Sick workout

In the spirit that I might one day be a fitness professional, I offer you this resistance workout:

Procure a 24-pound or heavier toddler, preferably sick and cranky, and carry said toddler everywhere you go. This includes holding him while you do activities that seemingly require two hands such as making your lunch, doing dishes and going to the bathroom. Repeat every day until the first day of kindergarten.

After a trip to urgent care and an epic 3-hour nap on Sunday, you would have never known he was sick. He terrorized the aisle of Target (had to get wipes for daycare) and entertained customers at Marshall's by telling them he found "Thomas" as I picked up a $5.99 resistance band for my Turbo Fire workouts. He smiled and laughed and had a good ole time.

And the came the night.

As the moon rose big in the sky, so did the terrible pangs of sickness. Fever. Thirst. Crankiness. We were up from 2 to 3:30 a.m., leaving us all a little bit worse for the wear come Monday morning.

I can make do with a cup (or three) of coffee but it seems the only thing that can help Miles is being close to his mama. I know there will be a day when I will miss it but lord have mercy on me, I was not up for the challenge yesterday. It wasn't just the whining or the inability to do things. No. It's the fact that he gets heavy after a while. I am constantly shifting him side to side to help even out the work, sometimes even holding him in front to use the strength of both my arms. It really is a mystery for the ages as to why I can't lift heavier weights for the bicep track during BODYPUMP.

Actually, that last part is a bit of a lie. I have been frustrated that I'm not seeing more gains in bicep weight/strength and did a little "research" as Mark would call it. According to some weight lifting forums, the biceps are a small muscle group (this I knew) and it takes a long time to see even small changes. You have to focus on the percentage of increase in relationship to the size of the muscle group. And that's your lesson of the day.

Of course, I don't think carrying a baby is a true strength workout. You have to work your muscles to fatigue, if not failure, to burn calories and build muscle whether it's high reps and low weights or high weights and fewer reps. However, one can't deny after a day with a sick child that lifting and holding is not work.

Physically and mentally.