Workout Recap - Week of July 24, 2022
Well, my Muay Thai classes are definitely a new sort of challenge. I went at them too hard and got a bit banged up before accepting that my enthusiasm had to be reigned in, but even if I wasn't interested in them as a means of learning how to fight (which I am), I felt good enough about how the experiences that I'd have no regrets about signing up for the longest commitment that the place offered (six months).
Of course, it's easy to say that when I am interested in them as a means of learning how to fight, which my research suggests takes about six to eighteen months for most people to be ready for amateur competition (that part I'm not interested in, for clarity; I mean "learning how to fight" in a self-defense context). Anyway, I'm rambling.
Monday
Muay Thai class
This was fun! I mean, sure, my jumping rope was a struggle, my punch/kick form had some rough spots I'll need to clean up, and I ran out of gas during a push up finisher at the end of the class, but overall, I feel like my conditioning held up decently for doing something completely different than anything else I've done since getting serious about fitness. I got some bruising on my insteps, but a little discomfort isn't anything that I can't work through.
Tuesday
Muay Thai class
Tougher class today (it ran longer since they canceled the boxing class that would normally follow it), so my conditioning definitely broke down more during the calisthenic finishers, but I still liked what I was able to do. I seemed to do a little better with jumping rope at first, but it might've just been a lucky streak since I was back to being an uncoordinated mess before long. On the plus side, though, I did feel a little better about my punching and started getting more consistent with focusing my weight on my round kick cheat steps into the ball of the foot to help it pivot more easily. The overall volume of work is causing my body some damage (I ended up with light bruising on my knuckles and shin and significant bruising plus swelling on my insteps), but I was planning to rest on Wednesday anyway, so hopefully that all recovers well enough to get back to cracking pads again later this week.
Thursday
Type: Pass/Fail
Pull Ups - 2 sets of 5 (pass)
Straddle Squats - 2 sets of 10 (pass)
Straight Leg Raises, with hip thrust - 2 sets of 15 (pass)
Bonus: 20 squats
Well, while my hands and shins felt ready for more, my feet still need more time to recover, so I just tried doing something that would go fairly easy on them while still letting work through some calf DOMS. Frankly, this was too easy of a workout, but I was depressed about needing to skip the class, so it was either this or nothing.
Friday
Type: Pass/Fail
Pull Ups - 2 sets of 10 (pass)
Bridges - 2 sets of 20 (pass)
Straight Leg Raises, with hip thrust - 2 sets of 30 (pass)
Bonus: 10 minutes jogging
Still dealing with some bruising/swelling (it doesn't hurt much, but aside from looking ugly, I'm taking the difficulty I have fitting into my socks and shoes as a sign to ease off), so it was back to some more calisthenics. At least I did ramp up the intensity to something more appropriate this time around, and I feel like bridges tested my feet better than squats would due to the greater offset between the ground reaction forces and my body's gravity load. Not recorded is that I also did some light hopping and marching afterwards, and it all felt good, so I'm taking this as evidence suggesting that I didn't break anything and just need to be a bit more patient.
Saturday
Type: Pass/Fail
Handstand Push Ups - 2 sets of 15 (pass)
Pistol Squats - 2 sets of 5, each side (pass)
Straight Leg Raises, with hip thrust - 2 sets of 30 (pass)
Bonus: 50 seal jacks
Honestly, I probably could've gone to the class on this day, but I decided to play it safe and wait until Tuesday for that (since Monday is a statutory holiday here). In the mean time, my body is continuing to respond well to everything I'm throwing at it, so that's positive. I'm glad that I didn't need to hurt myself more severely to accept that it's ok if I do only two or three classes per week to start out. There's plenty of time to let my body adapt before jumping up to the eventual five-to-six classes per week target.
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