Get-Ups

“There IS a lot of gravity in this room,” said handsome supportive husband.

“Yeah, but it seems like I have more gravity on me than other people,” I complained. “It’s like, really hard to get up.”

His expressive dark brows shot up and a smirk threatened to take over his face, but he quickly jammed his gaze back onto his iPad.

Instinct guides him.

I’m taking a  28-day strength training challenge and it is. A challenge. 

It was the name of the book that got me: Lifted by Holly Rilinger. 

“Well now, that sounds encouraging,” I thought. “I’m in!”

My strength training routine has become a little stale and too often I find myself eschewing the nasty push ups and crunches that I should be doing. Instead I opt for the endorphin-boosting jaunt on the elliptical machine, which is so much more fun.

Plus my elliptical time is when I watch the period dramas that no-one else will watch with me.  Lace collars! Tea cups! Notes delivered on silver trays! 

But those elliptical jaunts are only part of the story.  Without strength and flexibility,  I may not be able to keep up my blogger pace. Those hours writing by the fire and sipping cocoa are not for the faint of heart.

At a certain point, one has to make a decision. Do I up my game? Or ooo! I wonder if my favorite YouTuber posted anything today?

I’m stubborn. I’m upping that game.

Muscles burn calories even when I’m not moving.  I think that’s a great deal.  I wish I could  – buy them. 

Just in case you Google the book and get a gander at Miss Rilinger, I need you to know I haven’t lost my mind. We are both lifelong fitness enthusiasts and we’re the same height. The similarities are endless.

That could have been me ten years ago if I had been a professional basketball player and then embarked on a fitness training career.  And my hair was exactly that color before, you know, stuff happened.

But, I presume I have the same number of muscles as Rilinger has. So there’s that.  Plus, Rilinger says that if people aren’t laughing at your goals, your goals probably aren’t big enough.  So take that.

So I bought the book and I took a week or so to review the program and do some pre-challenge tweaks to make the adjustment easier. Meditation plays a significant role in her training which I love, and I was happy to be prodded back into a daily practice. She also encourages the use of a goal-oriented bulletin board so I got that underway.  I had the bulletin board anyway. I had to look everywhere for my goals, but I located them.

Day One arrived! I loved the variety of exercises. I loved that I could make it all the way through the workout, no problem. Well. Not exactly no problem. It took me exactly twice as long as it was supposed to take. But! I had to look up how to do some of the exercises for the first few workouts, so that’s a time killer.  

As I ticked off the days and became familiar with the moves, I noticed that my time was not improving as much as I would have expected.  Then I realized what the real time-killer was.

I stared at the timer in disbelief.

It takes me 4 seconds to get off the floor?!

Since when don’t I just…pop up? Other people in my life, in my age group, um…in the same house can pop off the floor. This must be remedied.

It struck me that part of my pre-challenge tweak might have been ‘Get Ups’. Really. Try it. I made it up, but try it. Put an exercise mat down on the floor. Lay down on it. Set your timer. Now.  Get up.  

I can do bird-dogs and Russian twists and planks quite handily, but it’s the Get Ups that seem to be the most challenging.

I know what you’re thinking. But I’m doing it.

Except for tonight. Day 12. Yesterday, I had my Covid Booster Shot. Luckily it was cardio day which is easy peasy. The flu symptoms didn’t set in until bed-time. But, oh dear, was I achy today. Handsome supportive husband thought it would be imprudent to strength train in this condition. 

“The web site said it’s important to take it easy for a couple of days after the shot,” he said.

I really like him a lot.  

And I agree with him.

I cannot be Boosted and Lifted in the same day.