Muskego Muscle: Working Out the Pain-Gain Equation

There are a million slogans I've seen on T-shirts that come to mind after my first three boot camp sessions with our friends at Accel Fitness in Muskego:

No pain, no gain.

Pain is weakness leaving the body.

Just do it.

And they all apply, quite honestly...it's just the reality of going through it doesn't make my obviously under-utilized muscles feel any better. 

After reporting the good workout of last week Wednesday, I staggered through Thursday wondering how useful I was going to be on Friday.  Sitting, standing and nearly every position in between required some effort and from muscles that were supposedly used to being used, I was feeling rather pathetic.

However, after a round with foam rollers prior to Friday's class, I was in far better shape to participate in another series of exercises.  A foam roller is like a swim noodle, about twice the thickness.  The idea is to lay across it so it presses on your legs to roll or knead them, which is initially another painful process.  Corey Paskiewicz, owner and instructor at Accel said the action helps to break down lactic acid in the sheath surrounding the muscle, which causes pain.  The pressure also helps to promote blood flow to the muscles, which helps speed the healing process.

I was also happy to learn that it's not because I'm 46, but because it's normal. Exercise physiologists refer to the gradually increasing discomfort that occurs between 24 and 48 hours after activity as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Again, a short stint crawling over the foam rollers prior to class enabled me to again do those deep lunges, and with decent speed.

Prior to this class, and ongoing, Paskiewicz said continuing to keep moving and drink water is key in lessening the effect.

The aftermath of the second class was much better than the first, and I was surprised that the upper body focus of this class did not affect my ability to lift.  This likely means that I could've worked harder...sigh.

Our Monday class featured the same four rounds but instead of six exercises, there were seven, and Wednesday's class looms with the promise (or threat) of a longer workout.  Paskiewicz called the session the '1000 rep challenge' incorporating jump rope, push ups and sit ups among other exercises - all the classics.

While I can't promise to get to 1000, I will certainly try to perform well enough to again not incur serious injury.  After all, sore arms might limit the ability to lift forkfuls of turkey on Thursday. Just kidding.