Much to Do About Nothing

There is nothing profound I have to say. Not alot going through my head actually, apart from my workouts, and working out how to fit in all my weights and cardio sessions, as well as extra stuff for army reserve (physical) preparation, which is proving very tricky (fitting in the extra stuff, that is).

I had a fantastic full body workout last night, finished off with a 30min interval session on the bike. It was fantastic, because I was tired and overall, my entire body was fatigued, and I still challenged myself every exercise. I felt it, as soon as I started. You know...that heavy, depleted feeling? But especially so when I did my first round of push-ups. Arghhh...find these quite tough doing them correctly, but I do love that feeling of pushing until your arms just can't get you off the floor!

I'm just a huge red, hot, bag of sweat by the end. I grunt and groan during my workouts, my hair is tousled, I have wet patches under my arms and groin, and my shirt is soaked. No doubt, I probably smell a little 'sweaty' too.

I watch other women in the gym do their workouts, and by the end, they all seem to maintain their cool, keep-it-all-together appearance, and what I find amazing is that their hair is still neat and tidy, they're still the same colour (as opposed to having a red face), and there's not a bead of sweat gracing their bodies! Well...not all women. I know the ones that are serious about their training, because I can hear them grunt and groan too, and they are usually lathered in sweat, AND...they're always at the gym when I am (which is quite often).

Anyway...I'm getting off track (as I do). So why did I post? Oh...yeah...that's right. I'M STILL BLOODY TIRED! Not fatigued, smashed or legless...just...tired. Not even sore really. So I've decided to rest tonight. Sunday was supposed to be my rest day, and I did that run, so I didn't really get a rest. Hence, my body was tired before I even began last night. It's all the leg work I'm doing mostly. Tonight I'm supposed to do a cardio session, which is neither here nor there, but this week is my 'heavy leg' week, and tomorrow is 'the heavy leg' session, and I think if I do my planned cardio tonight, I don't think I'll get through tomorrow night's session.

And you know...I'm not even feeling the slightest remorse, because I've finally got my head around the rest/recovery thing and the importance of it. Anyway, it's not that I'm 'not' going to do tonight's cardio. It's just that I'm re-arranging my workout schedule - I'm now listening to my body and being a little smarter about how and when I workout.

It used to freak me out when I didn't follow my planned schedule to the letter. But now, it's no big deal any longer because I'm learning to be more flexible. Because in the end, it's not about 'having to do that particular workout right now or else the sky will fall down'.

It's more about whether an alteration is going to seriously jeopardise your goals in the medium to long term. So I ask myself this question when faced with these siutations..."What am I trying to achieve in this specific time/program range, and by changing my schedule, will I be compromising my goals and adversely affecting the outcome?" If the answer is 'yes', then I re-think it and ask myself what is really going on - am I just trying to find excuses 'not to train'? And if the answer is 'no'...well, that's pretty obvious...make the necessary program adjustment, adjust your headspace at the same time, and move onward and upward, confident in the knowledge that you're still on track to achieve your goals.

Ciao for now...Kerry :)