I woke up this morning with use of my left leg, which cramped majorly last night during Day One of Pilates. It was stiff, it was sore, but it didn't hurt as badly as it did last night. I was limping around last night (especially up the stairs to the shower, which was a trip fraught with peril) and it hurt. Not so much this morning and it loosened up as time passed during the day.
Today was hot as hell, so I got outside during the morning hours and chilled the rest of the day inside. That gave me plenty of time to research today's workout, which was focused on the abs. According to what I saw from the comments, I was to expect pain and some serious struggling.
I got that in the second video. In the first video, where it explained the proper movements and showed the basics of it, it tested me but I didn't struggle too badly. In fact, I was able to do things that I wasn't able to do yesterday, primarily the Roll Up, which was sitting up without use of my arms or legs using my core only. I managed to do that about three or four times before I had to stop.
I hesitate to call this improvement, especially based on one day of doing this. I wasn't able to do this yesterday, true, but we didn't start the video with them (they occurred in the midpoint of it) and I wasn't as tired today. I did like doing it though and the perceived improvement was a boost to my confidence.
In the first video, I really found a lot of movements I liked. They were challenging and different ... they were fresh to me and I really appreciated it. The movements were easier to do today but most were new to me, however, I still found myself having to remind myself to "suck in that belly button to my spine."
The second video was the killer one. ABC Abs, where we had to name a food and draw the letter in the air while sucking in the abs, maintaining proper form, and breathing. The video is divided into two workouts: the upper abs and lower abs. The upper abs part was difficult, but I wasn't dying. They hurt when I was done but moving onto the lower abs was where I began to fall apart.
My form began to break down pretty severely by the letter "F" and by the time we hit "K" I was struggling to breathe properly, draw the letter, and keep my abs sucked in. I was gasping for air, really feeling the burn. I had to pause the video about six times to catch my breath in between "K" and the end of it.
I have to take issue with the second part of the second video, simply because the foods we were supposed to be naming were "unhealthy" foods and she named bacon.
Um ... no. Bacon is not unhealthy. BACON IS AMAZING.
Other than that minor thing, the second video was good. It really worked me out, to the point where I could no longer do a Roll Up at the end and I was on the floor, gasping for air, for a good five minutes after it was all over, just trying to find some will to move. I was wiped.
As I type this I feel like I need to pass out in bed and call it a day. My chest HURTS, upper and lower, and I just wanna curl up into a ball and sleep. I have more things to do tonight, however, so that's not happening. But still, the sign of a good workout is how spent you feel afterwards. In a thirty minute session I went from having plenty of energy to being gassed.
I call that a darn good workout.
Overall, I found today not as taxing as yesterday ... yesterday was a total body workout. Today focused on the abs, so everything doesn't hurt. But enough hurts to let me know I did work.
Whether or not I improved my core strength from yesterday to today is up for debate, but I feel I didn't. The difference between yesterday's Roll Ups and today's is when they occurred I think. Still, the confidence boost was nice during the workout.
I worked my upper abs (existence confirmed as of today) for probably the first time ever. That was pretty cool. I was also able to replicate just about every movement in the video, though admittedly she didn't show off her flexibility nearly as much as yesterday. But I was able to keep up a bit better.
I come away satisfied today and hopeful that tomorrow I am indeed as sore as I think I will be. If I'm sore, it means I actually did it right. Here's hoping.
Thanks for reading. See you for Day Three.
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