I usually stick with a particular workout for awhile.  This way I can track progress and get some mastery of the techniques.  Thought it’s good to have some consistency, it’s possible to stick with a program for too long, and that’s something that I’ve been known to do.  Now and then, it’s good to break things up and start again so that your fitness level doesn’t become stagnant.  Do you hear that, people who have been doing the exact same benchpress-centered routine with the same amount of weight for ten years?    But when trying something new, you can end up sore for a little while!  Or a long while!  I’ve decided to publish some of what I’m doing in my own workout to illustrate what this is like, track my progress, and add some silly asides for good measure.

Usually I’m very careful with form, amount of weight I’m lifting, and all those good practices.  But I ignored my own advice when starting my latest workout plan.  It was largely a conscious decision – despite my usual caution, once in awhile I like to experiment.  I got an ab wheel, one of those little devices which is a small wheel with handles attached to each side.  You essentially roll it out in front of you, and you can use it for pushup-like movements that work the abs and core very hard.

I’m thinking, my abs are in pretty good shape, so I’ll try one rep going all the way forward from a standing position.  You essentially roll out really far forward until you’re in a prone position with arms extended, but holding yourself off the ground, and then you try to roll back up.  I know, it’s nuts!  Anyway, about halfway down, I knew I was in trouble.  My abs flexed about as hard as they ever have, and it was like a white-hot pain down there.  I fought hard, but could not keep myself aloft, so I bailed out and tried to land as softly as I could.  My abs hurt for several days after that.  Generally I’m in very good shape; I could only imagine how bad it would have been for an untrained person to try that.  Can you say “emergency room”?

After the abs healed up a few days later, I tried again, but this time going from my knees, just like the kind of pushups that are recommended before you can do full pushups.  It turned out that this was the answer – still a surprisingly hard exercise, but feasible, and I cranked out 5 reps.  And we’ll see if I can work up to the full advanced rep, following the credo “trainer, train thyself”.