Lucky for me, I have had a string of Mondays off which is one of two days the gym offers yoga in the morning. Yay! I like yoga and how it stretches the muscles at the same time I have to work hard to hold certain poses. The past few Mondays have not been too bad and I walked out happy, tired, and wanting more. We did some great stretches and lengthening poses.
Yesterday I went to yoga again. I had run a 15K the day before and was more sore than I expected to be considering I did not especially push during the race. Yoga was going along fine (with the few poses I couldn't do properly because of my ankle and calf...but I made due) and then once we were warmed up the instructor says we are going to work on 'grace and stability.'
My first thoughts were 'Huh? What?' Then she explained and my thoughts changed more toward a line of swearing. I am a go with the flow person and I don't swear out loud, but that doesn't mean a word or two slips through in my thoughts on occasion. Here's what she explained using my words:
You are going to get into a pose that is near impossible to hold and your legs will be shaking uncontrollably in a very short amount of time. Once you get into the pose you have to hold it for what will feel like 20 or 30 minutes before moving onto the next pose.OK, so we didn't really hold poses for 30 minutes, but each one was at least a minute long (some as long as two minutes) with little rest between the poses. It felt great, but not recommended for the day after a race. I'm a bit sore and tired today.
One thing I learned yesterday: the planks that I've been doing at home after running, well apparently I don't hold them for nearly long enough. The 75 year old next to me was smiling and having a great time while I was panting and dripping sweat.
Next up is probably spinning. It's been a long time and I'm sure to have a numb butt and a smile on my face when I'm finished with it.
7 comments:
Have fun with the class-adventure phase of training!
My balance is SO off right after a race. I can just imagine how hard holding those poses was.
That's cool you're getting to the gym and trying different things out! Me and planks are not best friends....I keep trying to get her to like me and one day I swear she will!
I had the same experience at a yoga class. I was struggling and the people old enough to be my grandparents were doing great and didn't even look sweaty!
Change is always fun and exciting!
Good for you for trying new things!
I always laugh a little when people say yoga is "boring" or "too easy" for them.
LOL! They've been doing it wrong.
Have fun trying new things! Yoga is challenging but gets easier and you will feel so proud when you accomplish new poses. And spin class... get ready! A good instructor makes all the difference, but man is it an intense workout!
new follower
trying new things is not always easy...good for you
planks are my enemy
so so hard and I suck at it!
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