[7/19/11] Sore.

When I was reading my recent issue of Runner's World, the question was posed: "With the nice weather, I'd rather spend my time running outside. Can I cut back on strength training?" I was eager to read the answer because I detest strength training. As a Certified Personal Trainer I know I need to do it, but I don't do it as often as I should. Truth be told.

The answer was to pare back on strength training to twice weekly and do these excercises: 20 walking lunges, 20 squats, a 30-second plank, 50 sit-ups, and 10 push-ups. Woohoo! I had hit the jackpot. I didn't need to pare back anything, because I wasn't really doing anything, so here's a program even I wouldn't mind doing. And if I did it three times a week instead of two, that would make up for some of the "paring back" part, right? (One of my talents is rationalizing. I practice it a lot).

So I started yesterday morning after running. I skipped the squats, mainly because they're difficult to do correctly without hurting your back and knees without a fancy machine. And I don't like them anyway. And doing lunges and squats is a bit of over-kill since both work all the major leg and bum muscles, according to my Masters-Degree-in-Exercise-Science-with-a-Specialty-in-Strength-Training-and-National-Strength-Training-Competition-Award-Winning Professor. I also did crunches instead of sit-ups so I would really target those abs.

The program didn't seem too difficult and I was working all the major muscle groups, which is the main goal of strength training. Yeah for me, I might actually do this!

So you can imagine my surprise when I tried to get out of bed this morning and it was a bit difficult. And painful. Sitting down is hard. Stairs, both ways, are hard. Getting back into bed tonight will be hard because our bed is so high I literally have to climb in using the side board. But I am imagining all those tiny muscle tears healing together and making my muscles stronger. And I'm imagining my starting-to-sag upper arms un-sagging. That would be awesome!

I guess this "pared down" program could work. And it can be added to when I need to boost it up when the "pared down" program becomes too easy. Which I'm sure will happen! :o)

*Image courtesy of Google Images/sore muscles