First I would like to state that I passed my forklift recertification at work this morning. That was fun. I hadn't been on a forklift for months and it felt good. Makes me feel like a MONSTAH!! With the mere pull of a lever, I can lift things many, many times my own weight! Must admit, having been away from the orange beast for so long, today's reunion was definitely a bit of a power rush.
THENNNNNN... there's CrossFit. WHOLE different ballgame. Haha!
CrossFit has whooped my butt both yesterday and today. We've been doing exercises that are challenging me to hang in there and keep moving even when my mind says to stop. Stopping for a few seconds, or longer if the coach doesn't see you (ha ha) is very tempting. And, granted, sometimes you really need a break. Just make it a short break; otherwise, at least for me, I lose some of my momentum and picking up that dumbbell/barbell/kettlebell again, restarting whatever motion you had been executing, is hard.
Yesterday's workout had a time cap of 15 minutes. I finished at 15:12. Looking back, I see all the times I paused for longer than I should have. Sometimes I get in a pity-pot mindframe; like, screw this,, I quit... then I pace around in a circle for a little while before I get back to whatever I was doing. And if I added up all the chunks of seconds I wasted that way, I probably could have shaved close to a minute off my time.
Lessons to be learned and applied going forward.
Part of today's workout was laying on the bench and pressing a dumbbell, one arm at a time, as heavy as you could for as many reps as you could get. I love that kind of thing, where my right side has to work out independently from my left side. It kind of feels more... fair... plus, my right side can't be lazy when there is no left arm there to carry more of the load. So, that was awesome.
Also today, the coach mentioned that, in order to get intensity out of a workout, you might use less weight in order to be able to move for longer at a time. So I used a "wimpy" weight... well, not wimpy; I used a weight that was best for ME at my present level of fitness and ability. I took a 35 pound bar, put a 2.5 pound disc on each end, and got after it with my big forty pound burden. Ha. It was still hard! The movements weren't really heavy for me; my muscles were not burning when I finished. I just knew my abilities from a cardio point of view.
So my 40 pound little buddy and I executed 21 hang cleans, 21 front squats, and 45 single jump ropes. Then 15, 15, and 45... then 9, 9 and 45. My time today was 7:49. And I was proud of that. Sure, there were people who used a lot more weight than I used AND did DOUBLE UNDERS and STILL finished 1-2 minutes before me, but today was good for ME. I kept moving almost the whole time and, when I paused, I kept the pauses very brief.
I feel it a little bit in my biceps but, otherwise, I'm ok; just tired. Ha... yeah, that's all I feel right NOW... ask me again in the morning! Hahaha.........
TOMORROW's workout will include dumbbell lunges, rowing, sit-ups, kettlebell swings, plus several other delightful sweat-dripping activities.
So I'm gonna keep chipping away at this weightlifting stuff. Maybe *I* will be able to lift a forklift one day.
Not really. LOL
So I'm going shower now and go watch TV in bed, then go do it all again tamarrah!
