Thursday, February 17, 2011

Holy Muscle Aches, Batman!!

It's Thursday.  You know this - but, just in case you didn't.  I love Thursdays.  Thursdays are like a mid-week break for me.  I can sleep in until 6:30, instead of my regular 4:30.  I can spend the morning in my jammies catching up on blog posts and Twitter posts, and even fit a little homework in.  Then, I spend the afternoon in class - my university class.  It's the only one I'm taking on campus this semester - all the rest take place in the school I'm working in.  I can go to class in sweats and a t-shirt, I don't have to put make-up on, and my hair can be in a messy pony tail - and no one will care.

After last night, there's another reason I can love my Thursday morning breaks.  So that I can rest my aching muscles!!

I went to the gym after work yesterday afternoon.  I met with my fantastic personal trainer friend, who I affectionatly named Bob back in my boot camp days.  Bob told me that he was going to "introduce" me to some of the equipment that I needed to work with in order to get my strength training going.

Before I could think about strength, he told me I needed to get some warm-up cardio in.  Off to the treadmill I went for 15 minutes of 2 minute intervals of walking and jogging.  Then, I went on to the wave runner for another 10 minutes...just to make sure I was good and warmed up.

Finally, he came and pulled me off the wave runner to start the introductions.  He showed me three pieces of equipment and showed me what exerices I needed to do.  He gave me three sets on each - two were upper body.  The upper body exercises were hard -but I got through them with no problems.  Then I had standing squats with 70lbs - yes, 70lbs!!!

After two sets, I thought my legs were going to give out on me.  I was scared I'd get down in the squat and not be able to get back up.  Then I remembered, Bob told me I had to do three sets - not two.  I walked off my jelly legs for a second, and then returned to the machine.  I pushed, and pushed, and pushed....and made it through my last set.  I was happy, my legs?  Not so much.

I walked around for a few minutes, trying to get some composure thinking Bob would tell me what a great job I had done and send me on my way.  Yeah, right.  Nope, he sent me for more cardio - stationary bike.  I did 12 minutes on the stationary at level 4 (this was cool down).  Even at level 4, my poor legs were fighting me.  The first five minutes were brutal...I just felt like I couldn't do anymore.  I then started giving my legs a pep talk "come on, guys" (yes, they are male...no, I'm not crazy) "we have to do this, we can do this, you'll be stronger if you do".  I was affectionatly rubbing my legs while giving them these words of encouragment. 

They made it through the 12 minutes.

When I got home, I knew that I would be sore this morning.  I was right.  I'm not in pain, I'm sore.  The sore that tells me I worked hard.  The sore that tells me my muscles got a great work-out and are now repairing themselves to get stronger.  The sore that tells me this is worth it, and I'll be seeing better results in no time.

I love sore.

Good thing that Thursday mornings are my "rest time" because it would have been really hard to be on my feet all day in a classroom.  I also get a break from working out today, because of an appointment I have to get to after class. 

Tomorrow, I'm back to it.  Another trip to the gym, another session with Bob.  I should also have my BodyBugg tomorrow - YAY!!

OK - going to read all of the blogs that I've missed out on this week.... have a great Thursday, everyone!

Till next time. ;)
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2 comments:

  1. That is awesome! Isn't it funny how we love to be sore now? It's a great indicator of your effort and your body's readiness to get stronger!

    Well done!

    Colleen
    Goodbye, Fat Girl!
    Fun Beyond Driven Chatter

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  2. Dammit I erased my comment!!! I hate when that happens!

    What I was saying was once a spin instructor yelled out during class, "When it burns so bad you wanna stop, THAT'S WHEN YOU HAVE TO KEEP GOING! THAT'S WHEN YOU WILL SEE CHANGE!!"

    I hear her voice every time I have reached my limit (or think I have) and I try to push through. Congrats on pushing yourself past your limits!!! Keep going!! And so glad you found someone to push you past your limits too!! xo

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