I work out enough that I get sore from the exercise. I'm not entering any body building competitions any time soon (although I do have a friend who does that), but I am no stranger to working a particular muscle so much that I will be really sore afterward. However, I've noticed that I don't get sore like normal people. No, my body decides to mess with me.
For example, once long ago, I was participating in a kickboxing class. This was the same kickboxing class that led someone to question whether I was being abused and that allowed me to win a game like tag with a seven year old girl. Still, for the purposes of this post, the pertinent part was that we had to do a bunch of drills. And in one particular instance, we had to practice kicking with our lead leg. Since you're kicking with your lead leg, you generally don't put too much power into this type of kick; it's the equivalent of a jab. However, precisely because it is a strike that you throw quickly, it's a kick that you should be able to throw often. So, that's precisely what we did. We practiced throwing like 200 of these kicks (I don't remember the actual number, but it was at least 3 digits).
Mind you, we didn't do a bunch of other kicks or throw other types of punches that day. We just kicked with the lead leg. A lot. Do you have any idea how your leg feels the day after throwing that many kicks? It is super sore. It aches and you have to move it slowly because it hurts if you try to move at normal speed. But I had only kicked with one leg, so I only had one tender leg. My friend made fun of me because I was walking slowly, but only because one side was sore (she was also nice enough to walk at my slower pace, so that made up for the jokes on my behalf).
These days, I don't do much kickboxing. Instead, I do CrossFit workouts at work. This leads to the same basic problem, since I sometimes have to do a metric crap-ton of repetitions. For example, there are days when we have to do something not-so-affectionately dubbed "Dirty 30." This works out to the equivalent of 270 sit ups in a row (3 sets of 3 exercises, with 30 reps of each exercise every time), so everyone always end up sore afterward. Oddly enough, I have very little desire to cough or laugh the next day (it hurts), though I will happily run a mile or do lunges if I have to. Again, it feels incredibly awkward to have this big mass of ache in one part of your body, but to be perfectly fine elsewhere.
The most interesting example of this came recently, when we had to do something that was dubbed "Filthy 100." First off, it's never good when it has a name. If it has a name, it's going to be difficult. It's also not a good sign when it has a large number in the title. In this case, we had to do 100 reps of something like 9 exercises. I didn't even finish the whole thing, but I was super sore for the next couple of days. But what made it really funny was that the soreness was concentrated around my shoulders. I couldn't lift my hand up to my shoulders without a dull ache, and I certainly couldn't reach my back without that same pain. Showering was much more of an adventure at that point.
I mentioned this all to the Mild Ex, and she started cracking up. Not just because I was sore "like an old man" again, but because it was just my shoulders that were causing issues. Seriously, who walks around with sore shoulders? I've heard plenty of people complain about "leg day" or having sore abs, but shoulders? That's a first. Apparently, though, my body likes to mess with me in very specific places, and in very specific ways.
For example, once long ago, I was participating in a kickboxing class. This was the same kickboxing class that led someone to question whether I was being abused and that allowed me to win a game like tag with a seven year old girl. Still, for the purposes of this post, the pertinent part was that we had to do a bunch of drills. And in one particular instance, we had to practice kicking with our lead leg. Since you're kicking with your lead leg, you generally don't put too much power into this type of kick; it's the equivalent of a jab. However, precisely because it is a strike that you throw quickly, it's a kick that you should be able to throw often. So, that's precisely what we did. We practiced throwing like 200 of these kicks (I don't remember the actual number, but it was at least 3 digits).
Mind you, we didn't do a bunch of other kicks or throw other types of punches that day. We just kicked with the lead leg. A lot. Do you have any idea how your leg feels the day after throwing that many kicks? It is super sore. It aches and you have to move it slowly because it hurts if you try to move at normal speed. But I had only kicked with one leg, so I only had one tender leg. My friend made fun of me because I was walking slowly, but only because one side was sore (she was also nice enough to walk at my slower pace, so that made up for the jokes on my behalf).
These days, I don't do much kickboxing. Instead, I do CrossFit workouts at work. This leads to the same basic problem, since I sometimes have to do a metric crap-ton of repetitions. For example, there are days when we have to do something not-so-affectionately dubbed "Dirty 30." This works out to the equivalent of 270 sit ups in a row (3 sets of 3 exercises, with 30 reps of each exercise every time), so everyone always end up sore afterward. Oddly enough, I have very little desire to cough or laugh the next day (it hurts), though I will happily run a mile or do lunges if I have to. Again, it feels incredibly awkward to have this big mass of ache in one part of your body, but to be perfectly fine elsewhere.
The most interesting example of this came recently, when we had to do something that was dubbed "Filthy 100." First off, it's never good when it has a name. If it has a name, it's going to be difficult. It's also not a good sign when it has a large number in the title. In this case, we had to do 100 reps of something like 9 exercises. I didn't even finish the whole thing, but I was super sore for the next couple of days. But what made it really funny was that the soreness was concentrated around my shoulders. I couldn't lift my hand up to my shoulders without a dull ache, and I certainly couldn't reach my back without that same pain. Showering was much more of an adventure at that point.
I mentioned this all to the Mild Ex, and she started cracking up. Not just because I was sore "like an old man" again, but because it was just my shoulders that were causing issues. Seriously, who walks around with sore shoulders? I've heard plenty of people complain about "leg day" or having sore abs, but shoulders? That's a first. Apparently, though, my body likes to mess with me in very specific places, and in very specific ways.
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