Yogaaaa---ouch!
So I've been hitting the YMCA two to three times a week for a few weeks now, on my days off. Yesterday I was excited to get there because I'd decided to try something new. It was a class called "gentle yoga". My brain stressed gentle which is why my body agreed to go.
I got to the gym about 45 minutes before the class was due to start so I could knock out part of my cardio workout and get good and warmed up. After four and a half miles on the recumbent bike I was sufficiently soaked in sweat and felt great! I had to go into the locker room to stash my iPhone (which entertained me during my cardio with an episode of Futurama on Netflix) before heading up to the yoga room.
Now I've NEVER attempted yoga before. So this was a little scary but still pretty exciting. I was one of the youngest members in the room, only one other gal that might have been under the age of 40. She was nice and spoke to me making nice. A couple of the other ladies spoke to me as well, one who was on her second visit to the class and who encouraged me to just go with it and only do what my body tells me it will do.
So the class finally starts and things don't seem so bad. Gentle, relaxing, peaceful... then the "warm up" is over and it's time to start moving from one painful pose to the next. Now I'm sure it's not painful for someone who is in shape. But for me, ouch.
I did my best to manipulate my body into the seemingly impossible poses, some of them making me laugh out loud which in turn made some of the other ladies lighten up and laugh as well. I did put my whole effort forth and I felt pretty good by the end of the session. I was like, "yeah I can do this... Gi-Gi the future yoga queen".
After class I headed back down to the fitness center room and knocked out another half hour of cardio on the treadmill and called it a day.
Then came this morning. I woke up bright and early but found it very difficult to get out of bed. Actually I think I struggled for about 5 minutes just to get my body to the upright sitting position. Muscles I didn't know I had hurt... badly.
No pain no gain, yadda yadda yadda. I will go back next week and give it another whirl. I"ll just take a dose of Tylenol before and after to help prevent this muscle pain.
I got to the gym about 45 minutes before the class was due to start so I could knock out part of my cardio workout and get good and warmed up. After four and a half miles on the recumbent bike I was sufficiently soaked in sweat and felt great! I had to go into the locker room to stash my iPhone (which entertained me during my cardio with an episode of Futurama on Netflix) before heading up to the yoga room.
Now I've NEVER attempted yoga before. So this was a little scary but still pretty exciting. I was one of the youngest members in the room, only one other gal that might have been under the age of 40. She was nice and spoke to me making nice. A couple of the other ladies spoke to me as well, one who was on her second visit to the class and who encouraged me to just go with it and only do what my body tells me it will do.
So the class finally starts and things don't seem so bad. Gentle, relaxing, peaceful... then the "warm up" is over and it's time to start moving from one painful pose to the next. Now I'm sure it's not painful for someone who is in shape. But for me, ouch.
I did my best to manipulate my body into the seemingly impossible poses, some of them making me laugh out loud which in turn made some of the other ladies lighten up and laugh as well. I did put my whole effort forth and I felt pretty good by the end of the session. I was like, "yeah I can do this... Gi-Gi the future yoga queen".
After class I headed back down to the fitness center room and knocked out another half hour of cardio on the treadmill and called it a day.
Then came this morning. I woke up bright and early but found it very difficult to get out of bed. Actually I think I struggled for about 5 minutes just to get my body to the upright sitting position. Muscles I didn't know I had hurt... badly.
No pain no gain, yadda yadda yadda. I will go back next week and give it another whirl. I"ll just take a dose of Tylenol before and after to help prevent this muscle pain.
Comments
I'm 50 years old with rheumatoid arthritis and I'm afraid of the pain.
I'm thinking I need to start doing something to drop some of this weight I've put on, so I'm going to turn to FitTV and see if I can find a "gentle" way to do it.
Keep up with the downward dog!