on finding the perfect app last week, and now I’m struggling to just find a serviceable one. MuscleWiki and GymExerciseApp are the closest I’ve found to what I’m looking for, but neither meet my needs.

After wasting hours configuring apps and creating logins, I realized I was spending more time trying to find an app, than actually working out. Did I have an app in the early 2000s? No. Heck, I didn’t even keep track of my workouts all that seriously. And while I’d like to have some numbers to ensure I’m progressing, I don’t need an app for that.

I was reminded of a scene from The Big Lebowski, when The Dude meets Jackie Treehorn, a local smut producer who is not a fan of The Dude. In this scene, Jackie is explaining to The Dude that the adult entertainment industry is struggling to keep up with amateur productions, so they are branching out.

Jackie Treehorn: The new technology permits us to do very exciting things in interactive erotic software. Wave of the future, Dude. 100% electronic.

To this, The Dude replies

Hmmm. Well, I still jerk off manually.

I think sometimes it’s easy to get bogged down in tech, apps, and wanting a perfect system, when in all actuality you just need to do it manually. It works just as well, if not better, and doesn’t come with all the baggage.

So, I grabbed a piece of paper, designed a very basic list inspired by Bruce Lee’s workout notes and imagine that, now I can actually focus on creating a proper workout and doing it, instead of looking for a tool to use.