Cross Training

Today, after months of separation, the gym and I were reunited. I decided to take attend a class in honor of the big occasion, Total Body Workout, to begin weaving some cross training into my routine. Wikipedia defines cross training as "training in different ways to improve overall performance." Perhaps more than anything else, this class worked my mental stamina realllll hard. Here are some mental notes from the experience:

• I rarely do any type of weight training using my upper body. Obviously, continuing to not do this type of activity will allow it to continue to be very difficult. Nevertheless, almost the entire class (in MY opinion) focused on the upper body. I actually can't effectively do a "real" push-up normally....so putting myself in that position for such a long period of time was ROUGH! I was proud that I was able to hack it as much as I did (although it didn't look that way...and I did quite a few sets of eye-rolls at the instructor when he continued to rattle of exercises that required me to put myself in said position).
  
• A very important practice stressed to teachers: MODEL. The instructor was just fine listing the ridiculous arm exercises he expected me to do as he walked around the room...with his arms dangling at his sides. WHAT? Validation for the aforementioned eye rolls, I'd say....
  
• Nevertheless, he did say one big thing that really stuck with me: For one exercise, he asked us to grab our weights, and, being far enough into the workout that I was fading, I took my lighter set (notice I will just use comparative words, not give the specific weight amount...). Almost as if he caught me, he reminded us we can always switch to a lighter set if we need to once we start...and surprisingly enough, I listened to his advice and switched to my heavier weights...and I was able to do the exercise with them!

Learned lesson of the day? A larger % of "it" than I'm usually willing to admit is actually mental. That...and sometimes it's much easier to just push through than to stop and try to start again. Surprisingly enough, I may even attend next week!