The new way forward in work life balance. Up early every day to make that journey from sofa to gym before work. By car or bicycle to make the rest of the work day recovery before returning home via a longer ride - or run - spent enough to sleep before doing it all again the next day.
Picking Friday or Monday (or both) as a rest day to prepare for the weekend's excitement or recover from it.
I did my first weights session yesterday at the actual gym. I was pretty much dreading it. I haven't been in for 2 years or more, I'm sure and they have refurbished it - probably moved things around. I didn't enjoy it back then and I went out and bought some free weights of my own but they're a bit shit and I'm too nervous about falling through the loft floor into the bedroom ceiling.
On first pass at the gym, I hated it some more. Of those still working out beyond 8:30 am on a work day there were lithe and pumped students in UnderArmour leggings and bra tops, sweating with tiny glistening gems and not at all pink or breathless. Their pony tails bounced to the lat pull downs they were doing.
Then there were the ripped and wiry middle aged women knocking out reps or running avidly on the machines. Sweating fully under the effort, their short hair spiked by the sweat. Their winter suntans only vaguely rose-tinted as their defined glutes barely moved in run stroke.
I was entirely dressed in cotton, having come straight from a gentle yoga class in a well ventilated room. I had no intention of getting a sweat on resulting in the wonderful soggy-bum look of cotton. I was there to go through the adaptation movements and remind my body of the wonderous joy of weight training.
It was also a reconnaissance mission to establish:
- Do I want to do this here or at home (requiring investment in more kit)?
- Is everything still where it used to be and what's new?
- What is here and where are all the things?
- What did I forget that I need to bring next time?
- How do the things work and what do I like / want to use?
I did a little warm up to top up the warm from yoga. I adjusted and tweaked the settings, taking all the machines out of tiny girl mode and switching into grown up sizes then dropped all the weights down into tiny girl mode. Surprisingly some of the weight went back on - after steering a 21kg mountain bike my arms are in good shape. My glutes and hamstrings are fooked - which is what I expected and why I was there.
Big red admission flag: I got one machine completely wrong - sat on it the wrong way, tried to pull instead of push. Tried it three times before I realised I was being an idiot. Nobody saw me - at least nobody said anything and after that, I made sure to take a discrete look at the instructions before getting any machine I thought I knew. Clearly they were out to trick me.
It took me a while but I did eventually start to relax and enjoy myself. I stayed completely within myself both mentally and physically. For the first time ever I didn't look around at what others were doing - either to tuut knowingly or worry for their safety. I rested between sets, I enjoyed the freedom and challenge of movement and I relaxed contentedly in effort well done.
A number of times I got up to leave thinking, "That's enough, I'll just..."but then found another machine to re-familiarise myself with or a new bit of thing that I wanted to have a go at.
I didn't consciously avoid the free weights area or play on the mats with my own body weight because I'm not motivated to do those exercises right now. I have my yoga and honestly, I'm bored of training without props. A mixture between too much effort or guessing if I'm doing it right. Instead I'm enjoying the focus of the weights room. Put me in the stocks with the frames, cogs, pulleys and clanging metal and bizarrely my brain felt freer, more relaxed, less concentrated.
I left with a clear head and went in town to source myself a form of outdoors aerobic exercise to offset my new affection for indoors based training (a new bike). Something light to do some audax on but also, in the meantime, something light to get some aerobic training on up and down the valley. My mountain bike leads me to do whatever is asked of me. I'm hoping the road bike gives me chance to spin the legs faster and speed up the progress I make with all this strength.
Once I got home I set out for my afternoon ride - leaving home at 1:30. The Peaks were alive with half term holiday makers doing cool stuff like flying kites and mountain biking with their kids. It made me very proud and happy to live here.
I rode till 7:30 in the evening.
Didn't quite make the Edale cafe yet - I always faff too much en route and don't leave early enough. I did get over 50k in and enjoy every second.
It was just the right length ride and I ate then hit the sack straight after again.
Today, training like a pro was easy. Same again tomorrow?
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