Music motivates me

I was going great. Running or walking most days. Strength training 4-5 days a week.

My gym was back open and things were great. Motivation has never been an issue for me. I love to workout. It's what I do to relieve stress.

My trips to the gym in recent weeks haven't been too consistent because of other responsibilities.

I tried to do an in-home workout on Sunday, but my motivation just wasn't there.

Until I turned on my rock music. Sometimes, it's just good to sit there and let the music motivate you. That's what I did. And I was able to get a great workout in.

Here's what I did for those of you who are struggling to find workouts to do from home.

Super Sets

Jumping Jacks - 3 sets of 25. Squats - 3 sets of 20. Band bicep curls - 3 sets of 25

Wall Sits - 2 sets at 30 seconds. Raise the Roofs - 2 sets at 60 seconds.

Crunches - 3 sets of 25. Scissor Kicks - 2 sets at 30 seconds.  Glute Bridges - 2 sets at 60 seconds.

Planks - 2 sets at 30 seconds. Donkey Kicks - 2 sets at 60 seconds (30 seconds each leg).

High Knees - 2 sets at 60 seconds. Squats into Calf Raises - 2 sets of 20.

Jumping Jacks - 3 sets of 25 with 15 seconds rest in between.

Some of these you may not know. Some you may know. All I do when trying to put together a home workout is, watch a few videos on YouTube. I didn't used to do "Raise the Roofs," "Glute Bridges," "Donkey Kicks" or "High Knees" until seeing them mixed into videos.

And before you laugh, doing "Raise the Roofs" for 60 straight seconds is tough on the shoulders. It's not easy. 2 sets of it is even harder.

My version of high knees are not fast. It's a slow motion high knee basically just standing still. For 60 seconds, it's tough, too.

I was sweating after today's workout. That's all that matters. But I would much rather be in the gym, lifting weights and running on the treadmill. Soon I will get back to that. In the meantime, if I can't get there, these kind of workouts can do the trick.

And look for your motivation. Mine is music most of the time.

I saw someone today say they couldn't run without music. I'm the same guy. I can't do any cardio workouts without music. At least ones that I want to be good. My wireless headphones cost me $10 from Target. I have bought two sets so I have spent $20 on them the past few years. It can be inexpensive to work out if you don't want to pay gym fees.

The music at home is mostly from the free IHeart Radio app that I have on my TV. That's what I use for every workout, but it shifts to the phone and headphones when I am not at home.

Feel free to pass along any workouts you have. I am always looking for new ideas. Just don't include burpees. I don't do burpees.

Athlete A review

Athlete A is Maggie Nichols.

And the Netflix original is a documentary that focuses on the gymnasts who survived USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar's abuse and the reporters who exposed USAG's toxic culture.

It exposes the monster that Nassar is. And it brings to light the awful human being that Steve Penn is. Penn is not as guilty as Nassar but covering it up so he could profit off the gold medals and exposure certainly makes him guilty in a different way.

I used to think Bela and Marta Karolyi were just successful gymnastics coaches who changed USA Gymnastics forever.

Well, they changed it forever. But not in a good way. What I thought was just a demanding style turned out to be a nightmare for all the Olympians under their guidance.

We may never know how much the Karolyi's knew about what Nassar was doing. They certainly knew what the allegations were though.

Nichols came forward in 2015 with allegations against Nassar and the Karolyi's and Penn turned a blind eye to it. That allowed Nassar to most certainly abuse more young girls. The documentary says 500 females have come forward. That's an insane number. And it's probably not even close to the accurate total.

Watching the Kerri Strug clip from when she performed the vault with an injury at the 1996 Summer Olympics. We all thought it was a heroic performance at the time. And it still was. I don't want to take that away from Strug. But she didn't have a choice.

The Karolyis probably didn't think she was even injured. Or didn't care. There wasn't a choice in the matter. Strug had to compete. It was the expectation.

The documentary is extremely well done. And I would recommend it. But it's disturbing. There's no doubt about that.

