<p>Just came across this exercise suggested for middle aged folks, to build muscle strength in the arms and shoulders. It seems so easy, so I thought I’d pass it on to some of my friends here. The article suggested doing it three days a week.</p>
<p>Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side. With a 5-lb potato sack in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, then relax.</p>
<p>Each day, you’ll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer. After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato sacks. Then 50-lb potato sacks. Eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato sack in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. (I’m at this level)
After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each of the sacks.</p>
<p>DANG!!! Just when I was in the middle of visualizing our brawny resident dentist…</p>
<p>THIS???!!!???!!!
:eek: :eek: :eek:</p>
<p>I have actually come up with my own coordination and dexterity exercise:</p>
<p>You take one hand and balance a plate of tiramisu in it. You take the other hand and grasp some silverware, and then you practice getting bites of the tiramisu from the plate to your mouth. This <em>IS</em> difficult, and I’ve not perfected it yet, hence the heavy practice schedule! I do hear, though, that mastery of this challenging skill is well worth the effort, so GO FOR IT! :D</p>
<p>I’m laughing so hard I’ll have to clean up the keyboard.</p>
<p>If I understand the exercise correctly, it begins with EMPTY potato sacks!
</p>
<p>In other words, after something like 6 weeks, you begin by putting one potato in each of the sacks. I believe that, even at my advanced decrepit boomerdom, I can manage to hold TWO potatoes in empty sacks for a few minutes at a time. Thanks, I feel better already. Now, I just need to locate some empty 10, 50, 100lbs potato sacks… Does the exercise guru say where to find them?</p>
<p>I have begun by benchpressing the amiable but thin older gentleman at my gym- I plan on moving up to the 6’3" 200lb firefighter who is a ringer for Gary Dourdan soon ;)</p>
<p>Almost anything is possible if they’re willing to hold on to YOU. On my back I could carry a tired & cranky 10 year old who certainly weighed 50 lbs. And I’m only ~125!</p>
<p>berurah–one plate and a fork is for amateurs. How about a plate, fork, and a wine glass. I wonder–do they think we are octopuses or what? Usually I just tell DH–here, hold this for me. Keeps him from eating too much, while I get my just desserts!</p>
<p>wharfrat2–you mean cheese curls, of course?</p>
