One-on-One Training

I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that I was the only one that showed up to CrossFit last night. I knew my sister wouldn't be there, and one other guy has been sick since last week, but I wasn't sure about the few others that make up our small group. The trainer and I waited a few minutes to see if anyone else would show up before getting started.

Warm Up:
200 single unders
20 squats

The workout was similar to what we did last Monday. And as most workouts are, they look easy on paper, but suck as you're doing them.

1 minute for each exercise, then rest 1 minute - 5 rounds
Push ups (modify - on knees)
Sit ups
Squats
Burpees (modify - just went out to plank; no push up)
Power Wheel roll outs
Jumping Jacks

I admit to sucking at each workout. I'm still doing push ups on my knees and never got comfortable with my hand positioning. For sit ups, I did them with the bottoms of my feet together and knees out to the side; arms were straight with hands overlapping, and an arm swing that went from no further back than my face (when laying down) to arms reaching as far as I could between my legs. It was a struggle to keep my feet together and to keep my heels pulled into my crotch. Squats I did okay on, but my breathing was "off". I should do a burpee challenge just to get used to doing them. For the life of me, I can't squat down and put my hands right next to my feet before jumping back to plank. And when coming back, I can barely jump my feet up to my hands without turning my left foot out. I do it almost every time. The roll outs were my first time ever doing them, and it didn't look as pretty (or as easy) as it does in infomercials for the "ab wheel", but is a nice core workout when done correctly. I focused more on using my core than attempting to get as far out in the layout position as I could since I know I wouldn't be able to pull the wheel back. And there's no resting on jumping jacks; no bent elbows. Flap the wings from top to bottom and feel it stretching your lats!

I knew from doing a similar workout that it wouldn't be easy. Combining a bunch of bodyweight exercises that I'm not good at and making me do them under the watchful eye of Tony left no room for slouching. With others in the room, it's easier to take a breather if someone else is. But when you're the only one in the room, there's a ping of guilt. It was good motivation and I kept moving from one exercise to the next with little rest; only enough time to try to catch my breath. The little encouragements he gave throughout the workout helped even if my form wasn't the best nor was I knocking out the same amount of reps each round. Sometimes just finishing is enough of an accomplishment.

I had some time until Pilates and worked on some shoulder dislocators and then used the dowel to work on my overhead squat form. I finished the night with an hour of Pilates. I wasn't feeling as tight in the shoulders as I was on Friday when doing short spine and got in some good cardio as well as a nice core workout.

Having a small group to train with is nice. I like to zone out and do my own thing, but there's enough people around to motivate each other. And I don't feel like I'm under a watchful eye, being scrutinized, when I'm the only one there. I'm sure it would be pointed out if I was doing something terribly wrong, but for the most part, it's just nice to receive little reminders about fully extending my arms, sitting back on my heels, or keeping my core tight. It's nothing like a personal trainer, but I get the personal attention I need and appreciate.