As a journalist myself, what the Indy Star investigative reporting team did was fantastic. They put in a ton of time on that story and continue to work today to bring out the truth about USA Gymnastics.

The detective who worked on the Nassar case should be commended, too. He was out for blood, and got it. I don't think 60 years is enough, but Nassar at least will likely die in prison.

I feel bad for all the gymnasts and what they went through at a young age. But I feel the worst for Nichols. She had her dream of being an Olympic gymnast taken away from her because she came forward first in 2015.

There is no doubt in my mind that she was left off the Olympic team even as an alternate because of her decision to come forward. Nichols finished higher than Gabby Douglas on the final USA team trial competition and Douglas was picked as one of the five who competed in the Olympics.

Nichols would go on to become a national champion gymnast at Oklahoma. And the Sooners won back-to-back national team titles.

Nichols was every bit as good as the five girls selected to that team in 2016. But Penny, Nassar and the Karolyis denied her the opportunity because they were covering up years of sexual abuse.

It's disgusting. It's disturbing. And it's unacceptable. But it needed to be told.

Two thumbs up.

MLB is back: The DH, runner on second and more

We will have a Major League Baseball season.

A 60 game sprint to the finish. And I am all in. It's MLB baseball. That's all I care about.

Sure, the players and owners pissing match over millions of dollars was ridiculous. And it's likely not the last time we'll deal with something like that in the next few years. But with everything going on around us right now, I sure could use a little distraction.

I am a Cincinnati Reds fan. It would be par for the course if the Reds loaded up on free agent signings and then they didn't have a season. That sounds about right.

But now, with the designated hitter being inserted into both leagues, the Reds could be at a big advantage.

Reds General Manager Dick Williams admitted Wednesday that him and his team of front office guys built the roster with the hopes that the DH would be implemented in the National League at some point.

David Bell has plenty of options. Nick Castellanos was brought in to inject some firepower into the offense and he's a subpar defender. Jesse Winker kills right-handed pitching and is not good against lefties. Phillip Ervin is the opposite. Then there's guys like Joey Votto, Aristides Aquino and Nick Senzel.

I would even consider using relief pitcher Michael Lorenzen as the DH some days. He is built for it and has a sweet natural swing.

There are way too many outfielders on this Reds' roster and having the DH will help fix the issue of finding enough at-bats for guys who are good enough to be in the lineup.

The Reds starting pitching was one of the best in baseball last year. And they added Wade Miley to help with depth. If the offense comes around, the Reds should be in playoff contention.

On the topic of the DH, I have been for this move for the NL for a while now. I get it. The strategy behind it is not as fun. And there are some who think neither league should have it. If that's how they want to go, then I am fine with it. I just think the NL was at a big disadvantage without it.

With it, NL teams can now sign players late in their career who become less viable in the field but can still hit. There's a reason why guys like David Ortiz, Frank Thomas, Edgar Martinez and Harold Baines never signed with players in the NL. There careers went so much farther just being able to hit every day and not worry about the field.

Chicago Cubs fans can now expect Kyle Schwarber to be with the franchise forever if they want him. He is tailor made for the DH and I would guess will be in that spot for Chicago a lot this summer.

The other new wrinkle that will go in effect this season is a runner will start on second base to begin innings when the game goes to extra innings. This is to help limit games that could drift into the 15th and 16th innings. And will help speed up the game in general.

I am not a huge fan of this type of play when the postseason hits, but if it's what we need to see to have a season then I can adjust.

I read something the other day that 60-game schedules are expected to be 40 games within your own division and 20 interleague games against cross-division foes.

For example, the Reds would play 10 games each against the Cardinals, Cubs, Brewers and Pirates and 4 games each against the Royals, White Sox, Indians, Twins and Tigers.

That type of split won't make things even across the board because some divisions are simply better than others. But if they do expanded playoffs, it won't matter too much.

We will have MLB baseball games that count at the end of July. I like the sound of that. Now, if only the Reds can avoid another 1-9 start, I will like it even more. Something tells me Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray and Trevor Bauer won't that happen.

