New Lifting Cycle Today! Immense Pain Tomorrow.

Devon switched up our lifting today to a rehab cycle. He claims it is for several reasons (one even benefits me!):

1) He has several ongoing injuries--always good to rehab them.
2) It is a great way to start the new year!
3) He said a bunch of stuff I forget about it being good for my weight loss goals. Seriously, it made sense at the time, but my mind and body are mush now.

He actually said #3 first. Which I appreciated. He considered his lifting buddy and her goals while choosing his next routine. That was thoughtful.

Now, let me tell you about the REHAB CYCLE. It sounds so lovely. When I hear 'rehab cycle' I think, give your muscles workouts that help them recover and rebuild stronger. The spa of workouts if you will. The equivalent of terry cloth robes and cucumbers for your tired eyes.

Nope. Not even close. It is AWFUL. Horrible. Painful. I will point out the positives and the negatives.

Only 2 sets of each exercise: positive.
25 reps each set: negative.
Each rep is slow, 4 seconds to be precise: negative.

Ok. So at this point, we are doing 2 sets, 25 slow and miserable and painful reps each. By rep 15 I want to curl up in a ball and cry. By rep 20 my muscle is on fire. At about rep 24 I am whimpering (literally and audibly). After rep 25 I typically curl into a ball for a few seconds.

Wow! That sounds awful! Oh, but I am not done. The REHAB CYCLE likes active recovery. So, rather then resting while Devon enjoys the misery, I jump rope during his entire set. Of 25 slow reps.

Jump roping: negative.

We are at 3 negative, 1 positive. Oh wait, the benefits to your body (+1) and the feeling of intense accomplishment when finished (+1) make it a wash. ::sigh:: Fiiiiiiine.

Here is what we did (all 2 sets, 25 reps each except biceps & triceps--those were one set each):

Squat Press: 360 lbs
Lying Leg Curls: 40 lbs
Seated Row (Precor): 30 lbs
SM Bench Press: 45 lbs
Lat Pulldown: 40 lbs
Seated SM Shoulder Press: 35 lbs
BB Bicep Curls: 20 lb BB *1 set only
Cable Triceps Pushdowns: 25 lbs *1 set only

The weights are all considerably lighter than normal because I did TWENTY-FIVE slow, miserable, 4 second long reps each set.

I am in a world of pain. I think it is good pain. Walking hurts. And it doesn't *just* hurt. I walked the length of the gym and back to get a print-out about an hour after my workout and wasn't sure my legs were going to function the last 25 or so feet. Moving my arms hurts. While raising my arm over my head while stretching it went almost completely numb. I think it was a coping mechanism my body used to stop the pain, personally. :)

Next workout: cardio with my girlz tomorrow. If I can walk.