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miss_lucy21I did my first strength training workout today. It was...somewhat successful. I haven't done strength training in years and I'm still building back up my capacity to do this sort of thing, so I wasn't expecting to be able to do everything, and I was right, I couldn't. But that's okay.
The mobility warmup was a little more intense than I expected it to be and I hadn't taken my inhaler because historically, I don't need it for strength training. And then in a supremely dumb-ass move, I hadn't brought the inhaler with me to the gym. I think I assumed I had it because one lives in my gym bag and I forgot that I wasn't bringing my gym bag with me (it was before 6 AM. My brain was not fully online yet). I live around the corner from the gym, so I can just go home to shower and get dressed, so I don't need the gym bag if I'm not swimming (swimming requires gear and a towel, etc, so the bag is still necessary, even if I'm going to shower at home). Yeah, I won't make that mistake again. It was fine, I was just a little more breathless than is comfortable, and I skipped a couple items on the warmup to be on the safe side.
I was surprised, however, at how well I did a couple of the warmup exercises. There's one, where you squat down and then raise your arms above your head and stand up. I was expecting that one was going to be really difficult, mostly because balance is not my strong suit and getting up from a squat generally requires a fair amount of balance, and having my arms overhead was going to make it harder. But that one was no problem at all. I also would not have had any trouble with a couple of others if I hadn't been having breathing issues.
I did okay with the planks. Side planks need work- I can't keep my balance and I can't figure out how to get the weight on my forearm and not my elbow, so I had to put my knees on the ground. I did fine with the split squats, although I wasn't using any additional weight (I want to make sure I have the form correct before I add more weight). I couldn't do the inverted rows without putting my feet flat on the ground, which is not how it's supposed to be done, but I just could not lift my whole body weight up. So, that'll take some work. And I didn't get to the last two exercises because it was 6:30 and I had to leave. That's mostly because I kind of didn't get out of bed on time. I was kind of scared of trying this, so I had to talk myself into it this morning. But, honestly, it wasn't that bad, no one looked at me funny (or if they did, I didn't notice. But I was off in my own little corner for the most part), and at no point did my back hurt while I was trying to do the exercises. It's a little bit achy now, but that's normal at the end of the day, and it's no worse than it usually is.
I will continue to do workout 1A until I can actually do workout 1A. The good part is, the mobility warmup will stay the same throughout the entire program, so I'll only have to learn a handful of new exercises as I move along. But I'm figuring it's going to be a good month or two before I'm ready to try workout 1B. I'm doing strength training on Monday and Thursday and then swimming on Tuesday and Friday, because swimming will be good for sore muscles.
The mobility warmup was a little more intense than I expected it to be and I hadn't taken my inhaler because historically, I don't need it for strength training. And then in a supremely dumb-ass move, I hadn't brought the inhaler with me to the gym. I think I assumed I had it because one lives in my gym bag and I forgot that I wasn't bringing my gym bag with me (it was before 6 AM. My brain was not fully online yet). I live around the corner from the gym, so I can just go home to shower and get dressed, so I don't need the gym bag if I'm not swimming (swimming requires gear and a towel, etc, so the bag is still necessary, even if I'm going to shower at home). Yeah, I won't make that mistake again. It was fine, I was just a little more breathless than is comfortable, and I skipped a couple items on the warmup to be on the safe side.
I was surprised, however, at how well I did a couple of the warmup exercises. There's one, where you squat down and then raise your arms above your head and stand up. I was expecting that one was going to be really difficult, mostly because balance is not my strong suit and getting up from a squat generally requires a fair amount of balance, and having my arms overhead was going to make it harder. But that one was no problem at all. I also would not have had any trouble with a couple of others if I hadn't been having breathing issues.
I did okay with the planks. Side planks need work- I can't keep my balance and I can't figure out how to get the weight on my forearm and not my elbow, so I had to put my knees on the ground. I did fine with the split squats, although I wasn't using any additional weight (I want to make sure I have the form correct before I add more weight). I couldn't do the inverted rows without putting my feet flat on the ground, which is not how it's supposed to be done, but I just could not lift my whole body weight up. So, that'll take some work. And I didn't get to the last two exercises because it was 6:30 and I had to leave. That's mostly because I kind of didn't get out of bed on time. I was kind of scared of trying this, so I had to talk myself into it this morning. But, honestly, it wasn't that bad, no one looked at me funny (or if they did, I didn't notice. But I was off in my own little corner for the most part), and at no point did my back hurt while I was trying to do the exercises. It's a little bit achy now, but that's normal at the end of the day, and it's no worse than it usually is.
I will continue to do workout 1A until I can actually do workout 1A. The good part is, the mobility warmup will stay the same throughout the entire program, so I'll only have to learn a handful of new exercises as I move along. But I'm figuring it's going to be a good month or two before I'm ready to try workout 1B. I'm doing strength training on Monday and Thursday and then swimming on Tuesday and Friday, because swimming will be good for sore muscles.
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Date: 2015-05-05 09:29 am (UTC)That'll probably be because you just don't have the strength for it yet. Spreading one's weight this way without toppling over requires significant strength in the side of one's back and the crisscrossing abdominal muscles. You're doing the right thing by reducing difficulty on the exercise - just mind the stretch so you're not putting undue pressure on anything else, and you're good.
(Muscle soreness typically hits 24-72hr post-exercise. The best thing to do is to repeat the same motion that caused the soreness, just with less load - just the motion, no effort on it.)
no subject
Date: 2015-05-05 01:02 pm (UTC)