Two-fer

I did my leg workout yesterday, rather than Weds, with the suggested substitution of Bulgarian squats (it is like a lunge, with your back foot raised, and then you squat, with most of your weight on the front leg. BECAUSE THIS WAS BETTER THAN THE GLASS-PACKED KNEES, THAT'S WHY.). Though it took me a little while to get used to the motion (I have no sense of balance, and only used a 12" block rather than the bench so I wouldn't fall the hell over), I finally got it down, with some guidance from Daven.

Oh. Dear. Sweet. Gods.

4 sets of Bulgarian, decreasing reps, increasing weight. 15 bodyweight, 12 at 5 lbs, 10 at 10 lbs, 8 at 15 lbs. This sounds terribly wimpy, and it is, but I had never done the motion before. By the end of the first set my legs were vibrating. By the time I was done with that, I wanted to sit down and never move again. Which meant it was time for squats! Of course it was. My form on squats is...suboptimal, so I'm currently just practicing at BW to a 16" box so that I can get the motion down. I tend to lean forward too much, which, with weight on one's back, is a bad idea, so, form first!

By the time I got to the walking lunges, I wanted to just die. I got 7 steps with each leg before I sat down in the middle of the driveway, because I couldn't stand up any more. I declared lunges to be done and eventually was able to get back up again. Did a set of hamstring curls and called it done. (Yay, I can use the leg extension thing for something!)

Today, I hurt. Oh, I hurt. I move so slowly that you'd think I was 80. I've felt reasonably good twice today, and both times were after some steady state motion; my cardio this morning and a walk this afternoon. The rest of the time I whinge around the house and whine about stairs.

Oh, and today I got to lift again. The only really noteworthy portion of that was that I was learning to do dips, which I did with the assistance of a big-ass rubber band. Again, form first. The strength will come. By the end of the second set, it felt ridiculously easy, as I finally had fallen into the right motion. Hopefully in the near future I'll be able to do them without giant rubber bands, but I'll take it slowly. After the dips, it felt like someone had set my upper triceps on fire, which was very exciting.

Now? Now I'm tired and still sore and still whiny, so I'll take my whiny offline. Tea will be consumed and we'll finish watching Chronicles of Riddick. Can't wait to see how bad the DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) will be tomorrow. Thrilling stuff.