How do you go about getting fit and maintaining fitness without getting crocked?
As a former athlete - having once competed in the 100m sprinting event in Manchester school athletics trials that counts doesn't it? - my thoroughbred physique, and natural tendency to agility and speed, suggest that it's no use asking me. Ahem...
However, there are bits of me that twang, snap, crunch, ache, and generally create a disagreeable experience when taking part in any form of exercise beyond walking at a brisk pace. It's not as if a small amount of warming up isn't done before setting out on a slow walk/run/walk etc. Maybe there's not enough warming up being done, or it's the wrong sort.
So as I can't ask me how not to get crocked, and I don't have access to a personal trainer, I decided to ask the internet.
The internet replied with a massively complicated list of responses. And what a lot of conflicting and contradictory responses they were too. What happens next is that there is some self selection that takes place, basically I choose what I think looks right. This is based on very little evidence other than there is a little bit of support for it from other unrelated or linked websites. It's what everyone does, although not always with that level of self awareness.
These biased choices are then used to for the underlying aim being of building up general strength and elasticity.
So what's the outcome?
There are two workouts - A and B. Alternating between the two, a maximum of three times a week with a two day rest.
Workout A consists of: lunges; floor press; straight legged deadlift; and plank. I ditched the Bulgarian split squat and decided on lunges instead, I laughed a great deal when naming the first item and was unable to stand up when attempting it even after stopping laughing.
Workout B consists of: lunges; seated shoulder press; standing two-dumbbell bent over row; and plank.
All of these done at the lowest level of intensity and after warming up for ten minutes - gentle stretching of hamstrings, quads, hips, achilles, calf, knee (illotibial band).
There's panic involved here too, having pulled my hamstring when sprinting on a run last year I'm a little tentative in wanting to put too much pressure on. The torn hamstring hurt quite a bit and had a knock on effect where for a while I had knee and hip pain. This was probably due to not stretching correctly during the recovery period from the tear. Swimming would perhaps help with this, although swimming was something that triggered adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder) a couple of years back. Frozen shoulder, that really hurt - my physio said it was one of the most painful experiences anyone can have, so there we are, I'm assuming he wasn't including torture or watching Mrs Brown's Boys in that assessment. It's on the NHS list of most painful ailments, so perhaps it is the case. It wasn't possible to move without jarring the shoulder leading to intense pain and sometimes waves of nausea, this hampered my ability to get more than 30 minutes sleep at a time. This lasted for over four months before it started to ease up. It was great. Fortunately this doesn't usually happen more than once to anyone.
With that extended whinge in mind - When the snow has gone there'll be some walk/run/walk etc being done, albeit slowly, hoping not to trigger anything to twang, snap, etc.
Has the introductory question been answered? No idea, I expect I'll find out.
Picture of a soggy Eric Morecambe lookalike after a run.
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