The Pain Is Temporary
Alisher put me through the wringer today at the gym again, on our second meeting of this year. Glancing back at my resolutions for the year, I see I resolved to go to the gym twice weekly. Haven't been doing a good job of that at ALL (but I'm waaaaay ahead of the game when it comes to running, writing, and flossing, let me keep reminding you). I'm feeling very beat tonight after that workout.
We did shoulder and core work. He brought this strap thingy he made himself, which copies the $200 model you might find in your gym these days. It looks like either a torture device or a sex tool, depending on your point of view. Basically, you set yourself up like you're doing a push-up, but you put your feet in the straps. Then you hang from the straps and do reverse bicycle kicks, reverse crunches, and the like. And it's really, really hard by the time you get to the second or third set. There are all sorts of other exercises you can do with it, but my torture was limited to ab work. Rather than free weights or machines, you are lifting your own body weight, which you can make more or less difficult based on your position.
That was at the beginning of the workout, too, so I was sweating early and throughout the hour. In a way, that was good, because my ride to get there was frigid. It didn't look like it was going to be a bad day out there before I left home. There was plenty of sun, it had rained but that was past. But I shivered the entire way there, even while climbing the hills. It was colder than the Chilly Hilly. I felt like my face was burning off with the cold.
But these are the things we do for fitness and for performance. The "I think I'm going to puke" feeling will pass. And I'll be stronger and better on the bike and faster on the road as a result. It's an investment. "Let's crack this case" as we say...
The reward for that work? A double cheeseburger and fries, scarfed down while laundry was washing. I'm not sure, but I think the calorie intake may have cancelled out the calorie burn. The one thing I do know: gym + cheeseburger = a good night of sleep ahead. So tired!
We did shoulder and core work. He brought this strap thingy he made himself, which copies the $200 model you might find in your gym these days. It looks like either a torture device or a sex tool, depending on your point of view. Basically, you set yourself up like you're doing a push-up, but you put your feet in the straps. Then you hang from the straps and do reverse bicycle kicks, reverse crunches, and the like. And it's really, really hard by the time you get to the second or third set. There are all sorts of other exercises you can do with it, but my torture was limited to ab work. Rather than free weights or machines, you are lifting your own body weight, which you can make more or less difficult based on your position.
That was at the beginning of the workout, too, so I was sweating early and throughout the hour. In a way, that was good, because my ride to get there was frigid. It didn't look like it was going to be a bad day out there before I left home. There was plenty of sun, it had rained but that was past. But I shivered the entire way there, even while climbing the hills. It was colder than the Chilly Hilly. I felt like my face was burning off with the cold.
But these are the things we do for fitness and for performance. The "I think I'm going to puke" feeling will pass. And I'll be stronger and better on the bike and faster on the road as a result. It's an investment. "Let's crack this case" as we say...
The reward for that work? A double cheeseburger and fries, scarfed down while laundry was washing. I'm not sure, but I think the calorie intake may have cancelled out the calorie burn. The one thing I do know: gym + cheeseburger = a good night of sleep ahead. So tired!