Most of the time I really quite like my personal trainer, Hetty Alton.
The couple of hours a week when she's putting me through my paces at Fitness First, resulting in my face turning various shades of red and purple as I gasp for breath aren't my absolute favourite, but I can live with it because it's all in a good cause and I can't hate anyone who's going to help me fit into my dream wedding dress.
This week though, she's not my favourite person. And that's because after a particularly hard session walking is really rather painful, and climbing up and down stairs is agony - which is fun when you live on the top floor of a Georgian building without a lift.
Despite my moaning however, Hetty assures me that pain is a good thing because it means that I've pushed myself and the end result will be that I'm fitter and stronger. I don't feel fitter at this moment in time, but I'm choosing to believe her because it makes it slightly more bearable!
The session which caused the pain was on two days ago and I returned to the gym again today for my second session of the week.
Given that it's my thighs which are hurting I couldn't believe that getting back on the exercise bike would be a good thing, but Hetty assured me that actually it will help and explained to me, in very simple terms, what's happening to cause the discomfort.
Part of the pain is due to small tears in the muscles, but a lot of it is because of the waste products, like lactic acid, that are getting trapped in the muscle. So while cycling may seem like it would exacerbate the pain, actually a moderate period of time on a low resistance will actually help because it will stimulate blood flow to the muscles and help them flush out the waste.
Another thing that Hetty advises to help the muscles flush out the waste is a home version of hydrotherapy. When you take your post exercise shower you should alternate the water between hot and as cold as you can bear in short bursts of around 5-10 seconds which will cause the muscles to expand and contract and clear out all the things that would otherwise make them hurt.
The other thing that Hetty advises after exercise is to try to keep active. While the temptation is just to go and collapse that will just make everything worse, according to Hetty. If you can keep moving for the rest of the day - even if that just means getting up and walking around the room every ten minutes or so, it will help.
And, Hetty stresses, that unless you are an elite athlete it's important to rest the muscles. So if you've done an intense lower body work out, don't focus on that area again if the muscles are sore. Instead try something different.
Which is why today it was my upper body that was targeted in my workout.
As a result I'm fully expecting to barely be able to lift my arms tomorrow. That's something to look forward to!
↧
