You know, sometimes my 'want to' completely overloads my 'can do'. After a pretty serious bout with bronchitis and near pneumonia, I just haven't regained what I consider to be my strength back. My breathing is labored and I just don't seem to be my old self.
A friend of mine (considerably younger than me) has become very involved in a program called CrossFit training. She sings its' praises about how it has so improved her physical fitness and mental toughness. I did some research online and was very intrigued with the concept, especially the competitive nature of the training. (Just a side note....I am a wee bit competitive). There are several gyms here in Phoenix that offer the program and they offer a free session to allow you to become familiar with it.
I thought I would call and schedule an appointment for my free trial. In the meantime, I ran across an article online from Womens Health magazine that was about CrossFit exercises that a person could do at home or on the road when you couldn't get to the gym.
Being the cheapskate I am, I decided I would try them out and see how I did before going in for the orientation. There were only 6 'moves' and the instructions said to do as many reps of the moves as you could in a 30 minute session.
I read through the instructions and settled on what I thought was an easily attainable goal of 10 reps per move. (Just to get warmed up I thought)
Christ on a crutch!!! I only managed 5 of the first move before I had to sit down and gasp for air. Undaunted, I moved on to #2. I did execute 10 of that maneuver and was feeling pretty proud of myself, thinking that #1 was obviously the toughest and the remainder would be a breeze. Move #3 nearly killed me and after only 3 reps, I had to lay out on the bed and convince myself I wasn't dying. To my credit, I did attempt moves #4, 5 & 6 over about a 1 hour time slot. My body was aching and my pride severely wounded.
I have vowed to try again and now my goal is simply to add one rep per move at each session. Thank God I didn't go into the gym and try this. I would have had to call someone to bring me home.
Dear God.....what has happened to me? It can't be the age thing can it?
Your body is a creature of habit... so if the only workout you get is constantly lifting water buckets or hay bails or WHATEVER it is you do constantly - then whatever thing "new" you introduce yourself to, your body's going to be like "What the hell, Jaye?!" haha
ReplyDeleteCrossFit is a wonderful program... so wonderful that the Air Force adopted it's training program and makes rooms in gyms available for individuals who prefer to use this method. The concept is to take every day maneuvers and enable you to build from those! You can also adopt exercises for every age and fitness level.
(here I preach while I eat my Little Debbie from my loveseat) lol
You'll never be OLD, Jaye... You're just a hell of a lot more experienced than most of us ;) Keep writing, love! You bring a smile to my face.