Squad Day 51, Blade Day 4: Boxing
The level of heat with which I showered last night could only be described as Lava Mode, where the cold water was a trickle and the hot water was cranked all the way over to full blast. By the time I had the kids in bed, I was well past being able to pick anybody up, and just pulling drawers out from the dresser had me swearing from the barking ache of my muscles. All up and down my back, my arms, my shoulders, my core, my quads and hamstrings and glutes; all of me was so sore and struggling. My eyes were also heavy starting at 7:30pm, my brain going into shut down mode because my body was so exhausted, the only remedy was a boiling hot shower and an early bedtime.
Waking up this morning, the sore had dissipated to about half of it’s intensity from last night, but I am still very much aware of which muscles have taken the most abuse this week. Tempted to take a rest day, but determined to finish out Week 1 of Blade, I got myself dressed and ready to workout.
Today we have Boxing drills for Blade Day 4, and while my arms still feel like they may fall off, I’m excited to get some more practice in. Tuesday’s Boxing drills had me feeling so pumped, so excited for finally reaching this level of workouts, and I loved feeling so powerful. I noticed so many improvements during those drills, in my coordination and my balance, my aim, and my breath. I wasn’t really ready for how sore those drills made me, I had forgotten how many muscle groups go into throwing a solid punch. Don’t worry, I’ve been reminded, as I’m still sore in a lot of those places two days later. Not letting it deter me though, I’m getting my butt outside to throw some punches for sure.
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The fact that I can be so sore, and still want to workout still floors me. I am 100% a comfort body, I have strong feelings against being uncomfortable. I have lamented for hours, the discomfort of jeans, of tight clothing, of belts and buckles and high heeled shoes. In terms of Fashion, I lean heavily towards oversized sweaters and stretchy pants. And as far as the weather is concerned, anything over 65F is too hot, and anything colder than 35F is too cold. So the idea that I could enjoy getting sweaty and having sore muscles pretty much constantly, is a startling concept.
I did some shoulder articulation before heading outside, because I’m so sore, and I didn’t want any lingering tension in my shoulders before I started throwing punches. I spent a few minutes more than the warm up in the video stretching out my sides, lats, triceps, and back too, because all of those areas are still sore from Tuesday’s Boxing. Feeling limbered up, I pressed play and got to work.
We started out doing footwork and focusing on pivoting which foot was leading, how to move in on an opponent and move back out again, twisting on the balls of our feet. Then into 2 steps forward, then back, while leading with your punches. It took me a minute to get my timing right, but with some focus on my breath it started coming naturally. Just like on Tuesday, my breath lined up with each move almost effortlessly, and it streamlined everything.
It was only a few minutes in, and already I had that adrenaline rush coming in hot. There’s just something about throwing those punches, getting those combinations down smoothly, and seeing my hands hit the same spot every time, the way it gets my heart pumping and the way I can feel that power radiating down my arms with every swing. It’s like music that my muscles recognize from some past life, and I can’t help but throw everything I’ve got into it.
Adding footwork to the punch combinations changed the game, I wasn’t sweating as profusely as before, the coordination necessary for making it come together smoothly took some time to slow down and focus before it was timed right. But once I got it, the flow was comfortable, almost natural for me. I remember feeling this way about kick boxing when I finally got past the work of it; that some people are just born fighters, and this type of work comes naturally to them, and I might be one of them. Coming from a family of artists and city folk, I’m the odd duck who finds adventure and fighting to be a thrill.
Once we got comfortable in our footwork, we added a knee drive to our combinations, and I wished so hard that I had a bag or a sparring partner to go to town with. Trying to drive a knee into thin air is a bit trickier than driving that knee into a bag, or an opponent with a pad. After a few rounds of that, we added in an Elbow drive, and I had flashbacks for a minute of getting nailed in the face with one of those in kickboxing all those years ago, and coming home with my first broken nose. The efficiency with which you can utilize your funny bone to destroy a person’s day is always shocking, and if you haven’t been on the receiving end of one of those elbow throws, consider yourself lucky.
Between all these drills, we took active rests with Middengard Wyrm Planks, Bear Marches and Lunges. They were a nice reprieve from the punches, and my arms were feeling like overcooked noodles by the time we reached each set. Arms feeling super heavy and ready to fall off of my body, I was tired when we finally finished drills. Today’s workout was only 20 minutes long, but it felt like an hour, probably due to how sore I was from the get-go. I was glad I pushed myself to get through today though, there’s nothing like the feeling of accomplishment when I get through something hard, that I maybe wasn’t feeling super motivated for at first.
With week 1 of Blade almost done, I’m kind of amazed that I’m getting through these workouts! The intensity just keeps kicking up a notch every day, and while I’m definitely out of breath by the end of it and sweating buckets, I’m always a little impressed with myself that I got it done. The progress I’ve made is amazing, even to myself.
I’m long overdue for some progress pictures, and my best friend is coming by to visit this afternoon, so I’ll get her to take some pictures for me. I know that progress pictures are helpful in being able to see the changes happening all over my body, but it’s still hard for me to take them. I’ve disliked myself in photographs for years, and that can be a hard headspace to shake myself out of.
When the sun comes up, Yrsa and I will go for our walk, and hopefully we will beat the Trash Man again. Trash day is always a struggle to get us through, with so many delectable smells emanating from the neighbors bins, and then there’s that delightful trash juice that leaks down the road after the truck leaves, and Yrsa just cannot seem to help herself. Hopefully my arms aren’t completely dead and I can wrangle her away from such temptations and save myself the task of having to wrestle her into the bathtub.
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