Lift Weights Outside

Google this so you know what I’m talking about: Beaver Fit Dam Strong outdoor gyms.  If I had to guess, this operation started by outfitting deployed military units with containers full of equipment: racks that can be bolted to the container and then piece to piece to form big configurations of power racks and pull up stations.  Various items can be attached, such as hooks, dip bars, and spotter arms, and the container would also be full of bars, plates, benches, and possibly dumbbells.

The college where I am now has an outdoor training area built around one of these containers, under a giant, steel framed arch covered in some kind of all-weather polyester.  The arch is open to the elements at both ends - and despite recently chilly weather some of the students show up in only a T-shirt and shorts.  In fact, I had to ask whether there was an unwritten rule I didn’t know about, that one had to be willing to play it tough in order to lift outside.  No, that’s not the case, they assured me.  They were usually lacking time or laundry.

The place has been invaluable for imparting an important lesson: Lift weights outside.  I had been, back in Maryland, but I’ve just been reminded of how important that is.

Our gym in Maryland was in a detached single car garage, an old stone block that had once been a smokehouse.  I’d roll the door up and lift, regardless of the weather.  On cold days, I’d imagine myself as Aaron Rodgers or Brett Favre at an outdoor game in Green Bay, protecting my hands until it came time t grab the bar for a set of deadlifts.  In the heat of the summer, I’d have to blast myself with the mister from the hose just to get a cooling effect without having to provide all the sweat myself.  That place got me through the pandemic as healthy as a horse - but I’ve always known anyway that being outdoors is the best thing for one’s immune system.

Our house on campus is a great, albeit ramshackle, old mansion, but there’s no garage.  The weights are all in the basement, indoors.  In fact, I should probably change the name of the gym since I’m no longer in a smokehouse.  Down at the very end of this basement is a set of thick steel doors and a combination lock like an old bank vault.  It was the estate’s Prohibition Room a century ago, ghostly and dark inside with an ancient bottle rack against one wall.

The gym is nice and bright, but after years of isolation I’ve been keen to get out and mix with other humans.  Aside of the Prohibition Room, we have three options for training: the outdoor space, the main indoor gym, which is a typical collegiate joint with lines of squat racks and platforms running the length of the room, and an old school, rough and tumble rowing center complete with squat racks and benches beside a rowing tank.

I hit the outdoor place a few times, but then wanting to meet some of the kids, I lifted in the main gym for a week or two.  Two things happened: I met surprisingly few kids, and I got the muck.

A decent number of people were in the weight room, but this was the strangest thing: it was utterly silent.  Everyone was listening to their own ear buds and not socializing.  I was just as isolated as before.

They did share with me the muck that was going around campus, so before long my throat was getting gluey.  It was not COVID; my wife made me take a test.  It was, however, a stubborn thing which only went away when I went back outside for my workouts.

It was surprising how fast a day or two outside cleared up all the congestion.  The lesson here must be that the cold air stimulates the system and creates far more good than simply removing one’s self from the source of infection.  If the air doesn’t, then the outdoor living will harden you up.  Speaking of tough games in Green Bay, we had a nor’easter blow though a week ago, and everything - bars, weights, racks, and benches - was soaked by mist and rain, since the north and south facing ends of the arch are open.  I had to pull deadlifts in the crooks of my fingers on a bar that was dripping wet.

That’s today’s science lesson.  I’m still waiting to see where I’ll fit in in the coaching scheme.  Lots of folks lift weights here, mainly for one sport or another, and lots of coaches are in on the act.