Building muscle as a project


I like projects, and have done so since I was a kid, putting together models. I especially liked motorcycle models, which were wildly complex. And as soon as I was finished with one, I would want to start another one.

Doing these things took me a long time, and kept me quiet, which I'm sure my parents appreciated. I enjoyed everything about these types of projects, except having to wait for the glue to dry, which usually said "overnight", so I'd often get anxious and not wait long enough and make a mess of things.

You can tell that any project that requires waiting is difficult for me. I want to stand there and watch the glue dry, but that doesn't help - you have to turn your attention elsewhere.

It's really the same with building muscle - I just hate (if you follow me here) "waiting for the glue to dry", which for muscle-building is taking a recovery day, or two, and staying away from your workouts. But it's a necessary part of the project, and if you get that part wrong you'll mess everything up.

Now let's be clear on what I consider a project - it can't be "busy work" that accomplishes nothing. If you like playing solitaire, or doing word search puzzles, that's fine for you, but it doesn't work for me. I need the feeling of moving towards a goal.

Of course, once the goal is reached, I need to immediately find another goal. I've spent the past year (almost!) raising and training a tiny puppy, and she's fine now - I can hear her playing with her sister right now behind me as I type this on my computer. I won't be rushing out to get another puppy for some time (it's exhausting!) so I'm pondering other projects that I've started, like this blog.

The net effect of my interest in projects is that I seem to be accomplishing things. The basement of my family's home when I was a kid was filled with models that I'd completed, which my mom would have to dust. And when you think about it, that's all that a finished project is, something to dust. I have friends who restore classic cars, and usually sell them and start another project - otherwise all they would be doing would be dusting.

My muscle-building project will only end when I'm too old to build new muscle, which hasn't happened yet. I'll let you know how it goes.

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