Core competency

This morning was day 2 of 4 for the week, and I'm feeling pretty sore tonight. Most of the workout wasn't too bad today-- we focused on arms for the most part, so I did some "21s" (7 full curls, 7 half curls, and 7 mini curls) on the pully-lever machines (no idea what they're actually called), then some tricep dips on the bench. Those are definitely tough, but I'm getting better at them. We also used some freeweights, and I was glad to learn how to actually use them, since I typically stay away from them when I'm at the gym by myself.

Amanda asked if I've noticed any major changes to my body yet, and I can definitely see some muscle in my arms now if I flex... it's a little bump compared to people who have been lifting for a long time, but for me, it's still an accomplishment.

After my arms were exhausted, it was time to work on my core... again. That's the only muscle group that we're targeting at every session, which is good because I told Amanda one of my goals was to have more definition in my abs. She's definitely pushing me hard to reach that goal. I started with the stability ball... at the moment, this stability ball is my enemy. She first wanted me to do an elevated plank by balancing my forearms on the ball and then keeping my entire body lifted for 10 seconds. I made it for about 5 seconds the first time around. Then we moved onto crunches where I had to move the ball from my hands to between my feet as I crunched up, go back down, crunch up again and move the ball back to my hands. My abs hurt so much at this point that I ended up just sort of rolling the ball from my legs into my hands.

Amanda laughed at the way I "modified" the exercises to make them doable. I know they're not quite as effective the way I'm doing them, but I'd rather get at least something out of it. If I didn't modify the exercise, I wouldn't have been able to do the movement at all, so it's better than nothing. After 10 of those miserable crunches, I had to try the plank again. This time, I got my positioning right, and I did it. Crashed to the floor after I was done, but I felt good about it. Did a few sets of off-the-bench crunches, and just to make life interesting, I had to do two sets of 15 and 10 full-body push ups. The first 15 weren't too awful (still not moving in one motion), but by the time I got to the set of 10, I was pretty much done. I somehow forced my body up to finish them, but they weren't pretty.

So I definitely have to work on my core competence. Two more training days this week, then a couple days off while I go home to North Canton for my friend Megan's wedding!