By Karen 

Remember my decision to forego bonbons for strength training? An activity I assiduously avoided all my life? I started in on this endeavor because I finally faced up to the fact that I need to get stronger if I plan to keep active for the next few decades.

I was lucky enough to find Vincent. He has been torturing me for almost six months now, to great effect. I can lift more weight than ever before--not that that is saying much. And I have curves where I never had them before--in my upper arms. Vincent has also introduced me to body parts of which I had never heard. Deltoids. Adductors and abductors. And always the lats, his favorites. The core--that seems to be a lot of body parts that are supposed to work together to make you strong. If I have one, it is a pretty sad affair, still. But on we go. 

One surprising thing is that your brain is key. Vincent explains the science behind even the craziest moves, and how it affects your neural pathways. He sends along videos to support the science. Quite fascinating.

Of course, there are some issues. First, Vincent makes me do all sorts of things plainly named for strongmen in countries like Bulgaria and Turkey. They are fiendishly designed to make you both cry and look stupid. One--walking sideways with a band around your shins--imitates a demented duck. Squats are quite inelegant as well--think demented frog. And there are others. I just tell myself, if Notorious RBG can do it, so can you  

Second, there are occasional pulled thises and thats. One was so uncomfortable I went to see Vincent's friend Heidi Lovie, acupuncturist extraordinaire. I was quite skeptical. And I was wrong. She was miraculous. Pain almost entirely gone overnight.

So this regimen has totally been worth the effort, and the silliness. Hopefully I will avoid forever being that woman who falls and can't get up. And maybe working out will make me more like my hero, RBG.