The hardest part is the beginning
I have often thought to myself at 6:15 AM as I walk into the gym, that I should have taken a rest day. The people in the 5:30 class seem to be working really hard. The workout has ____( fill in the blank with a movement I struggle with). The 5:30 class is now gasping on the floor sweating and barely moving. I could just leave. Go back to bed. Have another cup of coffee. Anything else.
I notice that these thoughts, or similar ones, are often in my head while I warm up. Especially during the group warmup. The simple stretches or burpees or even a row which is meant to start slow and move to a faster pace, feel just terrible. Its feels like I never go to the gym and that this is my first time. The moment my heart rate starts to rise, I feel uncomfortable. I feel like I want to stop. I sometimes slow down, but in 7 years of doing Crossfit, I have never actually left. Once, however, I wasn't able to complete the workout. It was when I had a bout of BPPV ( Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo).I was doing wallballs and I suddenly felt the world tilt. So I kind of stood around to wait out the clock and planned to go to a walk-in clinic later. A few weeks later all the dizziness was gone and I was back on track. So I give myself a pass on that one.
But I digress. Most mornings, I seem to not feel like exercising, yet I do it anyway. Whats gives? How in the world do I manage to get PR lifts on a day that I said to myself during the warmup. "I don't think I can go heavy today". I feel tired. This has happened more than once. Actually, to be truthful it happens more often than not. I can't think of a time that I walked in and said. "I feel GREAT!, I'm gonna snatch 10 lbs over my max". I seem to always start the session feeling ok, but not up to great achievements. Yet they seem to happen.
As I ponder this thing, I have come to the conclusion, that I just need more warm up time at my own pace. A pace, I should add, which can be quite slow.
Coach says, "Do 10 strict press to warm up for jerks". I do 5. 10 seems too hard. My arms are sore, my hip is stiff, I'm tired.
Coach says "2 rounds of 5 burpees, 50m bear crawl, 10 kb swings." I do step up step down burpees.( maybe only 3), stop 3/4 of the way for the bear crawl and use the lightest weight for the kb swings (18lb) . My body hurts and all that stuff feels really too hard to do. I am sweating and heart pounding, my body just is protesting all of it. How in the world will I do the kb swings in the workout with 35lbs? How will I get through the Back squats in the skill?
Yet later after we set up and my heart rate goes down, I somehow manage to backsquat with no need to bail. Still heavier than I did last week too. For the WOD, the 35lb kb is the weight I usually use ...oh wait, it was meant to be heavier than usual, so I used the 44lb one. and did the burpees, Box jumps or whatever the workout was that day. Finished under the Time cap...hurray for me!
So what happened to that person who was essentially whining all morning? Once I worked out the cobwebs and primed my cardio, it all went fine. In the end, I did more than I expected to do. Lifted heavier, moved faster, and became a little fitter.
My take away from this mornings whine-fest in my head? I do this all the time. I feel this all the time. I just have to accept that I need more time to warm up than others and I might not feel like I can crank up the speed in the first 20 minutes. But I will later. Just have to give myself that ramp up time.
My other take away is that I think many people new to going to the gym, have experienced this feeling the first time they try to work out. It feels monumentally difficult at first and you really don't want to. But if they just give themselves time to get into the groove, It will feel a lot better. And really, if someone is starting out after many years of not exercising, then slow is the way to go.
Later I feel great, glad its done, but always wonder if I could have gone heavier, or faster. This is how its been for 7 years and now that I know this, I wont let those negative feelings ruin my warmup. I will do what I do and know that once I am warm, its a whole different situation.
I am weird. I know. And tomorrow morning I will be wondering why on earth I got up at 4:45am, just to exercise.
I notice that these thoughts, or similar ones, are often in my head while I warm up. Especially during the group warmup. The simple stretches or burpees or even a row which is meant to start slow and move to a faster pace, feel just terrible. Its feels like I never go to the gym and that this is my first time. The moment my heart rate starts to rise, I feel uncomfortable. I feel like I want to stop. I sometimes slow down, but in 7 years of doing Crossfit, I have never actually left. Once, however, I wasn't able to complete the workout. It was when I had a bout of BPPV ( Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo).I was doing wallballs and I suddenly felt the world tilt. So I kind of stood around to wait out the clock and planned to go to a walk-in clinic later. A few weeks later all the dizziness was gone and I was back on track. So I give myself a pass on that one.
But I digress. Most mornings, I seem to not feel like exercising, yet I do it anyway. Whats gives? How in the world do I manage to get PR lifts on a day that I said to myself during the warmup. "I don't think I can go heavy today". I feel tired. This has happened more than once. Actually, to be truthful it happens more often than not. I can't think of a time that I walked in and said. "I feel GREAT!, I'm gonna snatch 10 lbs over my max". I seem to always start the session feeling ok, but not up to great achievements. Yet they seem to happen.
As I ponder this thing, I have come to the conclusion, that I just need more warm up time at my own pace. A pace, I should add, which can be quite slow.
Coach says, "Do 10 strict press to warm up for jerks". I do 5. 10 seems too hard. My arms are sore, my hip is stiff, I'm tired.
Coach says "2 rounds of 5 burpees, 50m bear crawl, 10 kb swings." I do step up step down burpees.( maybe only 3), stop 3/4 of the way for the bear crawl and use the lightest weight for the kb swings (18lb) . My body hurts and all that stuff feels really too hard to do. I am sweating and heart pounding, my body just is protesting all of it. How in the world will I do the kb swings in the workout with 35lbs? How will I get through the Back squats in the skill?
Yet later after we set up and my heart rate goes down, I somehow manage to backsquat with no need to bail. Still heavier than I did last week too. For the WOD, the 35lb kb is the weight I usually use ...oh wait, it was meant to be heavier than usual, so I used the 44lb one. and did the burpees, Box jumps or whatever the workout was that day. Finished under the Time cap...hurray for me!
So what happened to that person who was essentially whining all morning? Once I worked out the cobwebs and primed my cardio, it all went fine. In the end, I did more than I expected to do. Lifted heavier, moved faster, and became a little fitter.
My take away from this mornings whine-fest in my head? I do this all the time. I feel this all the time. I just have to accept that I need more time to warm up than others and I might not feel like I can crank up the speed in the first 20 minutes. But I will later. Just have to give myself that ramp up time.
My other take away is that I think many people new to going to the gym, have experienced this feeling the first time they try to work out. It feels monumentally difficult at first and you really don't want to. But if they just give themselves time to get into the groove, It will feel a lot better. And really, if someone is starting out after many years of not exercising, then slow is the way to go.
Later I feel great, glad its done, but always wonder if I could have gone heavier, or faster. This is how its been for 7 years and now that I know this, I wont let those negative feelings ruin my warmup. I will do what I do and know that once I am warm, its a whole different situation.
I am weird. I know. And tomorrow morning I will be wondering why on earth I got up at 4:45am, just to exercise.
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