Woman of steel...

[fajrdrako]

I just had a session with my trainer. Those people have no mercy. I mean, she's a wonderful friend and I love her dearly, but I think she has reduced me to rubble and debris.

I hadn't had a session with her since October. I was way overdue for a different programme, she said. All the weights are heavier now. She asked me about my stretches. I tried not to look guilty but she saw at once I hadn't been doing adequate stretches. Now I have double stretches to do. "More options" she called it. Right. And she wants me to do a full minute of the Bridge and a full minute of the Plank. Each time.

Masochism in the name of health and beauty.

Groan.

I will think of Bruce Wayne. I will think of Aragorn son of Arathorn. I will think of Starbuck. Would they stint on their training? Never.

Comments

[countrycousin.livejournal.com]

Beauty is nice. Health is priceless. Also, IMHO, a healthy body is beautiful. I suppose we are wired that way for optimum evolutionary reasons. Oh, well.

But I agree with the Groan ;<}

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Beauty is nice.

It certainly is. I suppose I appreciate it in other people rather than in myself, but I do think I owe it to the world to look my best.

Health is priceless.

So very, very true. I have lived without health for way too much of my life and it's precious to me.

I agree with the Groan ;<}

Nobody ever said it would be easy.

[lmondegreen.livejournal.com]

I will think of Bruce Wayne. I will think of Aragorn son of Arathorn. I will think of Starbuck.

Think of the three of them together. That should inspire you :-)

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked!

I think a minute of the plank would require at least that amount of motivation.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It's all in the mindset. Maybe if I can distract myself enough with thoughts of Bruce, Aragorn and Starbuck, it won't hurt as much. This may require considerable experimentation, both mental and physical. I'm sure it will be good for me, either way.

Or so I hope....

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Eeeeeee! - thunk -

You just made my brain sizzle.

[khavrinen.livejournal.com]

From and old cartoon called "Monty":

Exhausted woman on exercise bike: "I...I don't think I can finish this set."

Trainer: "I want you to visualize Kate Moss, Calista Flockhart, and Courtney Cox..."

Woman: "It's no use, I can't..."

Trainer: "And I want you to visualize riding over them like tiny, emaciated speed bumps."

Woman: "Suddenly, I'm getting a second wind."

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

LOL! Thanks for the inspiration!

[countrycousin.livejournal.com]

<sermon> When I was young - school through military age - I bought into the "no pain, no gain" school of thought.

If you want to be a top athlete, there is probably something to it. That's one reason they need trainers, to minimize/put off the chances of permanent injury.

If you just want to be healthy, it is a lot of crap. (have a colleague, mid sixties, played college hockey, had both knees replaced a few years ago, thought he had a 3rd operation ahead, turned out maintenance was all that was required. <whew>. My mantra is: no pain, no permanent injury.)

Effort, yes. Persistence, yes. Doing it again, yes. Doing something to exhaustion, regularly (not every time), OK, but not until actual pain. An exhausted muscle doesn't feel good, and it doesn't respond well, but it should feel fine after a short rest. An abused tendon, ligament, or joint hurts; it is saying "Don't DO That". Don't. At least not in that way; an improvement in form, support, or adjustment time might help. </sermon>

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, I am careful not to injure myself - about ten years ago I got plantar fasciitis from walking too much, or running indoors on a trampoline, and as a result couldn't walk anywhere for a year or two. It taught me to really be careful. I love walking so much, I hated not being able to walk any distance at all, or to stand comfortably. After a year or two it healed entirely but it has made me very careful about injuries, joints, tendons and feet.

The thing is that despite my good intentions, I am not generally the sort of person who pushes herself hard or makes extreme efforts. I am naturally a laid-back put-it-off-till-tomorrow sort of person, who does exercises half-heartedly andt ends to skip the tough ones, and even the easy ones, I don't always do to the best of my ability. And I can feel the different. In yoga, for example. If I do my utmost (without strain) I come out of a session feeling energized, happy, and invigorated. So I give myself pep-talks about doing more and better in order to get myself doing the mediocre minimum - rather than less that that.

And with exercise, I believe the bottom line to be: anything is better than nothing.

[katkim.livejournal.com]

Off topic: Thank you for my beautiful Christmas Card! I mean to drop you a note before, but the holidays have flown by and I've completely lost track of time...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Well - thank you for yours! I hope your Christmas was lovely, and that 2007 will be a wonderful year for you.

You were, as it happens, one of a small, select few who actually got a card from me - I was horribly disorganized, and on the whole didn't get even halfway through the "A" pages of my address book - sending cards to only a fraction of the people I wanted to send cards too. I hope my friends realize that I still love them anyway!

[elizabeth-lloyd.livejournal.com]

Hey, no crime in working hard... remember that.

OOC: an inner health-freak... about ruddy time!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

no crime in working hard... remember that.

I'll wrestle with the concept. It's a difficult one for me!

[elizabeth-lloyd.livejournal.com]

Good luck.

[filkferengi]

Your standard of exercise sounds like my standard of housekeeping: as long as it's better than it was. [Also, seeing the floor is good.]

The hobbit sayeth: If you take care of your feet, they'll take you interesting places. :)

Happy New Year!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

as long as it's better than it was.

Yes, that's it. I want to improve myself, not to deteriorate. It's my way of following the Dylan Thomas poem "do not go gentle into that good night... rage, rage against the dying of the light." I refuse to givei n easily to the effects of aging - becoming more sedentary, less mobile, less able to do things, getting fatter, having more aches and pains. I want to fight that to the best of my ability. And it doesn't come naturally. I still don't enjoy exercise. But I enjoy the energy and the sense of accomplishment afterwards.

[filkferengi]

Can you plan a walk that ends in a bookstore? That'd combine the best of both worlds. ;) Of course, you have to be able to carry everything back.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, actually, walks that end in bookstores (or libraries) are a staple of my existence. All that book-carrying is so good for me - or so I tell myself.

I regularly walk to work with a back-pack full of laundry and library books. I do my laundry at work, and the library is only a block away. Since I have been trying to get my rather excessive library book habit under control, I have rationed myself to less than 20 library books out at a time. (I don't generally carry all 20 around at the same time.)

Ever noticed how heavy history books are?

[filkferengi]

[carefully refrains from mentioning carts with wheels.]

Why are they always so much heavier after the walk than at the beginning?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Why are they always so much heavier after the walk than at the beginning?

Gravity changes.

As for carts with wheels: I just had a vision of myself in samurai dress as in "Love Wolf and Cub". Only wheeling books instead of a baby, of course.

[filkferengi]

Rotflolastc!