When I got up this morning I was sore. I was sore everywhere. My legs, my thighs, my core, my shoulders, and just about everything in between. All sore. All hurting and stiff. Very uncooperative. Luckily, today was Sunday so there was little I had to really do. I conserved my energy for today, expecting the videos for Day Six to be tough. I was already sore and lacking on energy.
Well, I was pleasantly surprised to find Day Six's videos, for the most part, slower paced and not as intense. It was a welcome break.
I began with the first video, which was all about stretching. I like the stretches and, judging by the comments left by others on the video, most other people do as well. They find it different and not as taxing. I agree, this video wasn't taxing despite being the longest of the bunch.
I found it relaxing. I think some of this has to do with the background music, as it wasn't her usual pop stuff. It was a simple piano piece, very evenly paced and not urgent. It helped just keep things calm for me. Despite the video being easier than I anticipated, I did find one movement in particular to be a challenge. It's a variation on The Plank (found here) and it seriously works about, oh, five different sets of muscles at once. It's not easy at all. I was shaking while keeping myself up.
That was the only movement in the video I found challenging.
I next moved to the second video, which worked on shoulders. The video was aimed at women who wanted to sculpt those shoulders for backless dresses. I have no use for that at all. None. But, it was a workout all the same and part of the lineup for today. So, I did it. These movements were also relatively simple to pull off but they worked my shoulder muscles. I could feel them working.
One doesn't encounter that often, when they can feel the muscles working. Despite my initial assessment early on in the video that this would be easy, she busted out this little gem. It's harder than it looks. I didn't have trouble with my left arm behind my back and my right arm over my head, but when we switched arms up I couldn't make my fingers meet. There was no budging my right arm, which seemed stuck on my back and incapable of movement while my left arm was sitting there waiting.
I find this surprising. I'm right handed and the right side of my body generally dominates my movements. I lead with my right foot, I lean towards the right, I'm a righty through and through. Struggling to get my right arm do what my left found so easy to do, I nearly pulled a muscle. I couldn't make them meet but I gave it a darned good effort.
With the first two videos down and both relatively easy, at least compared to yesterday, I expected the third video to follow suit. After all, it was the shortest of the three and didn't look that bad at first glance.
I was wrong. I'm not sure what hurts more, the muscles in my butt or my pride.
The video was focused on the "booty" and she advices to throw on my favorite pair of "booty shorts". I was already in my short-shorts (80s shorts, FTW!) so I was as close as I was going to get. I should have expected the video to contain music I hated, but I didn't expect to see One Direction.
No, not them.
I cursed something fierce when I realized what the song was. I have had my fill of them. They need to go away. I hate that band.
This video was tough and ultra-embarrassing to do. I was sitting there, on the floor, THRUSTING to One Direction (I am unbelievably pissed about that). The movements were coordinated (very well, I have to admit) to the beat of the music and so I was working out my butt muscles to One Direction. It was an intense few minutes. I felt my butt muscles today. The other days, maybe, but today I really FELT them and it hurt.
Once the video was (thankfully) over, I was pretty sure that tomorrow morning would be one full of pain and soreness.
Overall, I was very pleased with my efforts today. I successfully pulled off every move she showed me, albeit it with varying degrees of flexibility. I still need to get way more flexible, however, I felt for the first time today that I was more flexible than before. I was able to go further on some stretches than in previous days. Not by much, mind you, but every little bit of progress is a good sign.
Tomorrow, Day Seven, is a rest day. Thank God, I need it, as I'm sore all over. The six on/one off schedule is killer but I managed to get through the first week without severely injuring myself or getting super frustrated.
For tomorrow's entry, I'll go over my first week observations about myself, the videos, and Pilates in general. Thanks for reading and see you for Day Seven.
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