Blog

posted on September 9, 2021

This Saturday we are hosting the Kabuki Open and Union Fitness has a strong group of both men and women participating. Cody and I also planned to compete in this meet together. This would be my first powerlifting meet in two years and the first time competing in a lighter weight class. Meet prep was going very well and I was very excited to see how my total compared to previous competitions.

Once in the hospital, though, the thought of competing became so irrelevant. Truthfully the thought of doing any kind of exercise scared me. Now that I am home and recovering a little bit more each day Cody and I have started discussing a plan, but it still scares me. The core controls everything, and right now, I have little to no strength in that area. I am also not allowed to lift more than 10lbs which knocks me down to one of our littlest fatbells.

During this time, I am trying to remind myself that I am going back to the basics. The VERY basics. I don’t have a timeline and will more than likely progress as I feel it is time, but I do have a general plan. Deep breathing causes me to cramp and hurts right now so first and foremost I will be starting with belly breathing. This is going back to the very beginning and something I have not done in quite a while. Isometrics like planks and band work will follow. Walking is still very encouraged so I will continue to make that my main source of daily movement. I may even start to play around with yoga (Cassie 😊). This will be a time to regain strength and stability in my core but also a time to explore some avenues of fitness that I never have before. The fear is turning to excitement and I look forward to what I may learn throughout the process.

You may not find yourself knocked down to the very basics, but situations like this happen to all of us. Whether a different life event takes over for you, vacation or holidays become the focus, or you simply fall out of routine, there will always be a bump within your training. It may feel disheartening if you are doing what you love or confusing if you don’t know any other forms of exercise, but either way it will be a lesson that makes you better than before. There are so many ways to move so I encourage you to play around with different methods when you find yourself in this type of situation. First and foremost I believe exercise should be enjoyable because all of it will benefit in some way, so next time you find yourself here, make it fun and enjoy the process.