Can you tell that I was pumped up after going to the gym today? I mean, I came home and knocked out a product review in no time flat because I was psyched! I felt great. So great, in fact, that the only thing reminding me of who I really am was the bathroom mirror. I felt like a jock again!
Can I have that feeling back? I mean it. I really miss how I felt, and it didn’t last as long as I wanted it to. Sometime between the Fitbit review and my afternoon pear, the adrenaline-inspired dream turned into reality. I noticed “reality” when I bent over to pick up the pear stem that I dropped on the floor. Those wonderful-feeling legs from before now felt like old, rotten rubber bands that were ready to snap at any moment. It started as a twitch and ended as a softball-size knot of a cramp in the back of my hamstring.
I sat down as fast as I could get to a chair (the floor looked better at the time, but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get back up), and I rubbed the cramp as hard as I could. Finally, it went away, but it seems like that moment just marked the beginning of sore-Hell. I didn’t use every muscle in my body, but I assure you that every muscle ached and groaned. They still do even as I sit here to share my feelings.
The good news, of course, is that I took it very easy. It’s all fun and laughs to joke about soreness, but what I feared most — that one thing that made me feel nauseous when I pulled up to the dojo and to Gold’s Gym — was how my bones would take even the slightest exercise. Kyoshi Xanghai worked my right arm with some basic conditioning work for breaking. I did right around 100 strikes to the pad using the 1-inch technique. The focus is on how to align my body correctly so that physics could supply ample force for breaking. Then, we just talked about Tai Chi and the spiritual side of Chi. We also talked about the importance of breathing and how Yogi masters master breath control. This spiritual side is exactly what I’ve been searching for since I was about twenty years old. I thank God that He has put Kyoshi Xanghai in my life.
Funny, though. It wasn’t my work with Kyoshi that made me so sore. It was the casual stationary bike that had to have done the damage. I didn’t even ride that hard, and I stopped at thirty minutes. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever believe that an easy bike ride could do my whole body in like it has! It just goes to show you what three years of inactivity can do to a body. Again, my hips are fine. During the whole process, I didn’t push them by adding much resistance. I used my head and didn’t try to “take it like a man.” If I’m going to do this, it’s going to have to be smart or I will end up in the hospital before I know it.
So, now’s the hard part. Tonight, I go to bed, and tomorrow, I’ll wake up much stiffer and sorer. I know I won’t want to stretch. I won’t want to meet Kyoshi. I will not want to do another thirty on the stationary bike. But I’m going to do it. I know I can do it , and with the right focus and mental attitude, I’m going to push through. I have to do it for me, for my boys, and for my loving wife. That glimpse of a person I could become after I worked out today is the person I will become full-time in the future. That’s what I must work toward without fail this time.
