Gym rant is out of the way. Tuesday I am going to attempt PT with the Jomsborg Elag. They started this a couple of years ago to benefit the members that wanted to take their training beyond the weekly or biweekly weapons training. They told me that I would definitely cry. I will definitely vomit. Most of them do, twice a week. There are a lot of large body movements involved, some kettle bells, free weight plates with handles built in. The workout is meant to condition with goals of being the best sword or ax fighter one can be. I'm not going to be fighting with the Jomsborg army, my talents and skill are better served in the Hearth faction of the Jomsborg.
Permanent muscle is built up, that being what has been explained to me as if you have to stop training, your body doesn't spiral down to its original pre training state but minimal loss happens. This takes a long time to achieve.
Major muscle groups are worked but there is more emphasis on the stabilizer muscles. for example: juggling a 10 lbs medicine ball back and forth in your hand with your arms bent is easy. Juggling a 10 lbs ball in your hand with your arms held out straight in front of you, not so easy. it completely changes which muscles you punish.
Teamwork is a huge factor. the group work is meant to motivate and bring you tighter together as a team. The "25 minute thing" is a perfect example. 3-5 people in a group. 100 push ups, 100 lunges, 100 side straddle hop (jumping jacks), 100 crunches/sit ups... any combo of body weight exercises. All group members have to complete it all in 25 minutes. However, if one can only do 50 pushups, another who is done with his will knock out 30 or so of your push ups and you finish your last 20. All reps for all people have to be completed as a unit.
They are not fucking around. The only other female to try this is a lot leaner and more fit than I am and she tried it once and decided that she was not ready for this level of PT. They dont hold it against you if you are not ready but they do encourage you to get back up to the point where you can come back and bring the beast with the rest of them.
Its sort of like being thrown to the wolves but they do not throw you weights that are too heavy for you right away, I will probably be working with just my own body weight on Tuesday for just about everything. I'm not afraid to get ugly around these men. They are my family. As brutal as the PT is, it is overwhelmingly supportive and non competitive. Failure is the point of all this. To work the body to failure and then do just a little bit more. I'm terrified, its going to be a huge thing for me. It is also meant to not just rework your body's blueprint but also rework your mental schema that holds you back from your full potential.
I have a lot of unwarranted anxiety about this. It is unwarranted because of how supportive my brothers are for us. I'm crying right now just thinking about all of this, wondering what is going to happen next week. I'm confused because I don't know if the tears are from fear of failure, fear of hurting myself, disappointing my brothers, disappointing myself, disappointing Zac, etc.... Or are they from just not knowing what to do with their gracious offer and enthusiastic willingness to allow my fat ass to train along with their warriors. They have all taken Zac and I in with open arms and hearts. I guess the thing that I have to overcome is deciding that i deserve that affection, praise, help, health, effort,... Shit, I have a hard time buying a 99 cent eyeliner because I don't think I deserve to have it.
No comments:
Post a Comment