Thursday, October 31, 2013

New and unaccustomed soreness!

Today I finished the first week of a new training program. It's the Jamie Eason 12 week Live Fit program, which can be found at Bodybuilding.com. I never thought I'd be doing a training program from a bodybuilding website! My sister shared it with me. She asked if I had daily access to a gym; I said, "yeeeess," hesitant about what I was getting myself into and thinking about the bare bones workout space we have at work (a treadmill, rowing machine, stationary bike, dumbbell set, and some workout bands and mats). When I saw the plan I realized I wouldn't be able to properly complete it at work, so I asked a coworker if she'd go to the gym with me. To my relief she said she would. We started on Day 2; I did Day 1 at home, only having to substitute 1 exercise.

Day 1 was triceps and chest; Day 2 was biceps and back. My hands were not prepared for holding and manipulating all that weight! Not only were my triceps sore (too sore to do proper preacher curls the next day!) but my forearms were sore from my elbows into my hands! By Tuesday night my arms hurt so bad! I slept extra warm, hoping they'd feel better in the morning. The last time I can remember (specifically) being that sore was Spring Break my freshman year of college: I'd gone home with my roommate, and one day we went canoeing on a river. Since I sat in the front of the canoe, I couldn't tell when I was the only one paddling upstream. My muscles went through the soreness process twice as fast as usual--I could hardly move my arms that night, slept warm, and was good to go the next morning. Well, it didn't quite work out that way this time. I did finally start feeling better after I took a very warm shower and put on a tight-sleeved long sleeved shirt. Ah! Compression! Wednesday (Day 3) was legs, and, having learned my lesson, I went easier with the reps and weights. Today, Day 4, was lats and abs; 5lb was the lightest dumbbell weight available--fine for shoulder presses and front raises (still fatiguing by the end of the sets), but more challenging than I expected for the other exercises.

I need to work on nutrition (fruits and vegetables! no Cokes!) and getting enough sleep. For example, I should be asleep already, so,

good night.