Round 7 - 11/9/10

Holy shit, my arms hurt. Today was brutal on them, just absolutely brutal. I was already stiff when I woke up (it was my shoulders and back), so I rowed to warmup in hopes that would get some blood flowing and loosen me up a bit. It was a slow row; I really felt how tired my legs and back were from the day before too, but I do think it helped a bit.

And then we went onto the WOD.

First, presses! Yay! I like presses! I did 27lbs last time and 42lbs on my push press (which is where you can use your legs to help you a bit). I warmed up a little with the bar alone and then tried pressing 27lbs. It wasn’t really a challenge and the trainer decided I should work up to a 5 rep max at 42lbs. So I did that. 42lbs was a challenge, for sure, but I could’ve done more…

So I did. I did 2 sets of 5 at 47lbs. That was killer. My shoulders just wouldn’t push anymore weight. I finished the first set and then got told to do another one and was kinda like “yeah right”. I barely completed the second set (though apparently I can take a longer rest between sets than I have been), but it happened. My shoulders were done, but I felt pretty proud I’d increased my press by so much.

And then we did an “AMRAP” workout for 8 minutes. 8 minutes of 12 pushup, 12 sit up circuits doing “as many reps as possible” (I just googled AMRAP. Get it? Hehe.) It’s exactly like the squat/burpee workout I did last week for 8 minutes, only pushups and sit ups this time.

I completed the circuit 6.5 times, but from those first push ups my arms were dying. I couldn’t believe how bad it was. I knew they’d tire easily after the presses, but as soon as I got into push up position they buckled. I swore a lot during this workout, haha. I think most people swearing a lot during this workout, actually ;).

By the end my arms were barely moving and my abs were so sore they weren’t helping me at all. I’m going to be in paaain tomorrow. I was dripping sweat by the end and my shoulders haven’t stopped hurting since. Getting out of bed with sore arms and sore abs should be interesting…;)

I seriously love going to this gym. Most people are really friendly and say “hey” even though they’ve never met you before. On Saturday some random guy introduced himself to me and asked me how I liked the workout; yesterday some other guy and I were running the second half of the workout together and kind of competing (in a fun way) with each other. It’s just cool. I like getting out and talking to people and not staying in my own little bubble. It’s a very social gym and since I’m not working working so much right now I thoroughly enjoy that aspect of it. Sometimes it’s hard to get there, but I’m always glad I went when I’m there.

Tomorrow I have work and I’m taking the day off working out, so I’ll hopefully be back at the gym on Thursday. I’m feeling (slightly) discouraged just because my weight hasn’t changed/has gone up a little. I thought the first week or two I might drop something just because it was such a shock to my body...but I guess the stress is making me hold onto weight. Any words of wisdom from some veterans on that?

I’ll take measurements at the end of the week. Maybe that’ll help me see some progress. :)

- N