A Little Bit Badass

Yesterday was my first Wednesday workout on my own in a long time--the good news is, M. the Reasonable plans to keep me in good workouts (he's so awesome) and the even better news is I can motivate myself to keep up with the program (though I miss having someone to talk to).

Yesterday's routine was appropriately fierce:

The point is to do one minute each of those first five exercises, with a ten-second rest period between, then rest for one minute and do it all again. Three times through all of this? Brutal. I'm still sore, Thursday evening.

But what really makes me feel a little bit badass is the plank push ups. A short couple of months ago, I could not do these--we tried them at one appointment and all I could do was struggle, grunt, and collapse. Moving from a plank (elbows and forearms on the floor) to a push-up position was simply not possible. Fast forward to April and...it simply is possible. It's difficult, but I can do it. I love seeing concrete evidence that I'm getting stronger!

Yesterday, I set up in the functional training area, grabbing a set of dumbbells, a kettlebell, and positioning my Kindle Fire (I bought a fantastic timer app for it that does all the work for me) just so. I went to grab a mat but alas, they were all in use. So I went about my three sets of cross-over step-downs, plank push ups, sumo dead lifts, pull ups, and Burpees in rapid succession.

It was only after all of this, as I got ready to do my ab work, that I noticed the toll the plank push ups, done without a mat, had taken on my elbows.

Big ole bruise and a side of road rash.

I'm so hardcore.