I asked if we could do arms. We were due, I thought. "By the way," I said, "if you want, I can grab my boxing gloves. I brought them along."
J's eyes lit up and he practically oozed the barely-contained glee of a kid on Christmas morning.
That should have been a tip-off, but if I've learned one thing on this journey, it's that I never learn.
How paradoxical.
So I went for the gloves while he went for the TRX bands.
What are those? I hear you asking. Well, I'll tell you.
TRX is a system of suspension training. It uses your own body weight in various creative ways to work the muscles. And boy, does it work the muscles. My gym has a big contraption that looks a whole lot like a jungle gym, monkey bars and all, and the TRX bands are attached overhead. There's a whole host of exercises that can be done, working every body part, and I'm of the firm opinion that until you start working body weight, you're missing out.
While many nights we super set (sets of two exercises performed back to back, then rest, and repeat) or giant set (sets of three or more, then rest, and repeat), tonight we did a full circuit that incorporated both weight and cardio. We used a similar strategy a few weeks ago, on legs, and I neglected to tell you all about it. I was probably too afraid to remember.
It was murder, is what I'm saying. Tonight was, too.
J had me start with bicep curls on the TRX bands. What I did was take a handle in each hand, palm up, and I put my feet way out in front of me, so I was leaning back against the bands with my arms outstretched. Like this:
Then, without moving my upper arms or letting my elbows drop, I bent my arms so my hands ended up beside my ears, like this:
Without resting (much), I flipped around. Instead of leaning back on the bands, I was leaning forward onto them, like this:
From there, I lowered myself into my hands and performed a push-up.
Both of these exercises are variations on a theme. They can be done without the TRX suspension bands, of course, but the TRX bands add the extra difficulty of stability. In the push-up particularly, the chest muscles not only need to help in pushing the body up, but they need to work overtime to keep the hands from splaying out or up.
"I'm going to fall on my face, you know," I said as I dropped into my second set of push-ups, arms shaking.
"People will think I beat you up."
"I know. I'll need to come up with a reeeeally good story for that."
From the push-ups, we headed for a nearby bench and J handed me a 20-lb kettlebell. I laid back and performed a simple one-armed chest press.
Last in our circuit came the boxing gloves. I had the hope, going in, that J had familiarity with boxing. Not everyone does, and I really wanted to get the most out of this experience.
By the third (and last) run through the whole circuit, I was no longer thinking that.
We started on the bag with a simple combo, left-left-right hook. Neither of us were impressed with my left jabs, but my right hook had some respectable power behind it. We danced around the bag a few times, then paused and regrouped before moving on to the next combo.
Next, I took on a right cross-left upper cut combo. We circled the bag in the other direction. This combo felt a little easier, because my left shoulder is considerably weaker than my right, and the left jabs were very tiring. Had a hard time keeping my left from dropping.
Lastly, with hardly a pause, it was a flurry of jabs for what felt like five minutes (but was more like fifteen seconds). The first and second full circuits, it was okay. And by okay, I mean "Only burned a little, it's okay, I can walk it off."
The third and final circuit, though, I could barely lift my arms. J was yelling at me, "GO! GO! Come on, Lisa!" and leaning the bag into me. The jabs were pretty feeble, but I was rocking the angry face something fierce.
Getting tired during training pisses me off. I push harder, I hit harder. I like getting pissed off during training. Funny how that works.
Anyway. Three times through the circuit was it, and we'd used half our time. So J grabbed a 25-lb kettlebell and started me on bent over rows. We hadn't done enough with back, he said.
Greeeeeat.
We supersetted the rows with another TRX move, in which I assumed a position similar to the bicep curl position. Instead of gripping in an underhand manner, I held on with an overhand grip. From here, I pulled myself up, elbows behind me, hands to my chest. Repeatedly.
Mercifully, we did only two sets of this. I couldn't lift anymore.
Oh, and then we did abs. A set of v-ups alternated with crunches, done twice. And I was toast. If J said anything else after those measly two sets, I don't remember. The brain was gone.
It felt good. Really good. Beating on that punching bag makes me so happy I can't even explain it. It brings out the fighter in me, which is what I need on this journey. I get angry, I get frustrated. I need to have a safe place to put it. Here it is.
And now, J has another exercise to add to his bag of tricks. "Just wait, I'll be having all my clients doing this. And when they hate me for it," he said, "I'll point right at you."
Burden: Accepted.
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