Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Workout, Ouch!

Holy hell, I have not had legs this sore in a long time...not since the first week of my workouts, back in February! This is the type of sore legs that make you really consider whether you want to sit down...or stand back up. Ouch on both directions!

My group started in the gym, where after doing some floor workouts for the glutes and quads, and then holding a wall sit for 2 full minutes (woohoo, I did it w/o taking a break!), we did the leg press machine where Brad exerts negative pressure as you are letting the bar go back - so you have to fight to keep it from slamming back. This was harder than usual for me. During the third set of 15 reps, my legs got so visibly shaky that I had to take a break - and when I was finally done, they were jiggling like jell-o!

Then, after an all-too-short water break, we did the dreaded "bottom-to-bottom" Tabata - which is doing squats as quick as you can for 20 seconds, then hold a squat for 10 seconds, then repeat - eight times!!! In the past, I have never made it through an entire set without having to take a break, but this, after the intensity of the leg press, wiped me out! I could not hold the squat, I was not moving quickly...I could not push myself to do this. I have not been this beat down by exercise in a long time!

When we were done and the three of us finally stumbled into the cardio room, Linda took one look and asked "What did Brad do to y'all?!?" - seriously, we were in bad shape! And then we had 30 minutes of cardio to do! Ugh, it was not pretty, and I was not at my best.

I was bummed that I felt so sore for a number of reasons: For one, I started the day with a lot of energy and was excited and ready to run on the treadmill. And since my group began in the gym yesterday, I was not at my best by the time cardio rolled around and ended up just walking on an incline. And I knew that this kind of soreness would not be gone in a few hours - heck, it's still going full-force this morning! Which slows me down and makes me feel out of shape, which in turn is a little depressing. There is a difference between sore muscles that make you feel like you got a good workout, and sore muscles that just hurt and make you feel weak. This is the latter.

I know I'm not in superb, tip-tip shape. I know I have a long way to go for that, and I can accept my limitations because I know that I am improving, slowly. But this type of muscle soreness really brings me back down to earth on how far I still have to go with getting myself physically fit. Sigh.

18 comments:

  1. There's nothing like painful muscles to let you know you're really alive. They sort of keep you living in the moment.

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  2. Oh wow! I know that pain, pain so intense you have to brace yourself just to get on and off the toilet! Poor girl. Your body will thank you in the end.

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  3. I have a love/hate relationship with that kind of pain. I love knowing that it's making good changes in my body, but wow does it suck when you have to go down steps on your butt because your legs just won't bend & support you at the same time.

    The unfortunate part of your pain is that day 2 is usually worse than the day after the workout.
    I did upper body yesterday and woke up today feeling like a Mac truck ran me over. It hurts to take a deep breath. I'm dreading tomorrow.

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  4. Wauw he really got you working hard didn't he!

    How's the pain today? Hope you're feeling better but you did a great job!

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  5. As sick as this might sound, I love that feeling of not being able to stand up cuz my legs are so sore! Way to go on working those legs!!!!

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  6. Oh my goodness, I'm not into that kind of pain!! I know that some soreness after an intense workout isn't a bad sign though. Work those muscles!

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  7. Embrace the pain!!! lol, I know, I'm sick. I just wrote a post last night about pain. I heard a quote that has me looking at it through "new eyes", as Sean would say.

    "Pain is just weakness leaving your body".

    I know how bad it hurts...but just know that with each wince you're making your body healthier and stronger...and that can only lead to a better "YOU". :)

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  8. Hope you're feeling a bit better! That kind of soreness is really hard to deal with but you just have to let yourself recover. Stretch some if you can!

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  9. Can you arrange to do cardio first? Would that help? Vee at http://www.veegettinghealthy.blogspot.com

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  10. Can I please remind you that you had an ORGAN removed less than a month ago??????

    You are in great shape, just a bit fatigued!

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  11. Sending you hugs - although you feel disappointed, just think back where you started - you are making HUGE progress - don't let a few sore muscles bring you down! :D

    And take a hot bath, although in Texas, that might be a bad idea!

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  12. Don't we all have a long road to go...the rest of our lives, really. Take where you are now and roll with it. Like the Virginia Slims ad says, you've come a long way, baby. And we all want to model ourselves after cigarette ads, right?

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  13. Sounds like a great work out there Shelley Belle! Those sore muscles are rough, especially since Advil doesn't really seem to take off the edge very well!

    You may have a little way to go yet, but you've done fantastic so far :)

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  14. After my first time with my trainer, I literally was sore for two full days. Yes, it reminded me that I was so horrifically out of shape and it HURT to walk or go down stairs, but it also reminded me that I was taking steps in the right direction to get fit. The workout sounds awesomely tough... stay strong!

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  15. Sounds like you deserve a good soak in Epsom salts!

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  16. Don't be too discouraged by this. You had some forced time off for your surgery...

    All the best,
    ChrissyS

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  17. I hope you are over your soreness by now! There's a good sore and a bad sore and it sounds like this was a bad one. As others have said, you are still in recovery!

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  18. Um, you can do two minute wall sits, then follow them with multiple sets of leg presses with some horrible trainer making them harder, then do the most hideous sounding tabatas i have ever heard of and THEN do a full cardio session????

    OMG, I would die.

    Any mortal would be in pain after a workout like that!

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