Day 24 - Middle Splits Challenge
"The body is an amazing organism"
I woke up and began whole-body stretch drills, paying special attention to the shoulders & lower back because a lot of bodyweight exercises/movements need strong & flexible shoulders and lower back.
From there, I sequed into the middle splits warm-up drills.
The Training
By now, the warm-ups are a delightful routine; I started the favorite ones lying on my back and before completing the ones required on my knees, I completed some straddle leg lifts.
After I was done with the knees and frog, I stood up and put each leg on a high surface, stretching the hamstring, glutes, and lower back (by dropping my head to touch my knee).
I completed the warm-ups with leg swings.
The Experience
During warm-ups, I felt some soreness in my hip flexors; I guess the mixture of daily middle splits, horse stances, and front splits was causing some soreness.
I initially felt annoyed about the soreness (since I knew they would impact my training) and a few mins later, a beautiful thought crossed my mind:
"Would you train your biceps, chest, or quads daily for strength? Don't you typically alternate their training days so they can have resting days to respond to the new load?
And more importantly, don't you experience soreness on those muscles for a few days after training them?
Why do you expect anything different for the hip flexors & glutes being stretched and compressed daily?"
With that thought came 3 realizations:
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I cannot control when the goal will be met; all I can do is continue with my training UNTIL the goal is met.
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I should not push too hard; if I push too hard, I will not enjoy the sessions and if I don't enjoy them, it will be much easier to quit them and the goal will never become a reality.
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When designing any physical challenge/goal, I must build rest days into them as a necessary component.
And with those realizations, I started the session.
In the 1st set, I felt the most soreness; by the 3rd set, the soreness seemed to have dissipated.
The 4th and 5th sets went by as well.
As usual, I was in a pool of sweat.
However, the most amazing thing was that I seemed to perform well without putting a lot of pressure on myself; it also seemed quite fun.
30 seconds later, I started the front splits training: 60 seconds on each leg, 60 seconds rest, 2 sets in all.
After that, I went for my headstand training; slowly raising my legs straight & tucked, working on my core & stability.
From the headstand position, I bent my knees so my feet are on the wall and I walked them down the wall slowly, into a backbend/bridge position.
This gradually works the back muscles, preparing me to be able to handle backbend/bridge positions soon.
Losing weight, acquiring more skills, becoming more flexible and strong, it all feels great!
I can't wait to see what the future holds!