Easing Back In
One week ago today I defended my dissertation and ended about 25 years of going to school. Crazy, huh? Because I've been writing so much, in the last few months I haven't been able to train as regularly as usual (see my last post in September on working out at home here).
I'm super psyched to get back to the gym, to teach and to train, but it's going to be hard, because I've lost a lot in terms of fitness over the past three or so months. Case in point: I dropped back into the gym a couple of weeks ago on a relatively free night, and jumped into the class. Travis was teaching, and we did a pretty intense workout - lots of QM, 5 minutes of V-sit, 50 pullups, 50 burpees and more that I don't remember. It was a lot, but nothing I couldn't have handled a few months previous. I was able to finish it, and though I was really worn out afterwards, it wasn't until a week and a half later, when my abs, arms and calves were *still* sore, that I really realized how much my strength and endurance has declined.
It's really hard to pace myself, because I know I used to be able to do more, and I enjoy pushing myself. But for the next few weeks I'll be doing 2 reps instead of 3, using 20lb weights instead of 30, and stopping when I start to hurt. It's hard on the ego but better on the body, and that way I'll get back into good shape without having to take another month off to recover from an injury.
I'm super psyched to get back to the gym, to teach and to train, but it's going to be hard, because I've lost a lot in terms of fitness over the past three or so months. Case in point: I dropped back into the gym a couple of weeks ago on a relatively free night, and jumped into the class. Travis was teaching, and we did a pretty intense workout - lots of QM, 5 minutes of V-sit, 50 pullups, 50 burpees and more that I don't remember. It was a lot, but nothing I couldn't have handled a few months previous. I was able to finish it, and though I was really worn out afterwards, it wasn't until a week and a half later, when my abs, arms and calves were *still* sore, that I really realized how much my strength and endurance has declined.
It's really hard to pace myself, because I know I used to be able to do more, and I enjoy pushing myself. But for the next few weeks I'll be doing 2 reps instead of 3, using 20lb weights instead of 30, and stopping when I start to hurt. It's hard on the ego but better on the body, and that way I'll get back into good shape without having to take another month off to recover from an injury.
posted by Amanda at
2:03 PM
1 Comments:
Amanda,
Knowing your body, and knowing your limits, is probably one of the most important parts of training. It's great that you have the discipline to slow down when you need to and build yourself back up!
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