When you have DOMS - you feel pain!

So peeps, I discovered what DOMS is!  Oh yes, you know when you've had a really good workout and you've pushed it quite hard, and you think to yourself "oooh I'm going to wake up so stiff" and then you don't!  Wow! Awesome!  You leap out of bed and feel pretty bullet-proof!  You decide to get your cardio down at the beach because the sun is shining and it's just a perfect day.  You push it some more - really getting and keeping that heart rate up and burning that fat.  You feel it in the legs, but that's good... right?  You get home, now you're basically on a high, jumping and dancing around to a Boom CD.  In fact, you go and dig out the weighted ball and start playing around with it.  Yeah, work those arms and work that core!  Ok, so you finally manage to settle down a little and relax.  Aaaah!  You have an awesome night's sleep and wake up to a pain in the shoulder you're lying on.  You attempt to move, but the other shoulder and the abs protest too.  Making little whimpering sounds and doing a sort of body shuffle, you manage to manouevre yourself around to lying flat on your back.  Ok, if you keep rather still and not breathe too deeply, then everything seems ok.  Trying to get out of bed.... that's another story.  It feels like someone has dislocated both shoulders.  Man this is insane!!  No it's not, it's Delayed Onset Muscle Stiffness or DOMS!!  Alright so after my cup of hot water and lemon juice, I do a whole lot of stretching and I feel a bit better.  I decide to stay away from the weights today and rather just stick with the cardio.  Again I opt to make the most of the beautiful weather, and head for the beach.  I do a short 30 minute power walk, but I push it as fast as I can.  And again, I feel great afterwards!  I have a protein supplement right after my exercise to try and assist those muscles with the recovery.

We have a public holiday - Women's Day - and the family leaves it to me to decide what I'd like to do.  Well, I opted for fishing with the family but that was unfortunately very short-lived as even though there was not a breath of wind in Somerset West, the wind was howling in Gordons Bay!  I opted to visit my Mom and after that decided to tackle the weights at the gym again.  I dragged my son along with me.  Off we went to the gym on the other side of the N2.  I did a 10 minute warm up, got through the circuit without throwing up or having a stroke, did a vicious rowing stint and then cooled down on a spinning bike.  Sweat damp hair sticking to my neck, beetroot red face and singing heart and I grab a skinny sugarless coffee at Kauai and head home.  Woohooo!!!  Endorphins - hullo - love you!!  I got home and mentioned that the wind had dropped down at the beach.  I asked my husband if he didn't feel like a cycle at the beach.  He said sure, so off we went.  Ok, so I've done the weights and now I'm going to tackle cardio - all on one day - well if I don't burn off some body fat this week, I'll be most disappointed!

Oh, and there is no turning back now, I've actually booked my bicycle for the spinning class on Friday!  Watch this space...

A visit to the gym on the other side of the N2

So I took a few days off work.  I dropped the boys at school and off I go to the gym.  I am wearing my usual ancient attire and get there at about 08h00. I'm feeling a little apprehensive as I'm going into foreign territory now so to speak.  As I walk in a very friendly chappie gives me a very perky "good morning" and as he swipes my card adds "welcome to our gym, I see this is your first visit".  Well, ok, I'm impressed so far and feeling a little less apprehensive!  Off I go to the changing rooms.  As I'm padlocking my locker, in walks a Facebook friend!!  Ah, a friendly face AND I notice that she is looking fantastic AND that she's clearly survived a workout with her personal trainer.  Woohoo there is hope!  We have a brief chat and she highly recommends her PT and asks me if I've ever watched the Biggest Loser on TV - you know the show where the PT's work you so hard that you go and puke in the flowerbed - yes, I know that one.  Well, she says (still smiling) that's how she felt at her first session with the PT!!  Alrighty then, if I were fitter, it might be an idea to run now!  However, I do remember that I am here by choice and I have a goal to attain.  Right, so the sweat towel slung casually around the neck, I march confidently out there and over to reception.  There is a really tiny little girlie there with a track suit on and a clipboard in hand.  I ask her how one goes about making an appointment with a PT.  She says you choose a name off the board and points over to a board with all the PT's names and pictures on.  She gives me a grimace rather than a smile.  I pick a PT and take their business card for later use.  You see when I joined the gym I got two free sessions with a PT thrown in, and the boy who did my intro said that I should gym for a few weeks and then appoint a PT.  That way I could get some freshness injected into my training schedule.

That taken care of, I proceeded up the flight of stairs to where the serious business takes place.  I took a stroll around to see if I could spot any familiar-looking equipment.  I was pleased to see such a mix of people - young and old, black and white, thin and fat - all with one thing in common... it looked like they were here to workout and sweat and not be pretty and parade!  Cool.  I like it here already.  So this is going to be by cardio session.  I decide to start on the cross trainer, move on to the cycle and finish off with rowing.  Ok, so the equipment here doesn't have its own TV screen, but there are screens hanging from the ceiling.  If I remember to bring my earphones I can plug in and listen to Sky News or whatever's going.

I hop onto the cross trainer, set the time, set the "effort" button to 9 and get moving.  After five minutes I think I'm going to have a heart attack or possibly even a stroke, or maybe both, and I take a quick glance around to make sure nobody sees me changing the "effort" down to a rather pathetic 5!  Ok, I can now catch my breath and realize I may survive this cross trainer after all.  I finish my time and get off.  The legs are a little wobbly, but hey, I'm okay!  I drain half my water bottle and get the cycle set up.  I hop on, punch in the time, and off I go.  I have to admit, in retrospect, I was downright lazy on that cycle.  I could really have pushed way harder, but I was still trying to shake off the wobbly legs from the cross trainer.  While sitting there I was watching a spinning class.  Now that looks like it might just torch off some body fat hey.  I felt I may need to get a little fitter before attempting a class like that, although I did spot a man in there of about 80 and a couple of old ducks too!  Mmmm, maybe I'll give it a shot.  I'll check the schedule before I leave the gym.

Next piece of equipment - the rowing machine.  Now I really love this machine.  You just find your rhythm and you go.  You can zone out totally - it's like meditation in motion.  And let me tell you, it works your body really well.  With the sweat towel well and truly used and the water bottle empty, it was time to leave.  Wow, I felt really good.  I think that maybe once I've won that big Powerball jackpot, you'll find me in the gym for a couple of hours every morning.  It's an awesome way to start the day!