… is what I have at the moment. I woke up this morning feeling absolutely shattered! I feel otherwise ok, so I don’t think I’m coming down with anything. I’m told that it could be the herbal detox stuff that I’m taking – today is day 5 so it could be that my body is just starting to clear out the toxins in my system. I got up this morning at 5am when the alarm went off – stood in the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror – puffy eyes, puffy face, super tired and with aching legs (from my new leg session from Wednesday) and thought “there is no way I can drag myself to the gym feeling like this…” so I turned out the light and went back to bed. I’m sure nobody at the gym wanted to look at me in that state anyway LOL!
I was talking to one of OH’s mates (who is a Personal Trainer) on Saturday about my niggling leg issues – namely my right hamstring, which has been tight and pulls sharply whenever I stretch it, and my knees which are a bit iffy at the best of times. The hamstring issue has been bothering me for about 18 months – but it only ever hurts when I stretch. My chiro said it was more likely a tendon, and the acupuncturist couldn’t find anything wrong with me, so I just kinda forget about it until I stretch.
Anyway, he suggested that since I have some niggles, I should stay away from any “machine” based weight training. So, no leg press, smith machine, leg extension etc - and instead use only free weights. This will force my body to use more muscles (which may help balance out other muscles around my dodgy hammies and knees), and also improve balance and co-ordination.
SO! This week I did barbell squats, followed by front squats. OMG these are hard – have you tried them? Takes a lot more balance and I found that it also worked my shoulders as I tried to keep the bar balanced in front. Then it was on to deadlifts. The funny thing about deadlifts is – I found out that what I call a normal “deadlift” is actually a straight legged deadlift. A normal deadlift looks kinda different!! It was a PT years and years ago (like 8 years ago) that showed me deadlifts for the first time. So I tried to do ‘proper’ deadlifts – and wow it felt weird! Not sure how you do it without the bar hitting your knees on the way up AND the way down. Might have to grab one of the trainers at my gym and get them to check my form – I’m sure I wasn’t doing it right.
Looking forward to the weekend – really just want to have a sleep in actually! We’re off to a friends house for dinner on Friday night, and Saturday night might just be a DVD night, not sure yet.
Have a lovely Friday and a great weekend!
3 comments:
Wow... that is absolutely fascinating about your visit to the naturopath. Can't wait to see how the lotions and potions all turn out. Keep us updated!! Have a great weekend hon xxx
Hope you are feeling better soon Hils! "Normal" deadlifts are awesome, they are my favourite exercise!! They give you such a powerful feeling when you beat a PB and they work the ENTIRE body - so much effort has to go into picking up that dead weight! THey feel weird to start with, but it will come! Sumo deadlifts can be a little bit 'easier' to master. You might have to get some hooks/straps down the track when get into heavy weights. And front squats, yes, aren't they a weird uncomfortable feeling too! I did a really cool new exercise called a Lumberjack Squat the other day, loved it. Have fun with your training.
Sue
x
Thanks for the welcome Hils and the wishes for my exams... I hope my neck gets better soon too! Pain in the butt!
As of next week I'm gonna start trying some new exercises all over body too! I always do the straight leg deadlift, so maybe I should try a normal one this time for something different!
Take care xoxo
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