Today was
another workout at Long Training Studios, this time with Jared "The Viking" Chaffin. Everything was going fine until he introduced an ancient medieval torture device
known as the "power wheel."
No.
The
exercise we did with it involved rolling our upper bodies forward while making
all types of weird blubbering noises and trying not to tip over. It was
tough, but unlike the workouts I used to do back when I was in shape, I could actually feel the burn in my abs and core this time. Surprisingly, I was able to do all of the reps...except for the times that my incredibly poor balance caused me to fall over like a dead tree.
I also discovered that although my strength has improved tremendously, I
am still unable to do a proper pull up. That was a bit humbling. But even though there is still a long way to go, I'm finally able to keep up with everyone around me in the small groups.
Days 28-29
Nothing new
or snarky to report...although I think I may have finally mastered the
"Spider-Man Push Up." This had the unexpected side effect of helping me to understand why cargo shorts may not be the best thing to
wear while you're exercising.
After repeatedly saying that I would get around to buying a proper pair of gym shorts, my strategy of procrastination paid off when Karen went out and got them for me.
I did, however, finally get around to buying myself a new scale at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. It has a digital read out, which seemed appealing at first, but now I'm a bit nervous about it. The ones that work on a balance point for a needle can sometimes be manipulated with a bit of strategic swaying. This device, however would have set number on which to track my progress...but not until after Day 30.
Day 30
As has become
the tradition on Fridays lately, I got home from school and immediately crashed. My body
clearly still needed some recovery time that I wasn't giving it, but
that's alright (there aren't any movies out right now that I want to
see, anyway).
It
might be a little anti-climatic to end my 30 Day Challenge with an
extended period of sleep, but it's also strangely appropriate. I have
worked physically harder in these 30 days than I had in a very long
time. Despite all my talk about being happy while still being fat, I had
to admit that it felt good to actually be FEELING good.
I also was finally starting to notice that I actually looked different. My pants, which used to fit snugly around my waist, were also becoming very loose. Wearing a belt had normally just been a formality, but now I was running out of notches to hold things up with.
It was now time to see if the hard numbers matched up with the visual evidence of my progress. After relaxing a little bit longer, I finally stepped onto the scale....
HA! You just got cliffhanger-ed!
Join us here next week for the thrilling conclusion to the RamblingBeachCat Fitness Challenge. There will be progress reports from months after the first 30 days, before/after pictures, and pie.
Well, maybe there won't be any pie. But it should still be pretty good.
If you want to cheer Tracie on while she kicks my butt on a weekly basis, you can find her on Twitter.
If you live in the Charleston area and would like to have your butt
kicked into shape like mine has been, then take a moment and check out
the Long Training Studios website.
Please
also feel free to leave a comment below. If you'd like to sing my
praises or tell me how terrible I am more personally, I can also be
found on Twitter. To get updates on when new articles or podcasts are published (and occasional random musings) 'Like' the official RamblingBeachCat.com Facebook page.
