Squad Day 43: Core Challenge
Once again, here I am the day after a good hard workout, and I’m barely sore, and shocked about it. The backs of my arms feel tired, but not aching, and the rest of my body is equally ready for whatever workout challenges the day holds.
Today is only 15 minutes of core work, a short but effective workout with a resistance band. The challenge, is that I do it twice. Five very efficient moves that target the abs from top to bottom, with some hip mobility and a little shoulder work thrown in for good measure.
A month ago when I first did this workout I could barely get through the planks, barely do the bicycle kicks without my back hurting. With all the progress and strength I’ve built up since then, I’m pretty stoked to see how I do, where I’ll see differences, how will I feel when I finish it? The 4th week yielded some disappointing feelings last time, because there was so much I struggled to get through. I loved the harder strength training days, but this workout and the other core workout at the start of the week, I felt terrible about. So far, I’m feeling great, with little to no soreness to report even after those workouts and plenty of progress and noticeable improvement in my form, my time, and my reps.
Hit the Mat
I grabbed my light resistance band and rolled out my mat. It’s still, yes still, raining. I think we’re on day 5 of straight storm, so I’m stuck working out inside. Again. I picked a spot in the living room beside a drafty window so I’d at least have that in this stuffy overwarm house.
Warm Up consisted of some windshield wiper knees to loosen up the hips, and mine were crunchy. I paused the video when I realized how much tension I was holding in my hips and stood up to do some hip circles and then squat low into Goddess Pose and rocked back and forth on my feet, while pressing my elbows into my inside knees to deepen the stretch. I pressed play again, and we moved into another stretch for the front of the hips and the core.
Commence Workout, laying back on the mat with the resistance band around my feet, we did some bicycle crunches. And I did them without a block under my hips, without any modification. I did them. And I did all of them, never having to stop during the move to correct my hips or my spine. I cracked a smile.
Next we did some V sit Leg Drops. Sitting back on my elbows with my legs kicked straight up over my hips and the resistance band at my ankles, I slowly lowered my legs as low as I could, keeping the belly button pulled into the spine and core tight tight tight, when I got to the bottom of my leg drop, I widened my legs against the band, before releasing and bringing the legs back overhead. These were so so hard, and to be honest something I was incapable of doing the first round. I may have had to grit my teeth a bit, but I did them all.
Crunch with Wide Knees came next, and this was yet another workout that I had to modify the first time I did it. Not today, I moved the band up to the tops of my knees and as I crunched my shoulders off the ground, I widened my knees against the band, release and come back down. Thats three moves that I’ve had marked improvement and strength enough to actually do.
Planks. I’ve been grumbling and grumping about these forever, and the last two moves were both plank variations.
Plank Toe Taps with that resistance band came first, and as hard as these were I held them true. No wobbling or shaking in my shoulders, no shivers in my core, no back ache. I owned these, and the grin that swept across my face as we finished them could only be considered feral glee.
Plank Mountain Climbers- a slow version, with that damn resistance band around the feet for extra tension. These were so hard, I was swearing with each move. And yet, and yet I finished them. I did them all without breaks or pausing. Triumphant.
As happy as I was to even get through one round of this workout, I wanted the challenge of being able to do it twice. So I went back to the beginning, and started again.
By the time I hit the V sits I was questioning my choices. Grinding my teeth to get through them and the next set of crunches, and then we hit those damn planks. I swore over and over again, this time my shoulders were shaking, sweat beaded on my forehead and dripped down my nose. The goddamn furnace kicked on and I swore louder still because now I was being choked out by the hot air churning out of the vents. I refused to break, refused to drop my knees, even as my muscles began to scream at me.
The mountain climbers were my true test, and I closed my eyes and focused my breath, slow and steady. Inhale for six, exhale for six, over and over as I picked up each leg and drove my knee into the space between my elbows. Before I knew it, Sam counted down, 3,2,1, and into Child’s pose to stretch.
I did it, I really really did it. I did every move, I didn’t need a block or an ounce of modification, and I did the repeat. My abs are sore already but not in the way that it will affect my day. I’m so proud of myself, and it’s such an odd, foreign emotion for me to feel for myself.
The rain has suddenly stopped and the wind has even died down some. If it holds, I’ll take Yrsa on an extra long walk in a little bit to try and make up for the days without one. I’m sure she will be dragging me all over the neighborhood trying to catch up on those Sniffspections.
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