Friday, January 29, 2010

I’ve been up Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and today Friday to workout. It sounds like torture—the waking up and the working out, but I am really liking it. I’m not gonna say love, that would be a little nuts. As in yes, please beat me with a stick. But I do love how I feel. I already feel better, physically. It’s almost like that feeling after you have a baby. Pregnant, you are so tired, you can hardly walk up a flight of stairs and you can’t reach down to do up your shoe laces. Then you have the baby and a few days recovering, you feel so light and mobile. You want to jump on a trampoline or ride a bike. You walk up the stairs without holding the railing!

Jared, one of the other trainers who is also a great guy, told me I need to eat before I workout—even if that means before 6 am. That is weird. I’m not used to eating that early. He gets up and has whole milk and a banana and an apple. I really wish I liked bananas. He also said that you need to refuel, or whatever the word was—essentially replenish your energy, right after working out. It seems like a lot of people at the gym drink protein shakes. That is another thing I have never done. It seems so processed and un-whole-foody. Can it really be good for you? The whole eating thing is getting complicated, but I’ll just take it one day at a time. So far, I am really enjoying the high-protein egg breakfast.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Today was my first regular CrossFit workout after finishing my Foundations classes. I got up at 5:40 am to make it to the 6 am class. That was early but I could be living in Manhattan and have to get up and take the subway for half an hour. Or I could live in Panguitch where they don’t even have a CrossFit. The location is so close. I love it.

I can’t get over the shortness of the workouts. A big workout for me is riding for 5 hours in preparation for a 100-mile bike ride. During our hour at the gym, we warm up for about 15 minutes. The warm up is a workout in itself though.

Shoulder exercises with a 5 pound weight

Solomon stretches (lunge, stretch hip flexor, and stretch arms overhead)

500 m row

Then

10 push-ups

10 sit-ups

10 overhead squats

10 pull-ups

10 back extensions (elevated on pad, feet hooked in, bend forward toward ground and back up)

There might be more. I can’t remember it all. You do up to 3 reps of all those.

Then we usually do a group exercise, like high knees or vertical leaps kind of stuff. Then we prepare for the WOD, which lasts about 15 minutes, but of course is high intensity. On go, you work as hard as you can until the WOD is done and you’re exhausted. Then you write is down in your log book so that you can feel better next time when you’re faster or stronger!


Thursday, January 21, 2010

The good things so far. I’m trying to eat better and eat more protein. I’m making a hot breakfast of eggs or oatmeal for the fam. Even Doug is eating breakfast, which he never does, because I came home and gave him a lecture about how he has to eat regularly to keep his metabolism going. Robin (trainer) was adamant about that. You have to eat breakfast and you have to eat enough protein and fat to keep your body from feeling starved and trying to store fat. The protein helps you burn fat and have energy.

I love having breakfast together. It is really fun. I don’t know how I made the time. I guess it really only takes me a few more minutes to make eggs than to pour cereal. And the kids now think I’m supermom. Doesn’t take much!

Why do I resist things that are good for me? I know why I resist, cause it’s hard—but I feel so much better eating right and working out. As it says on our Crossfit web site, "The pain of discipline or the pain of regret...YOU choose." For me, the discipline is so worth it. I feel better. I get stuff done. I do more for my family. And all that even though I’m taking up time to work out. I magically have more time even though I’m taking time for myself. I think I’ll call this “Sunny’s Magic Theory of Relativity.”

Monday, January 18, 2010

My Foundations group is cool. Seven women and an amazing trainer. Everyone is probably more fit than me, since I haven’t really been doing anything regularly for the last three or four months. Rachel, a yoga instructor, is probably the most fit. She is already doing squats with 60 pounds on her back and throwing the medicine ball 10 feet in the air with impunity. Everyone else is kind of at various levels of fitness with various strengths. Some are good at sit-ups, some at push-ups, some at kettlebells. None of us can do a pull-up without bands except the hallowed trainer Robin Lyons, who can jump up to the bar and demo five pull-ups while chit-chatting about points on proper form and explaining what a kipping pull-up is and looking like she might just have a little cup of tea while she is at it.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Back for more last night. I wasn’t the slouch of the group, probably because we did more exercises that used leg strength. I think running, cycling, and soccer have kept my legs pretty strong. So that helped with the final WOD, which was squats, box jumps, and pull-ups. (I can’t remember the reps for each, maybe 20-15-10?) We did as many sets as we could in twelve minutes. I tried to be intense, ignore the pain, and sweat a lot. You know be really tough. Doug says I don’t really have that killer instinct. I have to agree. Most of my fitness moments are made up of women chatting while running or riding. I might be looking for birds while hiking along a pretty trail, or stopping a mountain bike ride to sniff a flower.

