I’ve turned the fitness quest up a few notches the past month in honor of Project Bad A$$. As a result, my poor body has been aching in places that I didn’t know could ache. I’ve been as stiff as an old creaky gate preparing for a good Halloween scare. When I stand up, I sound like Billy Crystal in that scene from City Slickers. Oyyyyy!
Yeah, you get the picture. As hard as Crossfit has been, there was also a nice bonus that I learned in the fundamentals class. The value of stretching, foam rolling and pressure point massage. Crossfitters play hard but they also believe it’s important to take care of yourself too so that you can continue to play hard.
This is an area that I haven’t given much focus on despite the suggestions of Trainer Man and now Crossfit Coach. My mindset is typically burn the calories as hard and fast as possible, and everything else is not worth the effort. Trainer Man wants me to do slow and easy bodyweight squats and lunges in the mornings to loosen up. He’s been after me for weeks on this. Crossfit Coach wants me to foam roll and massage after workouts.
Wow, there must be something to all these suggestions! 😉 Yes, I’m hard headed at times. This is definitely an area that I need to focus on in my fitness quest. I have a foam roller. I’m looking at it right now, sitting there mocking me. I just need to use it! I even went out and bought a few lacrosse balls to work on pressure point massages. Yes, it hurts so good when I roll on that hard little ball.
I need to take a lesson from The Kid and take full advantage of my leisure moments. She even multi-task relaxes with a pedicure and a good book. There are no excuses for me anymore. I can stretch, roll, and massage while watching TV in the evenings and then feel much much better. If I’m less stiff and sore, my workouts will be less painful and I’ll get more out of them.
I know I’m stating the obvious here but I’m also mentally convincing myself of this. I am setting a goal to foam roll and massage every night for the next week. Seven days. I can do this. I need to think of a reward if I meet the goal. Other than the reward of feeling great, of course. Maybe I’ll take a hot yoga class as a reward. That would be perfect!
Do you massage and foam roll? Do you have anything that you need to work on in your fitness life that you struggle with but know you should? How are you going to make it happen? We need to be like Nike and Just Do It!
This post was brought to you by Fitness Blog World. Make sure you check out the other perspectives around 8 pm ET tonight for things we need to work on in our fitness lives and tips for just doing it.
Speak Your Mind