Fitness Related

[sabrinamari]

I worked with John again today. He taught me a shoulder move that I have never seen before. Not only have I never seen it before, I have never seen it referenced in books or mentioned or described in written form.

He showed me this compound exercise because he forgot I've been doing this for a couple of decades and he tried some beginner moves on me. Today, his first modifications of the beginner moves were no big deal, because I already knew them, and I already knew the controversy behind the old-school version of the move vs. the new school versions of the move.

"Why don't I quickly show you my shoulder routine before we get started on the next exercise?" I asked, attempting to be diplomatic. John looked at me and said OK. I showed him my moves, he assessed where I was, and said, "OK, I'm going to show you something nobody else does. It's a move I got on the Olympian powerlifting team. I promise it will be new."

"Cool!" I answered. "Show me."

He proceeded to take me to the high cables and show me an elaborate cable-based combination of front shoulder/top shoulder/rear shoulder moves that involved grabbing the cables, spinning around, crossing them to start and doing a set of modified side shoulder pull-downs followed up by bent-over shoulder pull-downs.

You have no idea what I am talking about.

That's because you have to see it to understand it. Then you have put your body through it a few times to even start getting the feel of it.

It was weird.

It was also hard. Really, really hard.

I am in pain already, and it's only been half a day. Not the bad kind of pain---just serious delayed onset muscle soreness.

John is worth every penny I am paying him.

Comments

[rio-luna.livejournal.com]

smile. this makes me happy. so prpud that u made this ahppen for yourself.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Thank you, rio.

[jr0124.livejournal.com]

"It's a move I got on the Olympian powerlifting team." There's something really wonderful about that line.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

I never thought I'd get a chance to work with someone of this calibre.

[onyxtwilight.livejournal.com]

Three cheers for muscley men being worth what you're paying them. >;-)

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

I somehow think you have a slightly different perspective on this than I do, Keith.

John is an amazing resource, but I fear you would be disappointed. He's no Jack Harkness. Still, for those of us interested in picking his brain, all is good. He's a great coach.

[onyxtwilight.livejournal.com]

Whether I would be disappointed is not at issue. YOU are not disappointed, and that is all that matters. Your job is to learn, his job is to teach. My job is to make double entendres in your livejournal. >:-)

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

I love you, Keith.

I'm grinning!

[shades-of-nyx.livejournal.com]

I think I'm with Keith on this one...

[jasminewind.livejournal.com]

See, I just can't get into that "bad muscle kind of pain". It is awfully triggering for me to have my body hurt - bad knees, tendonitis, shoulder problems, torn achilles heels - it all flashes back and I am SO worried I'm going to be re-injured and have permanent or long term problems. Maybe if I had a trustworthy trainer like you seem to trust John, but when I'm doing things on my own, I would rather go super slow and see fewer results than risk injury. Tis a conundrum.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Sweetie, it is not good to have the kind of pain you describe. I am talking about DOMS here, not the acute, persistent pain of an injury or re-injury. DOMS is the normal achey-ness you get after focused muscular exercise, when lactic acid builds up in the tissues. It doesn't indicate an injury.

I have many years of experience in telling the difference, and I do each move very deliberately and slowly, so it's not so much that I'm trusting John: it's that I trust myself.

Go as slow as you like and build up slowly. That's a wise and careful approach and *nothing* to be ashamed of.