When I started playing women’s soccer, I upped my intensity and tried to do more interval/speed workouts. I couldn’t keep up with all the women who are ten years younger than me! But this is all-round, all-body intensity. At least they let me do my pull-ups with four giant elastic bands. The bands are hanging from the pull-up bar. You put your foot in the bands, and it gives you a little bounce/lift to get your chin up to the bar. I was able to do a few reps. I wouldn’t have been able to do any without my lovely stretchy bands.

My arms are pathetic, and then there’s my core—or lack of it. I’m not sure that it will ever be the same after being pregnant with twins. Carrying 16 pounds of baby on a 5’4” frame did a major number on me. The “twin skin” is stretched out and flabby, but I think maybe the muscles underneath were damaged too. Or maybe that’s just my excuse for having no core strength and still looking like I’m five months pregnant.

And what’s a WOD? That means workout of the day. Everyone does the same workout, just scaled to your own ability. There’s a lot of CrossFit jargon. I think I’ll catch on, eventually.

Monday, January 11, 2010

That was insane. If anything is going to get me in shape, this is. My pecs are on fire, my triceps are screaming, and my quads can hardly keep my body upright. But I liked it! Even though the most notable event of the evening was the rest of my class cheering me on to finish my 75th push-up (on my knees) with arms that jiggled like jello, and when I was finally done I was so tired that I lay flat on my face on a disgusting, rubberized gym floor. I was the last one to finish our workout, but I still liked it. Maybe it’s because I’m telling myself that they all started out in better shape than me. Maybe it’s because we cheered for each other. Maybe it’s because if you told me three days ago that I could do 75 push-ups (even on my knees and not all at once) I wouldn’t have believed it. So I know that this is going to push me to do things that I didn’t think I could do. Definitely more motivation than a woman in leg warmers telling me to rhumba over a fitness step.

I haven’t worked out like that since I played high school volleyball, back in the day. Well, I may have been as sore after a long run or ride, but I have never started out from scratch and dived into such a serious workout. In high school, at the end of the school year our coach would say something like, “Okay, I want everyone running 10 miles a week, doing push-ups and sit-ups, and staying in shape over the summer.” We would all nod and then go to the beach and eat ice cream and French fries for two months. The first day of school would be our first day of practice and our coach would send us up and down the bleachers on one leg, then the other, then on two. Then we’d run suicides and jump over hurdles and do net-top touches. Then we’d dive, roll, and scramble. Then we’d have a game. The next day I could hardly walk the school halls, let alone get down a flight of stairs. That’s how I feel today. But I like it.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Tomorrow I’m starting at a new gym. I’m excited, I’m curious, and I’m a little nervous. It’s a CrossFit gym, which from what I know is pretty hardcore weight training. We are talking about girls who do pull-ups. That about sums it up for me. I have never in my life been able to do a pull-up, and I am in awe of women who can. If I could do a pull-up, I would be my hero--or heroine I guess, but that word just makes me think of drug addicts. A guy in our neighborhood started this gym in his garage, and it is getting so popular that he has a new, much bigger building with lots of specialized equipment. There are 20-foot ropes, gymnastics rings, and kettle bells. Not that I have any idea what to do with any of those things…

I’ve never done a ton of weight training, and I’ve never had nice sculpted biceps. So I’m worried that I’ll be bored by weights and that I won’t be able to pick up the 5 pound medicine ball. But I would really like to be less flabby. So I guess the hope of sculpted biceps and unflabby thighs (maybe, possibly, perchance, if there is such thing as miracles) has won out over the fear.

The gym is kind of expensive compared to what I’m used to. I have really debated spending the money, but Doug has talked me into at least giving it a try. My last gym was $35 a month with babysitting. This is a few times more. Still my sister thinks it’s hilarious that I’m worried about the money. She goes to a personal trainer, shared by three women, and hers costs substantially more than mine. We do have a trainer for every session, and the amount of people can vary. Tomorrow night I start the Foundations class, which is training in what CrossFit is and the basics of lifting and other exercises. We will have seven women in the class. More news tomorrow.