A conspiracy of dew point against a man lifting weights ambitiously in middle age?

I’m ambitious about strength training. Regular news stories in the early 2020s reminded me of the vitalness of this. Web research convinced me that 25% of Americans have fitness habits, I wonder how much smaller that percentage is for men over age 50? (A part of me wants to be a voice for this age group maintaining a strength habit.)

But, without air conditioning during summer’s July and August dog days, I need to adjust my expectations and intensity. 

Amid these dog days, it’s too hot and muggy for me to comfortably concentrate and use proper form with dumbbells. The low-income constraints, no gym access and close quarters can make training frustrating.

On steamy days when it’s time to lift weights, I feel guilty. I want to challenge myself, body and muscles. But from the heat and mugginess of summer of 2023, I know that, when the indoor dew point has me struggling to focus, I have a problem. That isn’t a safe moment for my ambition.

With only two of my three fans on, I needed to pause lifting in order to find and turn on my third. Otherwise, as I told my sister later, “I’m gonna do something stupid,” e.g. drop a dumbbell on my face.

I know that mine is a first-world problem. Still, news about mental wellbeing and overall health tell you that weight training improves life satisfaction. These awkward and stressful temperatures become a surprising problem. I know that consistency is ideal. Why?

But, as I reflect on the ways heat disrupts my training, I’ve recently noticed a related success! After having indulged in a months-long appetite for oatmeal raisin cookies, which I suspect added an inch to my waist, three months after stopping buying them, I’ve lost that inch. I hadn’t known whether the cookies caused the baby gut. but it was a decent target. I praise my self-discipline.