I made an important decision...well, maybe not to you. But to me.
I recently altered my workout schedule from 5 days per week to 4 days per week. This is giving me more time at home to get chores done and relax and consequently helping me be less stressed and anxious, which I think we all can agree is a major win?
New plan:
Monday - lift (currently on dumbbell rows and overhead dumbbell presses), core work, mobility
Tuesday - REST (this can include walking to or from the bus, shoulder stability, yoga, and mobility)
Wednesday - CrossFit, core, mobility
Thursday - REST (see Tuesday)
Friday - CrossFit, core, racquetball, mobility
Saturday - CrossFit, mobility
Sunday - More Happy REST!
Yesterday was a Thursday and I was crazy sore from my attempt at Diane (and also my successful handstand pushup). Thank God it was a planned rest day.
I was at the office for over 10 hours and was ready to be done for the day. I ate a crap ton of food for dinner (1 spinach salad with dried cherries and olive oil, 2 eggs with 1 piece of prosciutto and half a piece of Swiss cheese on an English muffin, 2 MORE eggs with another English muffin). I say your body is a pretty good judge of what you need. After the first round of McMuffin, I had some water and waited a little while and read Self magazine. When I still definitely felt hungry, I went back for seconds. I didn't feel at all stuffed or like I overate. Clearly I needed those calories!
Wednesday I'd made myself a small list of To-Dos for Thursday evening. I tend towards two extremes: either make a huge list and leave no time for relaxing, or make no list and waste an evening being totally unproductive and later kick myself for it because I get stressed the next day. I limited the list to 5 things:
Take out trash/recycling
Unload dishwasher
Reload dishwasher
Fold laundry
Yoga/mobility
I got everything done except folding laundry. I realized we were set on clothes at least until Saturday and if we needed anything...we could dig it out of the baskets of clean clothes.
I took a bath instead of folding laundry.
Massage bar (works in place of post-bath lotion) from my dear friend Meghan. Apparently this one is for people with "tired muscles and busy brains." Yes, that would be me. It smells like lavendar. Mmmm. Poirot murder mystery from the library. Not precisely a Christmas present but definitely crucial for relaxing.
Bath bomb from my sweet sister-in-law, Lauren. You want a bath bomb, too? (Of course you do.) Here's the one I had: LUSH party popper! It makes fun fizzy and popping noises and looks pretty and smells incredible:
After bath bombing, reading, and lavendaring myself to bliss, I threw on the comfy sweats Jared bought me at H&M. They make me feel like a little kid cause I think they look like Jasmine pants...they swell out before bunching in at the ankles.
And then I busted out 15 minutes of moblity and another 10 of yoga. Great way to celebrate a rest day!
You tell me: How many rest days do you program per week? Do you notice emotional burnout before you see physical burnout? What's your favorite way to unwind?
It's 12/12/12!!! That means...time for some mobility talk! (Scroll way down if you just want the recommended work for today and not the human interest bit.)
You may or may not know, but I have anxiety disorder and suffer from anxiety and occasionally from severe panic attacks. It was like hell when the disorder first really started acting up in February of 2011, but thankfully a dear and wise friend encouraged me to see a doctor and a therapist. I got help and am generally much better (and currently not on meds - woot!) but every now and then, I have a REALLY bad day.
Yesterday was just one of those days. We've had some stressful weeks, and I've been feeling more and more anxious in the last few days. Yesterday morning I woke up after a great night of sleep and felt really peaceful and all, "today will be a great day."
And then I went to work and about an hour into my day went into a colossal downward spiral of a panic attack that came and went for about 3 hours.
This one was brutal. I was crying in the bathroom at work (always gotta love that) and had that feeling of a claw gripping my heart.
Thankfully I have some dear friends who I can always text and ask for wisdom and prayer. I'm embarrassed to say this particular attack was largely brought on by my own selfishness and sin in a particular area - being bitter and not willing to forgive and leave somethings up to Christ.
Why am I telling you this and what does it have to do with mobility?
Well, first off, I ALWAYS want to remind people who suffer from anxiety: YOU ARE NOT ALONE. There a probably lots of people in your life who seem "okay" who suffer the same debilitating fears that you do. And it is really important to get help! See your doctor and depending on their opinion, see a therapist! Getting help is not quitting or being weak - just like in CrossFit, you get stronger and better by working on things and putting in the time and practice with qualified experts.
Second, this is a stressful time of year for most people, whether you fight crazy mental stuff or not. All that stress REALLY takes a toll on you! Our little selves can't distinguish from physical and emotional stress...and one big side effect of stress is a TON of tightness throughout your body.
I had a great talk (and cry) with my wonderful husband who picked me up at the office so I wouldn't have to bus to the gym. I was tempted to just go home and wallow, but he encouraged me to come to CrossFit and just scale everything so I wouldn't push my body too hard. He thought that would be healthier for me to get to move a little and also to see all my dear friends at the box.
Back to mobility - lots of options for you today!
I got there WAY early and got to watch some of the CrossFit kids class and work on mobility for almost a half an hour. Boy did I need it! I worked my shoulders, lats, IT bands, hamstrings, back - it was a huge help.
Then it was time for the class!
Normally I would have used #75-#85 for the squat cleans, but I went with #45. Coach Allison told me to try to get each set of squat cleans and burpees under 15 seconds. Done. She said my hip drive is getting a ton better - even on burpees!
I had planned to use #45 for the thrusters, but I was feeling pretty good after the squat cleans. I figured it was only 15 reps total, so I'd go for #65.
The thrusters went well, but the handstand pushups killed me. I got ambitious and thought I'd do them to 2 #10 plates instead of my normal 2 #15 plates. Well, I couldn't get ANY with the 2 #10s but wasted a bunch of time and energy trying. I had to go get a #15 in the first round to to 1 #15 plate and 1 #10 plate, but by the 2nd or 3rd round, even that was too tough. My toes to bar were good, though, thanks in large part to this Matt Chan/Chris Spealler video.
My time was pretty slow, but I got some good work done and was SO glad I came.
Post your time for the mobility work in the comments! Also tell me if you have any good "stop the madness" tips for panic attacks - I always love hearing new strategies.
