I've also heard the expression "no pain, no gain" and read numerous articles on why this is not a good thing. I think first you need to define your own definition of pain. You should be able to feel the activity you are doing, you should be able to notice that the muscles are stretching and working, and it might leave you with a slight after-feeling, but it should not be pain in the sense of "this hurts, so I must be doing it right". No. Ask any fitness trainer, instructor, or physiotherapist - they will all tell you that when you are doing an activity - stretch, weights, class, whatever - when you are doing it properly it should not hurt. Exercise is not designed to hurt. It is designed to help your body improve how it moves and functions.
Maybe that is one reason why I like these Yoga Tune-Up classes so much. The focus is always on trying to loosen your muscles so you can increase your range of motion. Your range of motion is how far you can comfortable do something. I use the comparison between my daughter and myself. She punched me in the leg (not hard) and I said that hurt and she could do it to my arm, but not my leg today. So we discussed that my work outs were helping my body to get back some of it's motion. In answer to her blank stare I said that I found out this week that I have been doing squats wrong my entire life. I try to keep my knees stacked over my ankles, which prevents me from getting the proper motion (and makes squats way harder than they need to be). So I showed her the right way (knees apart so your butt can sink down between your ankles) and the wrong way. And she looks at me with this expression of "mommy, that's so old news" and says "my teacher makes us do those all the time!" Then proceeds to squat down like a frog with no problem. Then she gets really silly and starts bouncing around like she is a frog and doing this weird scuttle across the floor which is more like hopping while staying in the low section of a squat. I don't think I could even dream of that. We compared out squats; I pointed out how her feet stayed perfectly flat on the floor, she could sink her butt right down between her ankles so that it was nearly on the floor, and she could easily glide between different positions without any hesitation or difficulty. Then we looked at mine. Yeah. That was fun. I could get down into the squat fairly easily (getting up was a little more difficult), I couldn't quite get down all the way; so there was a good deal of space between my butt and the floor, I couldn't keep my feet flat on the floor so there was an awkward posture to it with one foot/ankle lower than the other, and I had some difficulty with my balance. Moving fluidly around was not an option.
It was a great comparison with the two of us squatting down across from each other on the floor as I explained how as you get older, your muscles get tighter and movement like she is doing becomes harder and harder. A big part of me going to the gym is try and loosen up those muscles so they can move easily again. I think she got it, but she happily returned to frog squatting around the room and laughing hysterically until she fell over from laughing too hard.
As you can well imagine: today's class was Yoga, rather than Drums. I'm just a wee bit tired out. The Yoga class started out with a fair bit of what I like to call "mumbo jumbo". "Feel the space around you." "Connect with your inner core." "Feel your ribs expand as you take in your breath." I realize they speak in a low-toned hypnotic voice and it's designed to help you relax and connect with your body while possibly becoming more aware of the inter-connections between muscles and systems. But it's just not my thing. So when we open with a lot of deep breaths and connecting with your spirit stuff I start to question whether I should have come or not. I tried to get my students this summer to do meditation in the class for ten minutes. It was REALLY hard not to start cracking jokes listening to that relaxation music. It's just not my thing. I don't like sitting still for that long. (chalk it up to ADD if you like). Some of them liked it, most didn't. I'm just not sure if I didn't like it more than them, or the other way around.
The Yoga class was still good. It focused on core body balance and stretching, which were all good. With a sore back (that bruise-like feeling along my spine is still bothering me) and tired legs, I was a bit unsure about balance. But it went really well. I always like trying a new move for the first time and realizing I'm not half bad at it. Or when the instructors explain different ways that you might be "stiff" and discovering that I'm not stiff at all. (yay me!). There were a lot of stretches to strengthen the core which I really liked. For instance there was one where we stood on one leg, with the other back and up behind us, leaning forward and rotating our body to the side to open up the hip rotation, with one arm hanging down and the other straight overhead. Sounds complicated. Felt really good; when I could keep my balance.
The other downside for me to trying to do all of these very "open" stretches is it's that time of the month. I know for many women that time of the month is a big deterrent to going to the gym - or any type of exercise for that matter. You constantly worry about leaks, your cramps don't make you feel great, and you'd rather not try to get that active. But the reality is, being on your period and going to the gym can actually make you feel better. As for the leaks... well I've started using menstrual cups and I am a BIG fan. As a teacher, I don't have the luxury of a quick trip to the washroom to check that everything is in place. If I want to, I have to summon the Vice Principal or another co-worker on prep to come and stay in my class while I go to the washroom. It's not exactly confidence-building. The cups have taken care of that problem for me. With a period or tampon there is a possibility of soaking through your protection which can leave you in an awkward situation. If you're lucky, you feel it coming and there's minimal mess. At my worst, I could soak through the super size in under 30 minutes. Not horribly convenient when teaching 75-minute classes. My last school only had 5 minute breaks; making it even less effective to try and get to the washroom in a reasonable time frame. So I tried out a menstrual cup. It took a couple of months (maybe three) to get wholly comfortable using it, and the first month had a day of really, really bad cramps which left me putting it aside for the rest of the month, but afterwards I was hooked. It can stay in for twelve hours, it makes a kind of seal in your body to prevent leaks which lets you move about with confidence, and it's very comfortable. I can tackle a fitness class with all of it's movements with complete confidence. I'm still fairly new-ish at the cups so there are moments of doubt here and there, but I know it won't be a problem. Plus there's all the environment and cost arguments (no more buying tampons and pads!).
This WebMD page discusses menstrual cups in case you want any info. And I found a great site that asks you a bunch of questions and then makes suggestions on which cups would be best suited for your body.
https://www.webmd.com/women/guide/menstrual-cup#1
This Flexfits Article by Sarah D'Andrea addresses some of the period myths and also looks at the benefits or exercising on your period. Check it out.
https://flexfits.com/blogs/thefixx/exercising-on-your-period
I also decided I would sign up for the combination Personal Training class for the rest of August to see how I like it. I'm a little worried I'm going to love it (which wouldn't be such a bad thing) but it's a bit of a commitment. I'm not the best at showing up for scheduled events in the evenings. There's always "something else" to do, or the kids don't want to cooperate, or I just don't feel like going. I like to just hibernate in my house. So agreeing to go once a week (there were twice a week and three times a week options too) at a certain time is a bit of a commitment during the school year; there's a financial commitment too. We'll give it a try for the next two weeks, and see from there. I could possibly get sucked into doing that weekly. At the worst, I might try including more weight-lifting and boot-camp style classes to target strength-building now that I've had a few weeks of stretching and cardio.
No comments:
Post a Comment