I am blown away by getting older. I feel better and better. Seriously. I will start with my latest physical accomplishment because it is so damn cool.
On my 49th birthday, which was less than a week ago, I completed a five minute plank challenge, as did Ryan and Colson. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that was possible. And never have I collapsed onto the floor in muscle failure, huffing and puffing and happy as can be. It felt great and I was giddy with my success, exceeding all of my expectations.
You can read about and see one version of the 5 minute challenge here: Plank Exercises – A great exercise for many patients and athletes.
The plank has also become a form of meditation. It is the one time that I can effortlessly clear my brain of thoughts. Now I need to see if I can bridge that to a time when I am not planking.
Because of the plank, 50 military press push-ups are nothing. I am pushing on to a new goal of 75. Again, I don’t see how this is possible, but heck – I did a five minute plank in 31 days! I needed an extra rest day after the four minute mark because of muscle soreness, but I have been free of soreness since achieving five minutes and continuing on.
My Sleep Problems Have Been Solved
Here is the kicker. Before the five minute plank I was not in musculature shape because I was still struggling with sleep (a many year problem), until about a six weeks before we planked. The final piece to my sleep puzzle has been solved. It turns out that I am sensitive to the EMFs (electromagnetic frequencies) from my wireless computer router. All these years of having diet and sleep hygiene dialed in and it was my wireless router. Pull the router plug and the first night I wake multiple times for very brief moments and the second night I am pulling in 6 or 7 hours, often without waking (that I am aware of). If someone accidently leaves it plugged in, I am up at 1:00 a.m. with my head racing.
This was an incredible shocker and I would never have considered EMF sensitivity as the culprit until I learned about it while helping someone on a smart meter issue. Smart meters pulse EMFs multiple times a minute as they measure utility usage. Some people are hypersensitive to them to the point that they become debilitating. I am still amazed that all of these years of sleep deprivation were caused by our wireless router.
Another benefit of all of this sleep – boy can I run when I need to. I raced my recycle truck home while walking Nelly the dog and ran, not jogged, 1.5 miles pretty easily. You may be thinking that that truck had a lot of stops to make, but I live in the unincorporated county and we eight have garbage/recycle companies servicing my neighborhood, with only one having a large customer base, so there really aren’t that many stops that they need to make... and my run was awesome. And I was home in time to put the recycling out.
Sleep plus the plank challenge have catapulted me back into a pretty exceptional physical state and I can’t wait to see where I go next. Years ago I wondered how long I could tell people that the older I get the better I feel, and clearly I haven’t peaked. How cool is that?