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Lazy or Tired?

Or a little of both?

It's true, I gave myself a mental time-out from exercise following the Blackwood. I promised myself an "off-to-light" couple of months, nothing serious to train for, just the classes I have to teach, so I can recoup and focus on other things.


Afterall, it's Silly Season. Christmas is nearing. Work is insane. We are short staffed, we're all working overtime. There are parties and functions to organise, plus I am teaching three extra classes a week. I'm not *completely* resting on my laurels. I also promised I would put more focus and effort into work. And I am doing that, too.

But since I'm not training about 10-12 hours a week anymore, I'm feeling an odd kind of guilt. Because I have a lot of time on my hands that used to be spent training, I'm finding that I'm fluffing through my empty time and not really being purposeful about spending it. So, it'll take all morning to do dishes, cuz it can, rather than hurrying the process to get out and doing something else right away. This makes me feel lazy. But I also feel tired. And sometimes I'm not sure about which one it really is that I'm experiencing at any given time. Some of the things I'm experiencing:

• I am sleeping in later - but I'm staying up later, too. I don't have to be up any more. And I'm watching more pointless television. I'm wanting or having more naps.
• I'm drinking more tea again - this usually means I'm looking for a pick-me-up, which means I'm tired, but also I learned that artificially boosting my energy with caffiene (even as little as is available in a cup of black tea) does turn out to be an energy drain in the long run, so this is a viscious cycle I'd be better off dropping (again).
• I am skipping workouts without really worrying about making them up. E* couldn't make it in for our workout this morning, so I just didn't do mine. Generally I don't rely on other people to get me to exercise. I mean, they help - big time - but I've been (reasonably) self-motivated the last 12 months, so to skip out on a 15 minute workout seems like a silly lazy cheat.
• I don't have a big goal in mind, so as a result, I am 'floating', so-to-speak. Motivationally, I do far better having a big fat hairy audacious goal to strive towards. Without that, I'm just going through the motions.

How do you know if it's time to push through (cuz you're just feeling lazy) or rest (because you truly are tired)?

Quick Weekend Recap

I've been away, so no post for awhile. To briefly summarise the last few days:

Friday morning I did the next workout, Expert exercises for 10 minutes. I wasn't at my best, feeling rather lethargic, however, I did get a good workout from the extra intensity added for this level:

• Pushups with a 3 second hold and then explosive jump
• Lunges with a 3 second hold and double arm overhead press (I was actually tempted to lower my weight, it got so challenging)
• Incline rows with elevated feet and a 3 second hold at the top. (I had to lower my feet!)
• Goblet squats with a 3 second hold. (I could probably increase this weight)

It was screaming hot on Friday. I taught Aqua and really had to take it easy. 36 degrees and rising! And then worked as a guard until 6pm. It was a long day, but a really good one.

The best thing about the day was that when I got home, Mat was doing the dishes, our bags were packed and we were leaving!! By his logic we would just sit watching tv until 10:30, so we might as well just sit in the car until then!

So we made it to Margaret River and did mostly nothing for all of Saturday and Sunday. Visiting, snacking, I dived into the ocean fully dressed (AWESOME) and went for a very short walk.

And we napped a LOT! I feel very rested!

Now we are home and I am off to teach Aqua Gold in the rain.

I will do my measurements on Tuesday morning and do the next workout on Wednesday (Expert for 15 minutes).

Guinea Pigs

I've been enjoying my Efficient Workouts, and also enjoying the Body by Science book, particularly now that I've had a few of my concerns addressed, and once again have skimmed forward and see that they will be responding to other questions I have. I think there's a nice balance that can be struck between doing functional high intensity exercise, and 'other' exercise.

My friend E* came to Balance on Monday night and complained at how difficult she found the class because she, due to some medical issues, was not able to exercise for several months, and having gone from a very fit person to an unfit person was very frustrating to her. So, I decided to invite her along to my Efficient workout this morning. Recalling how easy the first one seemed I thought it would be an ideal starting point for her to rebuild her strength after a lengthy time off, and she happily agreed to be a guinea pig for me!

The workout didn't disappoint! As predicted, it was doable, and didn't leave her sweating like a pig and unable to head to work without a shower - though I've warned her they do get harder and she will get sweatier. It also left her feeling like she challenged herself - she didn't believe she was capable of an inverted row, and yet there she was, doing a great job of them, and even liking them! And she even did 5 toe pushups! She came out of it saying, "I don't feel all used up, but I feel like I've worked. I also feel like I could use more weight on the overhead presses."

I thought that was a good starting point for her.

I did workout #4 which was same as workout #3 but for 15 minutes this time. I increased my squat weight to 10kg, but otherwise kept all the other things equal.

And I sweated and puffed and was nearly tempted to put my feet on the floor for the inverted rows. At about 13 minutes I was really really struggling to get rep 5 out of each of those rows, grunting like those weight-mad-monkeys at the gym! How embarassing!  But I perservered and actually did all sets for all 15 minutes with the elevated feet! Woohoo!

I also have another (in principle) guinea pig for the Body by Science workouts. Mat has agreed to try them out. Mat has a physical job - he's a welder - so he's always moving heavy things around. Improved functional strength is going to be a big help to him in doing his job better. It will also, hopefully, reduce his risk of injury, and improve his cholesterol levels (his aren't bad, but his family history suggests he's really going to have to watch it). So, since it's only 12 minutes a week and only 5 exercises, and it doesn't involve running (Mat says "running's got knobs on it unless someone's chasing you") he has agreed to try it out and see what he thinks.

Cool.  Now I just need to pin down a time with him!

I followed my workout with a quick run - 4.25km in 24ish minutes. It was, in fact, a quick run! I did about a 10.6 km/hr pace! Wow! And I thought I was struggling... probably just because I was pushing harder than usual! Nice!

Now I'm off to pay for a freezer, play with my horse, and await delivery!

Awesome day!