Play ball. Finally.

Catching up some movies

To say my wife and I’s interest in movies are different would be an understatement. We have certainly watched some together, but our taste in movies don’t often line up.

So when my family is out of town, I like to cross off movies that I otherwise wouldn’t watch with them around.

I was able to do that last week. I knocked out a few choices that I have been wanting to see for a while and then viewed a few others that I thought looked good after reading the general descriptions online.

My first trio of films included Just Mercy, The Way Back and The Invisible Man.

All three movies lived up to their high Rotten Tomatoes ratings.

The Invisible Man had a 91 percent rating. And when the movie ended, I tweeted that it was almost a perfect movie. There wasn’t much to nit pick at. It was a fantastic film that kept me on the edge of my seat the entire two hours.

The opening scene of the movie features the female star escaping the house of her boyfriend. It was an abusive relationship that she desperately needed to get out of. Although that part of the story was never told. 

No one believes Cecilia (played by Elisabeth Moss) that her Scientist boyfriend is still alive after faking a suicide and then creating a suit that makes him invisible. She ends up being right and what comes next is her trying to figure out how to finally rid him of her life.

The Way Back, which has an 84 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, stars Ben Affleck as an alcoholic who was once a high school basketball star. He returns to coach his alma mater for one last shot at redemption.

I thought Affleck was brilliant in the lead role. He uses colorful language on the bench and in practice and that’s not taken well by administrators at the private institution.

But Affleck’s character, Jack Cunningham, reaches the team and transforms the program from barely winning a game to playing for a spot in the postseason almost instantly.

Just Mercy is based on a true story about a civil rights defense attorney who fights to free a man who is on death row for a crime he didn’t commit.

Bryan Stevenson is played by Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx plays the innocent Walter McMillian on death row. I was surprised neither actor got any Oscar buzz for their roles. I thought both were great.

Because of the subject matter involving civil rights and racism, Just Mercy can be streamed for free all month.

My next set of films I checked out included Knives Out and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

Both films tested above 95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. And both films were fantastic.

Knives Out is funny and entertaining and it makes you think. The plot twists and turns throughout the two-hour, 10-minute film.

The cast also is great as Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Christopher Plummer and Michael Shannon all have key roles.

Craig stars as the detective who investigates the death of a rich grandfather, who is set to give all of his worth to one single person in his life.

If you liked this movie, I have heard a sequel is in the works starring Craig and an entire new cast.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood took a lot of criticism during the early stages because folks were finding out the movie was not all about Mr. Rogers.

Fred Rogers plays a role in the movie, but the main plot revolves around a magazine journalist who gets assigned a fluffy feature story on the iconic family TV star who doesn’t appear to have any flaws.

The journalist spends most of the assignment trying to find something negative about Mr. Rogers and Rogers helps him sew up a poor relationship with his father. The two eventually form a strong bond and become friends.

The other three movies I checked out were Dark Waters, Trauma Center and A Dog’s Journey.

Dark Waters is about a corporate defense attorney who takes on an environmental lawsuit against chemical company DuPont, which exposes a lengthy history of pollution. It stars Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins and Anne Hathaway. 

A Dog’s Journey is the sequel to A Dog’s Purpose. Rotten Tomatoes likes the sequel better. I enjoyed both movies. And Josh Gad is fantastic as the voice of the main dogs in the movie. 

Parts of the movie are not realistic, but it's still fun and entertaining. And Gad makes me laugh as the voice of the main dogs.

Trauma Center is about an injured woman who is alone and trapped in a locked-down floor of a hospital. She must escape a pair of vicious killers who are after the only piece of evidence that can implicate them in a grisly murder, the bullet in her leg.

Bruce Willis stars as the good cop and Nicky Whelan plays the lead female role. 

It’s hard to rank all eight movies. I didn’t hate any of them and would recommend them to other movie goers. 

Trauma Center had the only poor rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but I thought it was better than the rating. I didn’t think Willis was that great in his role though. He seemed to be over acting throughout the movie.