Conditioning...or Torture!

So, I show up to the trainer on Tuesday morning (remember - 5:00 a.m.). She pulls out this rope ladder and lays it on the floor. First thought, "This looks like fun" :) No cynicism or sarcasm, I thought it looked like fun.

She says,"We're going to do something different today. Lifting weights and strength training are good, but sometimes you got to mix it up a little. So today, we're going to do some conditioning."

Fun.

First activity, hop on both feet all the way through the ladder and back. Ok.

Second activity, hop one foot first, then the next in the same square and use that same starter foot all the way down. Ok. Not so simple at 5:00 a.m., but we do alright. Now, do it again - FASTER!

Third activity, do a diagonal cross-over back and forth down the entire length of the ladder and back. Repeat. HOLY SMOKES - I felt like dancing with the Stars and all the hip action and twisting and stepping on MY feet! I had to laugh because it's morning and I had a tiny bit of flactuation I was trying to hold in but that's really difficult when your hopping and jumping....need I say more...good thing the floor was a bit squeeky!

Fourth activity (ok - we're not even close to being done yet!), hop on both feet as fast as you can. Start on the right of the square, hop into the square and then hop to the left of the next square, into the square and then to the right of the next square, etc... Go faster! It simulates the action one might take while skiing. I felt like I was skiing down the Alps, but because my balance was a little off, I kept getting faster and faster trying to catch myself and then hit the center square. (My trainer must have just thought this was too easy for me and upped the speed on me!)

Ok. We're done with the ladder. Phew! I have sweat pouring down my legs and arms and forehead! My deodorant already lost it's fighting battle (not a morning deodorant - needs more sleep!)

Let's move out to the main room with all the "serious" weight lifters. (You got to be serious if you're in at 5:00 a.m. - just for fun!). She picks up this huge round ball and shows me how to do a squat and then throw the ball on the wall and catch it and go into a squat and throw the ball...she usually demonstrates in slow motion so I can catch the motion. So I'm thinking the reason the ball didn't bounce back too hard was because she "lightly" tossed it against the wall at 10 feet off the ground. Yeah right! She "tosses" the ball at me - no kidding - it's a 12lb medicine ball! I almost dropped it.

Ok - one set (15) of those monstrous squat/toss and then she puts me on the climbing machine. 1 minute. How hard could that be? YOU TRY DOING A CLIMBING MACHINE AFTER THE ROPE OF TERROR AND THE MEDICINE BALL OF DEATH. My arms were like linguini and my legs were just being obedient to my brain. That's about all I have to say about that!

Well, I won't go into the rest of the routine (yeah there's more...), but It was a long morning. My body hurt so bad. Even today, 2 days later, my pecs and deltoids are sore! My legs are still a bit weak. Then, we go to the gym today - REPEAT!