Rachel Rodriguez • Body
Rachel Rodriguez • Body
The Fitness Experience
The 1st mile sucks. Those 2 weeks of weight lifting are hard. The soreness kicks in. The tightness doesn’t go away. Fitness. It’s more than burning calories it shapes your body.
The 1st mile sucks.
Those 2 weeks of weight lifting are hard.
The soreness kicks in. The tightness doesn’t go away.
Fitness. It’s more than burning calories it shapes your body.
Whether you’re starting a new fitness routine, trying to get in shape for the summer, or recovering from an injury…there are the basic mental fundamentals that pretty much everyone goes through at the beginning.
Fitness and Running
You said to yourself many times the night before that tomorrow is the day! You’re going to wake up early so you’ve set the alarm. You wanted to be prepared so you laid out all of the workout clothes and planned for a cold morning.
You’re mentally ready and prepared a killer playlist to listen to. You’re ready to go!
And then you start running….it’s like you have two left feet all of a sudden. You can’t find your footing and it’s been one minute. One whole minute.
You’re breathing has already started to pick up the pace. And you check your watch knowing it’s been barely 5 minutes now. What were you thinking?!
Start running in the morning….why?! …. Get in better shape…ughh….
And then you feel it…your watch tells you it’s been one mile! And inside something changes, your breathing starts to even out..
You find your footing….and your dog is next to you keeping pace.
That’s how I felt every time I trained for the half marathon…that first mile….it’s Bullsh**...let me tell you!....don’t let it fool you!....
It doesn’t matter what time of day you plan out your running…that first mile will trick you. But you’re smarter than that.
You know - because it happens every time. But guess what…you keep going, you keep running mile after mile because you have a goal in mind. You already set out on something that’s bigger than burning calories.
Fitness and running are extremely good for the body. My posture becomes stronger, my breathing is regulated, and my mental capacity extends so much further.
I love running and the freedom that it gives me on the road. It’s like a mental workout in itself and increases my creativity. Rest assured that the first mile is hard to get past, that’s why going beyond exercise is extremely important.
Fitness and Weight Lifting
I can hang with the guys I thought to myself. I can lift more than most girls I said to myself. I want to be strong was my main goal! That was my thinking when I was younger… I’ve gotten smarter over the years…
I used to lift weights at the gym using the typical dumbbells and machines. And then my husband joined CrossFit. Every day he would tell me about WODs (workout of the day) and what they did. I thought to myself - gosh that sounds hard, I can’t do that!
And then I did it…. I did the trial period for 2 weeks…And…it was a piece of cake.
A walk in the park I thought, I know how to workout - let’s do this!
For 2 years my husband and I did the 5:30 am class - I think our class was called the crazies. Because we were crazy to do the WODs at 5:30 in the morning!
We both worked and it was the only time we could fit it in. We loved it! Not only did we get to spend quality time together, we supported each other along the way. We’re both competitive so it naturally went with the environment - even though I’d kick his butt every time!.. Girls rule!
Weight lifting is hard, the body mechanics, precision, and form are the most important. I spent about a year learning the fundamentals of each lift and nailed the back squats, deadlift, and my new favorite the power clean!
Now we have our own CrossFit gym in our house. It’s different though, you don’t have the community to cheer you on. You don’t have the done-for-you WODs. It’s you, in the gym, with the weights.
Motivation isn’t going to help you lift. The snooze button still works. And those first 2 weeks starting out are hard. No, it’s more than hard…. It’s brutal!
Get past those 2 weeks and you’re going to feel more blood pumping and energy coursing through your body.
You’re going to want to wake up and work out because you want to add more weight to your back squat to get to a 1 rep max.
You’re going to want to add another day of pounding those weights to your routine because you’ve noticed that your running pace has improved.
And you’re going to want to add another set just because you feel like it!
That’s weight lifting. That’s getting stronger mentally. Every day, week after week.
It’s a process, not a destination!
Fitness - Sore & Tight
The soreness and tightness kick in. It’s delayed often called delayed onset. So what do you do, you rest.
While training for the half marathon I rested just as much as I trained.
Except I focused on active recovery so that I would continue to have blood flow.
What this did was it decreased the onset of soreness massively. I was able to recover faster and get back to increasing my miles the next day.
Next, I used tight muscles as an indicator for stretching days, or what I would call Thursday - Yoga days. Not sure why but Thursdays usually ended up being yoga days.
I found time to ice my knees and quads in the morning and at night. I found time to stretch at a grocery store while waiting in line. Do you think I cared what I looked like? Nope!
I found time to integrate my active recovery, even if it was walking for 5 minutes. I’d stretch at my desk or while waiting on a call. You name it, I found the time!
Because I knew if I let the soreness truly kick in, it would set me back for days. There were days while doing CrossFit I could barely walk up the stairs where I used to work, and it was at least 4 flights. I’d have a hard time sitting on the couch, I ended up rolling on it instead.
I learned recovery doesn’t have to be the painful soreness that I used to experience. It can be used as a tool to help your fitness. As long as you use it to your advantage!
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Fitness. It’s more than burning calories it shapes your body.
It's more than shaping your body. It expands your mind.
It's more than expanding your mind. It sculpts your day.
It's more than sculpting your day. It becomes your life!
~Rachel
Have A Grapefull Day!