Today’s HIT session was a repetition of Workout #1. I met with my trainer and he adjusted the machines to fit my height and body type. While he was setting things up, he told me to mentally prepare myself. He wanted me to stay focused throughout the workout and to give it my all. It’s a reoccurring theme with him.
I started with the chest press and slowly pushed off. After 5 reps, I was dying of pain. I tried doing another rep, but froze in place. The bars fell back about an inch and I wasn’t able to push past the half-way point. After my workout, my trainer told me that it was really important to keep the muscles in my face relaxed and to keep breathing. He said that if I didn’t keep the momentum and breathing going, I would freeze up. Shortly after – the weight would fall backwards. Once that happened, I would not be able to complete the rep. While analyzing the video footage, I realized he was exactly right. In the instances where I let the weight fall back (even as little as 1-2 inches), I did not complete the last rep. Meanwhile, when I kept breathing and continued my movement, I slowly pushed past the freezing point and completed the rep.
After the chest press, I got on the lat pull down machine. I started off well, but after a couple of reps my trainer informed me that my form wasn’t consistent. When I initially sat down, I didn’t secure my knees properly and kind of struggled to readjust myself while in the middle of the set. My trainer told me that was a mistake and that it was important to keep proper form throughout. I took a few seconds, readjusted, and continued on. I completed 5 reps. I tried for one more, but only completed half so I did not count it.
I then moved on to the shoulder press and finished my set while panting. I completed 4 reps on the shoulder press. I tried for 5, but could not complete the 5th rep.
The bicep workout came next. It consisted of a set of 5 reps.
Leg curls followed. I did a complete set of 5, tried for 6, but could not finish the 6th rep. After finishing the leg curls, I moved on to the leg press machine.
As I did the leg presses, I felt a slight pain in my calves. They still weren’t 100% healed yet. According to the HIT philosophy, you actually need around 7-11 days of rest in between workouts. This gives all your muscles time to recover (usually 3-6 days) and also time to grow (6-11 days). During the beginning stages of HIT, it is not as big of a deal because you’re usually not able to exercise with the utmost intensity, but as you progress to a higher intensity, it’s important to get the proper rest. Even with the pain in my calves I completed 7 reps.
Although I did not puke up anything today, I still felt dizzy after the workout. I sat down for around 5 minutes before I was able to walk. And if you’re wondering, the workout was painful. I just didn’t want to keep mentioning it because that can get a little redundant. Today’s workout was only 10 minutes and 23 seconds, but as you know – it was an intense 10 minutes and 23 seconds. That’s the whole premise behind it and with the briefness comes a price. Are you willing to pay it?
