Why my evening calisthenics were harder than usual today: an extra 36 flights of stairs
No big deal, but my evening calisthenics felt harder than usual today.
Today was our first sunny day in a while, so I could finally do my laundry. Since I air-dry, not use the dryer, I avoid doing laundry on rainy days when it won’t dry. So this morning I walked down to the basement and back up five flights.
Sun also means I could charge on the roof. All the batteries on my phone, computer, and portable power stations were near zero. So I climbed eleven flights to the roof with the big battery, big solar panels, computer, and phone to place the panels, start charging, and take a call while up there.
On the way down, I went down to the basement and picked up my clothes, now finished washing, and climbed them, wet and heavy, back five flights to my apartment.
In the afternoon I climbed eleven flights back up to charge the computer and phone, now drained from using them for my usual work, carrying up the smaller panel so I could leave it there and bring up both power stations tomorrow. After charging the computer and phone, I brought them and the power station that had charged about halfway back downstairs.
In the evening, I went downstairs to pick up litter in Washington Square Park, then climbed four flights back upstairs.
So all told, if I add the numbers up right, I climbed five plus eleven plus eleven plus five plus four flights today, or thirty-six flights, twenty-seven of which included carrying equipment or wet clothes amounting to dozens of pounds. Yesterday was a lifting day too, starting me off drained.
I’m not bragging or complaining. It’s just a slightly more than usual day of climbing, aside from my usual work, meetings, writing, cooking, etc, and that’s why in my evening calisthenics I found it harder to jump than usual in my burpees, couldn’t do my last set as fast as I liked, and struggled with the weights. I guess it also contributes to why I don’t spend money on a gym membership and have a low resting pulse.
Still, I think most of my human ancestors (likely your and my common ancestors) did this much work in the course of their typical days. For food, they had to dig in the ground, climb trees, or hunt prey. I consider the effort healthy. I’d prefer doing it outdoors instead of my dark staircase, but that’s the world I live in.
At least I didn’t order takeout, consume doof, watch TV, or browse social media. They take more time and money than I can afford. I leave those activities for those more privileged than I.
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