Feeling Sore and Loving It!
I woke up sore this morning. Calves, quads, hamstrings, chest and triceps were all sore, to be exact. And I love it! It’s the type of soreness you know means that you have been working your muscles beyond their comfort zone, to the point where you know the workout you’re giving them is having a real impact. It’s not pain from an injury or over-extending yourself. It’s not the type of soreness or stiffness you get when you first start working out after being inactive for awhile. This feeling is something unique, its your body telling you that it likes what you are doing to it and if you continue to treat it right you will be rewarded not only physically but mentally as well!
I’ve been sore like this before, but never so much at one time. What did it? I’ve made an extra effort to be active during my time away from work over Christmas. Let me summarize. Today is Friday. I started five nights ago, with a great workout that included a personal best for deadlift, and also worked abs, back, and traps hard. On Monday morning, Xmas eve, I went ice skating. If you’ve read any of my blogs on this, you’ll know I’m a beginner. Every time I go I’m getting better, and the result is that I’m working harder so it’s a great workout for my legs and for cardio too. Later Monday, my wife and I went for a long, brisk walk.
Tuesday, Christmas day, we took a very long walk in the afternoon, about an hour and a half. My legs were already sore before taking the walk from the deadlifts and skating.
The next day, Boxing day, I planned a late afternoon workout. Before that though, yet another long, brisk walk! At the gym I started by jogging 15 minutes on the treadmill. This was a great milestone for me, since I always hated jogging and went for years without trying it again until about a month ago. The most I had done before Boxing day was 10 minutes! My workout consisted of bench press, triceps, chest and even calves! Why I thought I needed to work calves after the skating, jogging, and all the walking, I’ll never know!
Thursday morning I got up and went skating at 9:30. I felt the best ever on the ice. Someone gave me a small tip - that I should focus on keeping my knees bent a little, so my body would be slightly forward. They said this would lower my center of gravity and improve my balance and stride. They were right! I skated the best ever! Doing this also meant that my hamstrings played a lot greater role in carrying my weight, instead of just my quads. Later that day, I felt my hamstrings in a big way - but that didn’t stop my wife and I from taking another long, brisk walk!
So here we are today, Friday, and I am sore from a week of physical activity more intense than I’ve probably ever had in my entire lifetime. I feel healthier, stronger, and feel better mentally than I have at any point in my life! I had a gym workout planned for tonight, I was going to do abs, biceps and forarms, but Mother Nature had other plans (see my next blog). If this is what soreness means for me, then bring it on!
