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

[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.