Back to Basics

I went to 24 HR Fitness today for the first time in months. I have worked out (a little) in that time frame, but that gym gives me many more options than my apartment can offer.

The Houston FIT tree doctors commented that I should try and strengthen my hips so as to better support my foot arches. Sounds funny, but realize that if you hips give way, your back and legs have to take up the slack. In truth, I have noticed that late in long runs my hips seem to sag backwards (more appropriately, I should say "butt-wards"), preventing me from maintaining proper feet under knee under hip, under shoulder upright running posture. Time to fix that. Even if I am merely conforming to this latest piece of running advice (i.e., maybe there's nothing wrong with my hips at all!), you strengthen your hips through core exercises, and that's a good thing for running.

So at the gym, after a set of ab and back work, I did the customary bench press. I then started what I called my "core circuit"; one hip set, one ab set, one hip set, and one back set, all with limited rest in between. For the first hip sets, I did hanging leg raises (one with bent knees, and one with straight legs), and focused on using my hip flexors more so than my abs. For the second hip sets of each circuit, I used the hip abduction machine. The back work was simple back extensions. Remember with back extensions that if you are not smooth and focused, you will end up working your hamstrings and not your lower back. As there are a myriad of ways to work your abs, I rotated amongst the ball, machine, and weighted machine so as to make my one pack pop (there are abs under there, I just have my winter coat on at the moment!).

As for my ongoing home buying itch (some financial basics, if you will), I did some searching on home down payments today; how much should you put down? The common sense approach is to try your hardest to put down 20%, as this is generally the amount that prevents your from paying private mortgage insurance (PMI). Others say this is folly; you should only put down the minimum required by the bank, as keeping your money in stocks is the better approach. Here's the rub on the stock advice; paying money down has a GUARANTEED TAX FREE RETURN equal to your mortgage rate. If that rate is 6.5%, you would need a return of at least 7.65% on stock (taxes, they suck) to match the instant return on your down payment. You can certainly get that kid of return, but it's a lot more risky than simply handing the banker a down payment check. Final advice: paying PMI only benefits the bank, so put down enough to avoid that if possible. Does this mean you shouldn't buy a house without 20% down? Good lord no! It simply means that if you think you might want to in the near future, do you best to start building to that 20% goal. After all, once you get to 20% equity in the house, you no longer have to pay PMI. You can put in more than 20% if you want, but at that point, it comes down to how much you value liquidity, as it's hard t get money out of a house. And though some people ravage their savings for the down payment, you should try to keep a fund for unexpected expenses (like those last minute tickets to Cancun, you'd hate to miss that!).