Woke up a little sore and stiff, but feeling good mentally and excited about the second day of Boot camp. I UGHed and GRUNTed my way out of bed and showered (why do I shower before camp?? seems silly), ate two pieces of 12 grain bread with natural peanut butter again. Have to find some other good, filling, healthy quick breakfasts. Made my way to camp and when I got to Cynergy I checked out the white board. Each day, Cyndi posts the camp's activities. And all I could see was the word "run" written about 3 or 4 times. YIKES! Run? Me? Can't remember the last time I ran...I think I tried jogging in the 70s when everyone was doing it.
We did warm-ups such as jumping jacks, burpees and lunges. Next was interval training...short sprints and a walk back to recover for 4 minutes then one minute of a mat exercise. Not sure of the distances but it probably was something like 100 yards progressively increasing to 400- 500 yards. In between each 4-minute sprint we went to the mats and did sit-ups, prison push-ups (plank position and one at a time lift one arm up to your chest--I had a hard time getting my left arm up, I guess my right arm is weaker than my left which surprised me), squat and jump-ups and butt wiggles (love the name, lie on your back, lift your hips and legs and "wiggle" side to side. Each run I gave it my all or as much as my all is as compared to others. I ran each time. My breath would be labored but my legs could keep on going. I have strong legs but not the lungs to match. Cyndi told me about a woman who had severe asthma and after 2 boot camps she needed less meds. Impressive. Cyndi reminded me that I am building endurance, strength and cardio/aerobic capacity.
To cool down we walked to the end of the parking lot and did some wonderful stretches. AAHH! Day 2! I did it!
My lovely friend, Michelle B, invited me to shower at her house after Boot Camp because I had to be at work at 11 and I would never make it home and shower in time. Thank God for Michelle and her home that is only 10 minutes away! She set out some soft towels and lit a delicious smelling candle. The hot water as it poured over my body relaxed all my tense and sore muscles. I could have showered all day. Got dressed for work but I forgot my shoes. Michelle wears a size 10 and I wear a 7 but I went to work wearing a pair of her shoes...felt like I was five again and wearing my mommy's shoes.
Made it to work on time, thanks to Michelle's proximity to the gym and to the bookstore where I work. With my big shoes on I helped customers and tried to shelve, but every time I had to squat to put a book on a lower shelf, I had a hard time getting back up. It took holding on to bookcases to push myself to a standing position. Pretty funny to look at but not funny to my sore body. Went to my writer's group later on that night and even though we were just sitting there, my arms would start to ache and
I'd have to stretch. Went home and right to bed instead of watching the TV shows I DVRed. At least I can say I'm getting a good night's rest now. Haven't had insomnia for the past two nights.
Gut Instinct: Warm-up before exercising and cool-down afterwards. Like appetizers and desserts--oh so good!
Day 3
When I woke up today, it took effort to roll over. Every inch of my body felt stiff and my muscles ached. Literally I could barely move. Every inch of my body hurt. Cyndi warned us that the third day would be the hardest. Damn it, she's right! To get dressed took every effort as I tried to hook my bra and raise my arms to put my T-shirt on. "How the hell am I going to exercise today feeling this much pain and stiffness?" Not ready to quit on myself, I managed to get dressed, get my sneakers on and out the door. Veeerrrrryyyy slowly however. Because it took me so long to get ready I didn't eat and knew that would be a mistake. I went to Dunkin' Donuts and got a whole grain bagel and cream cheese. I figured the carbs would be good for a workout. No coffee. Water.
When I showed up at Cynergy I could barely walk. Everyone else felt the same way and Cyndi's response to help that was to keep moving and exercise. She explained that the lactic acid is built up around the muscles causing them to ache and exercising moves the acid out of the muscle (or something like that).
A new girl came to camp today. She's so sweet and she is about my size but not my age..much younger. She is a nurse and has never done boot camp before either. To be honest, I am glad she's there. We chatted about the Biggest Loser and weight issues. During the workout, I think we motivated each other to do our best.
Started the day with a short run to the end of the parking lot and back and we always do some stretching to get our bodies ready for the workout such as neck rotations, leg stretches and plank position, lifting one leg at a time up and back. Always feels great. Today's "main event" as Cynergy calls it was 5 stations with different exercises at each one and we would perform each exercise for 30 seconds and immediately move on to the next exercise to increase our heart rates and keep it there..we did this for 30, 40, 50, 60 seconds progressively. By the time we got to the third or fourth rotations you could see we were all fading and having more difficulty. The 5 stations/exercises we did were: 1)Kettle squats (a 10-lb weight that looks like a kettle thus the name) and as we squatted we swung the kettle up and down to between our legs, 2) sit-ups, 3) burpees (bent over you jump your legs back and then forward-I struggle with these), 4) push-ups (I did modified), and 5) bicep curls and lifts with 10-lb weights.
We went on to do this again with 5 different exercises. Surprisingly my muscles ached less than when I started. But remember that bagel I had for breakfast? Not a good idea. My stomach felt upset and every time I did any exercises that involved my core or abdomen I would get a wave of nausea making it difficult to do the exercises well. When I mentioned that to Cyndi and she asked what I had for breakfast, she said it would've been fine except that there wasn't enough time for my stomach to digest it because I ate too late. She said to try eating lighter and simpler carbs like a banana, a smoothie or an egg and toast. A couple of the other women felt nauseous too so we are all learning. To cool down we took an "Indian walk" where everyone lines up and you walk in a line and the first person starts by throwing a 5-lb medicine ball over their head to the person behind to catch it. and when the ball gets to the end of the line that person has to run to the front. I liked that walk; it made it more fun and challenging.
Thank God I could go home and rest because my stomach still felt queasy. I had a bottle of Coke in the car left over from one of my kids and I took a few sips and it helped. I vowed that tomorrow I would eat earlier and better. My body still hurt a little but nothing like earlier. We had tickets for the first Red Sox play-off game against the Angels and I was worried I wouldn't be able to walk but I did well. I had the end seat so I was up and down all night letting people out. I could feel my quad muscles every time I sat back down- felt like squats.
Side note: Red Sox won 4-0 and Beckett had a complete game!
Gut instinct: Eat small amounts of protein and carbs before your work out and eat 1-2 hours before.
No comments:
Post a Comment