Today I dragged my lazy ass to the gym for the 7 am bootcamp class. I don't know why, but the last 3 weeks my body has had a really hard time recovering from the workouts. I don't feel like I'm pushing myself harder or that the workouts themselves are particularly harder, but I'm finding my recovery time is much, much longer. My legs are still sore from my workouts last week! I must remember to ask my trainer about it during my 1 on 1 session Friday.
Anyways, I felt that I really struggled for the first two thirds of the workout. I've been having problems with my shins and calves and any lateral movement aggravates them and prolonged (like 5 min +) of running and such bother them as well. I barely made it through the warm-up (running laps, lunges, side shuffles) when we lined up on the white line and proceeded to do 3-2-1 line exercises.
A quick explanation - in our company gym, we have a half-court gymnasium. It has all the lines for a half-court basketball court, badminton, and volleyball. Often the trainers will have us line-up so we are facing the long horizontal of the gym and do an exercise to the furthest white line (3), jog back, do the exercise again to the middle white line (2), jog back, and then once more to the closest white line (1), jog back and repeat again from 3. Hence the 3-2-1. Exercises can be anything from running, jogging, lunges, squats, squat jumps, can-cans, etc. You go at your own pace and switch to the next exercise demonstrated when you've reached the front of the gym. It is great since it works for all fitness levels and I don't feel like the fattest, slowest on there.
My shins and knees were screaming at me for just moving by now and it was only 10 minutes in. I did my own modifications on the jumping line exercises and went at my own pace, a much slower pace than normal I felt. Today there just wasn't any energy in the tank. I was in a good mood, talked and joked around, but felt like I was dragging my ass. But I dragged my ass the whole way and didn't quite or stop during any of the exercises (unlike some who prefer to watch others than actually move).
We did a few cardio sprints on the machines and other floor work with free weights. Then we finished with an ab workout on the mats. One of those exercises were side crunches while holding a weight up in air with one arm (I chose a 10lb weight.) Apparently I was rocking these because I got a very rare, highly valuable compliment when the trainer called out that I was rocking them, getting good air and that my obliques were getting really strong. Then as I was stretching out my calves on the wall at the end of the workout, the trainer came up to me again, complimenting me on how hard I worked during the class and how it was one of the best group workouts he had seen from me in a long time.
Huh. What? WTF? Really?
I thought I was dragging my ass. I thought I could push myself harder. I thought it was one of my worse workouts in the last month or so. Apparently my trainer thought otherwise. I was talking to my co-worker and fellow bootcamp inmate and she also said that while I may not have been pushing as hard as I could, I never stopped, that I kept going slowly and steady through the whole workout.
Now, I've been working with this particular trainer for over 3 years. We've been through a lot together. I don't want to make him sound like an ogre, but he doesn't give compliments easy, most of the time with him you never quite know where you are standing. It is a blue moon when he actually comes up to you and praises you. I've never really figured out what he wanted from me. Honestly, we don't get along. We had a big blowout last year (I'll share the story eventually) and his favourite thought is that I love to hate him. It isn't that I hate him, I definitely don't love to hate him, but I just don't see eye to eye with him.
But I think today, I may have gotten a bigger insight into what makes him tick.
Not giving up.
Working through discomfort.
Keeping a positive attitude. * 2
Pushing yourself harder even when you want to quit.
It was a good workout, a 500 calorie burn according to my heart rate monitor, but I still wasn't feeling it. But I think I have to sit back and really think about my attitude in these bootcamps. I've been doing them almost regularly for 3 years and I will admit I don't always give it my all. I give up to easy; I scoff at exercises I don't think I can do; I sometimes use my injuries and soreness to hold back; and I do go in with a sullen attitude, more often than not lately.
Maybe on Friday during the circuit class, even though it is with a different trainer, I need to work on keeping those above 4 points on track. Maybe that is what I need to get results and stay consistent. Just maybe the trainer is right for once.....
Not that I'd ever tell him that!
