For the most part I kept my promise to myself to go a little easier in the first half of this week. On Monday my arms and shoulders were still very sore so I only did the leg and core exercises in the strength routine. On Tuesday I kept the intensity moderate as I paddled for 60 minutes out on the Mississippi.
Then, on Wednesday, I did a full round of the strength routine, and my body did not respond well. My arms and shoulders were throbbing in protest when it was over. I probably made matters worse by spending that afternoon on the roof of my rental property cleaning out the gutters. Maybe that doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's a two-story building whose roof is pitched rather steeply down to each gutter, and I was on my stomach keeping my distance from the edge because I didn't want to fall and be paralyzed the rest of my life, and reaching down into the gutters was an awkward affair. The gutters were long overdue for cleaning, so it was a long, taxing process.
When I woke up yesterday morning my biceps and deltoids felt like cement, and my range of motion was alarmingly limited. What I'd planned to be a higher-intensity session in the boat turned out to be another recovery paddle.
I'm a little puzzled by what a number this strength routine has done on me. Anytime you lift weights you are in fact doing damage to your muscles with the expectation that they will build themselves back stronger than before. I guess this time I tried to do too much too soon, especially with the pullups.
Today my muscles have felt slightly better but nowhere near healed. I hated to do it because at this time of year I want to be hitting full stride in training, but I took today completely off except for some slow, patient stretching. I'm hoping I'll feel like my normal spry, chipper self this weekend.
For more information on what this blog is about, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment