people don't get it...

My body is getting used to this crossfit jazz. Of course when I say my body I mean my sleep cycle, not my actual body. My body is still in protest mode. I'm one burpee box jump away from complete abandonment. My muscles have decided to ache and shake while doing the most normal things, like crawl in the tub. I say crawl because first off, I already had a shower yesterday, and a soak in the tub was supposed to calm my aching muscles. I crawled in, careful not to slip. There was no way that any limb on my body had the speed or strength to catch me if I fell. I also say this soak was supposed to calm my muscles. It may have, if I hadn't run the water on the scalding setting on my tub. It is at this point in the story that I also mention I was too involved in an old Biggest Loser episode to remember to check the temperature until the water had been run.

I do my best to soak, and maybe my muscles like it, but my skin is turning pink in complete disagreement with the situation. Plus, I'm starting to get hot. I mean, sheesh, who sweats in the bath? Me...that's who. Too much information? I would apologize, but you've read other posts so far. They came with a warning. What's that? They didn't? Oh, I'll get my editor right on that.

After crawling out, I get dressed, and immediately crawl on my bed. I'm not ready for sleep just yet, but man does my bed feel good. Just to lay there, no need to move, nothing to do, just lay there. Okay, I lie, there are things to do. There is the dishwasher that needs to be unloaded, the floor that needs to be vacuumed, the recycling that needs to be taken out. Am I going to do these things? I want to, but my body says no. Lay here for another minute it says.

Twenty minutes later, I take Brodi out. Yep, just Brodi, no recycling. He does his thing and once back inside, the lights go off, Friends get turned on the DVD player, and I crawl in bed. It doesn't take long for sleep to come.

Back to the story, I woke up at six this morning. That's fourteen minutes before my alarm is set to go off. Side note: yes...I set my alarm for random times. It cannot be set for on the hour, the quarter hour, or the half hour. It bothers me. Six fourteen is perfect. Six fourteen is my "get your ass out of bed and to the gym" alarm. Seven thirty one is my "sleep in" alarm. Anyway...it felt good to wake up on my own this morning. I laid in bed and cuddled with my sweet little man for a minute, and then up to get ready. Getting ready consists of throwing on gym clothes, they usually do not match, tennis shoes, some clothes in a bag for work, brushing my teeth, throwing my hair up, and trying to remember to pack food for lunch. Most of the time all of these things get accomplished. Sometimes they do not.

The six am class is finishing as I get there. They look tired. When the six am class looks tired, I know I'm in for it. I read the WOD last night, but wasn't sure what to expect. I'm the only one there.

Lucky me.

I try to stretch out a little, but boy, am I tight. It's at this point that Mike decides I need some help. He decides to force my muscles into submission by stretching me. Mike and I used to do this when we worked together at the gym. This is nothing fun, it hurts. I mean in the middle of a sentence having to dead stop and cover your face because it's in the painful ugly state hurt. No field trip here. So he stretches my hamstrings and hips. He's amazed by how inflexible I am. Inactivity is a bitch. She's a dirty, conniving, deceitful, distrustful little bitch.

Squats it is. Today are high bar back squats. The bar sits higher on the back, right on the traps. Hand position doesn't matter because the bar should be able to mostly rest on the traps. These squats are also more vertical, instead of being able to use your ass at the bottom to push up, it's all quads here. I'm in for it today. My knees are stubborn, they want to come in and help me get up, but they need to stay put. Mike wants me to "wing it" for today. We aren't going to follow the percentages exactly, because I still don't know what a max is for me yet. So ten with the bar, then ten with forty three, then ten with fifty three. Eventually I work up to eight reps with sixty three pounds. Not too bad.

The next part is this:

Four rounds:

8 bent over rows

rest 30 seconds

5 front squats

rest 1 minute

For my weight on the bent over row, I use fifty three pounds. On the front squat, the first set I use forty three, the rest I use forty eight. These rounds aren't so bad. A lot of strength work here. I like strength work. It's the next part that made me want to run screaming into the street, that is, if my body could have accomplished the running and screaming afterward.

The last set of today's WOD was a five minute workout. Yep...five minutes...that's it.

40 seconds burpee box jump-20 inch box

20 second rest

Sounds easy enough right? Now insert evil laugh here. Not from me of course, but from the crazy person who decided to throw these movement together. Keep in mind, I've just done a lot of squats. That was my defensive side coming out. My apologies, I'll keep that under wraps a little better next time.

For those of you who are unaware, a burpee is basically an up-down with a jump at the top. So...down to push up position...back up on feet...jump. This movement adds a twenty inch box to jump on top of at the end. Riiiiiiiiiight.

After Mike plays around with his little timer clock, it's time to get started. This is a five minute workout. Forty seconds of work, twenty seconds of rest. So five rounds. The first round is ok. I get eight. Second round...seven. Third round...seven. Forth round...ouch...six. Almost seven, but instead of jumping up on top of the box the last round, my jump somehow ended as a step up. Fifth round, six. At one point during the fifth round, my body just didn't want to come up off the floor. Ouch.

The floor feels so good after that. Right before box jumps, Tom comes in. Tom is the co-owner of the gym. He tells me I sound like him when I work out. A little grunting here, some under the breath curse words there. I didn't think people noticed. Oops.

Then the conversation begins. People don't get it.

What don't people get, you ask? People don't get that you can pay fifty to one hundred dollars for a personal trainer at any gym for one hour long session. Some trainers are worth it. Others that I have witnessed, are not. Some trainers are afraid to push you, to make it hard, to make you work. Other trainers act like there is a hidden camera around looking for the next trainer on The Biggest Loser. People don't get that you can pay all that...or you can pay $150 a month for my crossfit gym, and if you come five times a week for a month, it's basically $8 per session.

Exactly, EIGHT DOLLARS per hour. And I basically have my own personal trainer for one hour, five days per week. Sure, the class sizes are sometimes seven to ten people. But this is no group exercise class. This isn't some dance move class where you bee bop to the music, not that there's anything wrong with that. *rolls eyes*

I admire anyone who is moving and trying to lose weight. I admire anyone who is trying to be healthier. I do. I just feel like if you're looking for a challenge, this is the way to go. There are no pretty colors on the walls, no mirrors, no television. Four walls, some bars to hang off of, gymnastics rings, a rope, and weights.

My gym has community WOD's on Saturdays at 11.30. I encourage anyone to try it out. You won't regret it...until two days later that is...but by then you'll be hooked. :)