After the regular assessment, we have a very honest but brief conversation...about Arthritis. And it all came with a warning - stretch now or suffer later.
I know I am stiff...and I am sure that he (as well as my trainer) has seen various degrees of stiffness before...but I get the impression neither one of them are impressed with my poor range of motion.
This poor flexibility is a hidden but oh so obvious problem for me. I can tell for sure that it is because of this poor range of motion that I cannot seem to advance with my weights and movements in the gym. Try as I might, and as confident as I am, I cannot seem to add much more weight to my squats and deadlifts. And the best way to describe it is that I am so focused on the movement because I do not trust my ability to do it as it should be done with a heavier load. And I will be damned if I will be that girl in the squat rack that does 1/4 squats with 3x my body weight just cuz it looks awesome that I had all that weight on the bar (there is a girl with a body weight similar to mine at the gym who does this and I absolutely cringe every time she does a squat with 240lbs because her form is pathetic and shallow - to each their own though).
I don't think I am the only one who goes about our lives, complaining of being inflexible but never really committing to actually stretching on a daily and continuous basis. It is honestly the first thing I will give up and it is the first thing I will cheat on if I want more time in the gym. But when I was told that if I do not do something about it right now that I am intentionally setting myself up for arthritis problems in later years - I cringed. That is a scary idea and worse part about it is that much of it can be prevented. I have taken on so much to change my lifestyle to be more wholesome and active for the sake of long term, improved health, but never really actually considered just how important this may be as well.
So with a plan in place, I attempt to incorporate yet another thing in to my day. I have to be honest - I'm not very hopeful with this one (it will be about as hard as trying to drink 6-8 glasses of water a day for me!). I am going to have to seriously change my attitude and priorities to fit this in. So I hope to do a little research to help me along as well - I find this always help understanding and commitment. Regardless - I have a lot of work to do before my next appointment and I hate to disappoint.
Excuses aside - I best get to the floor and S T R E T C H!
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PS - Day 4 of clean eating! No artificial sugars or sweeteners - only fruit 1-2 times per day! Feeling great and always full!!!
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