Well after that clusterf**k of a week.
We went again. Despite the previous lethargic sixth week, I didn’t feel up to making amends. Motivation seems to be gone, its the exact opposite effect I was hoping for when giving up alcohol!
I have been in alot of social situations recently where drinking was at the epicentre and I am finding a certain anxiousness around it. Just dealing with the initial questions about it, and the persistence about having just the one. In my head I justify saying no because I wanted to focus on training and being more productive, however the difference seems negligible.
I dont feel like I have really experienced any benefits of the abstinence. I am tired all the time, my muscles are aching despite increase in protein, energy is very very low. I do miss the running, it really kickstarts the endorphins in the body, so I am hoping I can get back to that very very soon.
In the meantime I have swapped runs for the bike and started to actually do some mobility exercises.
Monday
Monday with Davy is always a nice way to start your week. We started on the bar, but went with the incline as opposed to flat bench. The incline was supersetted with the lat pulldown. I was apprehensive about the incline, due to the shoulder pain the previous week. The focus though had to go on the task at hand, and remember to breathe and keep the form. We continued with the supersetting, this time upping the sets from three to four. In total we went for 53 minutes, with an added 20 minutes on the crosstrainer to boot, before I went and did my now mandatory mobility exercises with an added bit of ab work.
Tuesday
Leg day with Lee, and I just knew single leg presses was on the cards. Surely enough the man delivered. I had walked over to freshen up the mind and listen to music, taking an hour in total, knowing that it would take an hour to get back. Keep the blood flowing to avoid them DOMS. Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is a familiar experience for the elite or novice athlete. Symptoms can range from muscle tenderness to severe debilitating pain.
With Lee we busted into some hack squats, single leg press, romanian dead lifts, hamstring curls before doing some banded leg movements to help my mobility. The banded exercises was a staple for me when recovering from an IT band issue that stopped me running for nearly two months last year. I am now nearly two months out from my calf injury and hope the mobility stuff will get me back running the roads very soon. I miss it man.
Thursday
So everyone meet Ian Farrell. You may remember Ian from the an earlier week blog, as he had lead a a HIT class on a Saturday morning. Well Ian started up in Davy Jones Fitness taking some training sessions for clients. So he was on hand to put me through my paces Thursday evening. I had explained the issues I had with my shoulders the previous week and Ian could not have been more understanding. The man has knowledge, and I was looking forward to picking his brain. We started off doing dumbbell lateral raise , high reps on low weight, increasing the weight and lowering the reps along the way. By god did the weights increase. It is mad how you think you can lift no more, but still push yourself and thus ending up surprising ones self. Then when you reach the upper echelons of weights, you work your way back down with a drop set. What is a drop set you ask?
A drop set is an advanced resistance training technique in which you focus on completing a set until failure — or the inability to do another repetition. Then, you lighten the load by 10–30%, and repeat, with little to no rest in between sets. The goal is to maximize potential muscle gain. We repeated this with seated shoulder presses, it was tough, but Ian was a great motivator. It was a nice change of pace to be back on the free weights, and I look forward to working with Ian again. My shoulders are still on fire, DOMS, and as are my biceps and triceps. I loved it, but I am still sore.
To be fair, everyone in the gym was understanding and offered solid advice. You need the patience of a saint to deal with me last week. If you want to make a change, you can contact Davy on 0892528904 or email [email protected].
