For the past eight weeks, when I get up in the morning, I take a quick inventory. I’m not selecting clothes for the day. I’m doing a quick check to see which muscle groups are sore. Last Wednesday, my triceps were sore. I wondered why. Perhaps it was from the assisted pull-ups I had done the night before…or the rowing machine…or the arm ergometer. Could it be the combination of the three? On Friday, my inner thighs were sore. I knew this was from a standing Reformer exercise in the Sunflower class the day before. Today it’s my shoulders, back and lats from the tower work I did with Heather yesterday. Sometimes the soreness is evident immediately. Sometimes it sneaks up on me as I step out of my car after my work commute or rise from my chair after sitting too long at my desk
I enjoy this soreness because it represents hard work. I also enjoy the muscle tone I’m gaining.
Did you see the video Heather posted of the Booty Blast Barre Routine? That’s what Heather had me do in our first private lesson of week 8 (following the treadmill, arm ergometer and rowing machine). And of course I did teasers.
In the Sunflower class we did lots of inner thigh work. We stood on the reformer facing the side, one foot on the foot plate parallel to the front, the other foot on the reformer and then pushed out wide (side splits). This is the one I feel the day after. We worked our arms and stomach by using the straps and facing the tower. We leaned back, raising one leg, then the other and then both. We were all thankful when we were able to turn around and enjoy the relative ease of leg circles.
In my private lesson yesterday, I started out standing on the Reformer, using the tower to work my arms, shoulders and back. I stretched my hamstrings by placing my head at the foot of the tower and my legs on the bar. I practiced teasers by pushing against the bar (with first an upper spring for resistance and then a lower spring). It was interesting to feel the difference. The lower spring requires a lot more upper body strength. We finished on the barrel, with a swan and then bending backward over it. Heather tells me it’s the first step to a back walk over. I haven’t done a walkover since middle school and didn’t foresee them in my future.
Two more weeks to go.
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