So I’m going to admit something to you
as well as myself -- I’ve finally reached the age where I need to analyze and
identify the aches and pains I get from working out into different categories. Let me explain.
When our youngest child started college this
past fall, my lovely bride and I decided to start working out with a
trainer. We both regularly went to the gym
previously. How much different could
this be?
Let me tell you. Way different.
Our trainer kicks our butts. He works out muscle groups we literally didn’t
know we had, and pushes us (in an encouraging way) to do more, longer, faster,
etc. than we previously did before we started working out with him.
Which brings us back to the aches and
pains.
Now whenever we start a new workout, our
trainer asks where we “felt it” after our prior workout. This is the kind way of checking that we were
effectively working out the muscle groups he was aiming for. If he was focused on abs, then he wants to
hear that we were sore there. If it was
leg day, he wants to know we hobbled around like cowboys the next day. You get the picture.
These aches and pains he describes as
being “good sore”. Meaning that if we did
the exercises properly, we should be building new muscle in the areas he focused
on. And while he is always careful to
watch our form (“flat back”, “chest out”, “feet forward”, “bend lower”), he also
wants to know that we’re pushing ourselves at each session.
At the same time, he also wants to know
if anything he does with us causes us to be “bad sore” – meaning we injured
ourselves. When/if this happens, he focuses
our next workout away from the injured area, and pays closer attention to form
to make sure we keep these kinds of injuries to a minimum.
So to sum up, “good sore” is good. It is our goal. And if we don’t get “good sore” from a
workout, then we need to be challenged more the next time. “Bad sore”, of course, is bad and should be
avoided. Got it?
Wishing you all days full of being “good
sore”.
Rudolph
Oh I get this!
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