This week I started the practical part of the Ecole du Dos. The whole idea is to get us back in shape by strengthening all the muscles in our bodies. If my legs and arms muscles are strong, they carry the effort and not my back. Very simple logic.
Of course I was late at the first session. There are new road works on the ring until end of June and it's basically causing traffic jams. 16km in 1h10... no comment.
Of course I didn't have the cardio watch I'm supposed to bring to monitor my heart rate when I exercise. This was mentioned during the last session which I missed. Despite I asked three time whether I needed anything for the practical sessions, nobody thought about telling me I need to buy one of those.
Of course I was very frustrated after wasting so much time in the traffic and all I wanted was to work the frustration out.
Unfortunately for me, the spirit is not "push your limits" or "no pain, no gain" BUT "take it slowly, one step at a time, do not force yourself".
As much as I understand that for people who haven't done any exercise in one year, they should start slow, but this is not my case.
The sessions start with 30min biking for cardio training. The first session they put the resistance to the minimum with small effort periods one setting higher (again... take it easy). My heart beat moved from 106 at rest to 118 during exercise. In other words, I didn't feel like I was exercising at all. So the second class... I cheated. I increased the resistance of the bike to at least sweat a bit. Even then my heart bit stayed pretty low (120-122). I guess all the walking and swimming helped.
Second part is weight lifting. All these years I've seen those machines in the gym but never touched them. Now it's about to change. Again,one should not overdo it, so they made me start with 5kg lifting for the arms, 15kg for the legs. I managed to increase the arms to 10kg arguing that if I can carry a pack of coke, I should be able to lift 10kg. Luckily I can increase the weight from one session to the other. Who knows, one day I might be able to lift my own weight :)
Third part is "gym douce", a combination of stretching and abs. That's the part I prefer, especially the stretching.
While I'm a bit annoyed by the "slow" approach, I have to say I feel very well taken care of. A physiotherapist will check on me every 5min (seriously). They want to make sure that I am not in pain at any time because that's not the purpose. From one session to the other they check whether I had more back pain or sore muscles to adjust the program. After two sessions I have to say my body is ready for a bigger challenge.
With another 29 sessions coming up, I should have a brand new body by August.
Of course I was late at the first session. There are new road works on the ring until end of June and it's basically causing traffic jams. 16km in 1h10... no comment.
Of course I didn't have the cardio watch I'm supposed to bring to monitor my heart rate when I exercise. This was mentioned during the last session which I missed. Despite I asked three time whether I needed anything for the practical sessions, nobody thought about telling me I need to buy one of those.
Of course I was very frustrated after wasting so much time in the traffic and all I wanted was to work the frustration out.
Unfortunately for me, the spirit is not "push your limits" or "no pain, no gain" BUT "take it slowly, one step at a time, do not force yourself".
As much as I understand that for people who haven't done any exercise in one year, they should start slow, but this is not my case.
The sessions start with 30min biking for cardio training. The first session they put the resistance to the minimum with small effort periods one setting higher (again... take it easy). My heart beat moved from 106 at rest to 118 during exercise. In other words, I didn't feel like I was exercising at all. So the second class... I cheated. I increased the resistance of the bike to at least sweat a bit. Even then my heart bit stayed pretty low (120-122). I guess all the walking and swimming helped.
Second part is weight lifting. All these years I've seen those machines in the gym but never touched them. Now it's about to change. Again,one should not overdo it, so they made me start with 5kg lifting for the arms, 15kg for the legs. I managed to increase the arms to 10kg arguing that if I can carry a pack of coke, I should be able to lift 10kg. Luckily I can increase the weight from one session to the other. Who knows, one day I might be able to lift my own weight :)
Third part is "gym douce", a combination of stretching and abs. That's the part I prefer, especially the stretching.
While I'm a bit annoyed by the "slow" approach, I have to say I feel very well taken care of. A physiotherapist will check on me every 5min (seriously). They want to make sure that I am not in pain at any time because that's not the purpose. From one session to the other they check whether I had more back pain or sore muscles to adjust the program. After two sessions I have to say my body is ready for a bigger challenge.
With another 29 sessions coming up, I should have a brand new body by August.
No comments:
Post a Comment