Adventures in Weightlifting - Volume 1, Issue 1

You'd swear it was the beginning of bikini season around here instead of the end of it, with all the sweating and working out going on. The last 4 - 6 weeks have been devoted to mostly cardio reconditioning, and ab work with some yoga thrown in for stress, and muscle relief. Since I was sidelined for a while this spring because of my sprained ankle (See "yes, that really is poo in the hallway" for a description of how the injury happened) I lost a lot of ground and getting back into the gym has been both a hair pulling chore and an absolute necessity.

So, Delegatrix and I decided yesterday would be the first day of our new weights regimen. We each have our own goals to reach - some will be easier to achieve than others. Yesterday afternoon, we donned our finest spandex and coolmax and got back on the free weight bandwagon. The first session is usually the easiest and the hardest. Easy, because you start out using low weights and your enthusiasm to see results is high. It is also often the hardest session, because you forget just how difficult it can be to do a rep properly, without cheating form. After our weight session, we ended our workout with 30 minutes of cardio. My goal is to get back to 45 minutes of cardio, plus abs. But it was enough for the first day to accomplish what we did. It was so enough, that we had jello legs descending a measly 4 stairs - and we were sooo thankful for the handrails. I can't even imagine what driving a 5 speed would have been like - pure agony I'll hazard.

It should be no great surprise that today we are experiencing the "First few days of weightlifting pain." I know, I know, eventually this will subside, and the longer I do this the better I will look and feel. All that is fine and well - logically, I know this to be true. Currently, though, I am experiencing some movement based discomfort from the tearing down of muscle fiber.  Today, I have muttered under my breath: "Ow, it really hurts to go down stairs" and "Ow, it really hurts to bend over" and my favorite "Owwwwww, it hurts to sit down" (although once I sit, I am fine) as my thigh and butt muscles scream with each movement. My calf muscles seem to be the least pissed off at me today, so I can only assume I didn't work them hard enough. Oh well, there's always Thursday. This afternoon, in an effort to relieve some muscle pain, and gain some serenity, its yoga at 4:30. Tomorrow, it's back to to the weights and cardio. I keep telling myself; it'll all be worth it.

Right now, I feel like such a lying sadist.