Today was a Mobility class. I didn’t know what to expect for it, other than I was told it would be like a massage.
Turns out, that description was pretty accurate.
We started off by putting 45 pound bars on the rig at mid-thigh height. Then we spent time working on our glutes and hamstrings, one side at a time, rubbing against the bar. Essentially, we were rubbing our butts and legs on the bar as if it were a foam roller, finding the sore spots and working them.
Oh, and the class started out in the dark.
About 9:30 this morning, the power went off at my apartment, so I rather expected that the crossfit gym, a mere three blocks away, would also be without power. And it was. The only light came from the emergency exit lights and the windows. You could see alright, but it was dim, a napping ambiance.
I think I was more relieved than anyone else when the lights came on around 10:20, because that meant that the heat would be back on when I got home.
After working the hamstrings and the glutes, we took the bars off the rig and sat on the floor to work our quadriceps. We did that by resting one end of the bar at the top of one thigh and rolling it slowly down to just above the knee. Then place it back at the top (don’t roll up) and repeat.
Ow. Ow. Ow.
I knew my legs were sore and torn up, but I had no idea just how bad they were until I rolled that bar down my legs. I actually woke up last night around 1am with my right quad hurting so bad that I needed to take an Alka-Seltzer before I could get back to sleep. Even knowing that, I was surprised at how much this hurt. And it hurt on the left as bad as the right.
But after we were done, my legs felt a bit lighter and looser. I’ll just need to do that for about three more hours each leg and maybe the pain will go away…
The next set of exercises worked on our hips. First we did a test squat, and then we used bands and the rig to stretch first one hip, and then the other. Next, we got kettle bells and held them while squatting, letting our elbows drive out our knees, and then pushing our knees in for a ten count before letting the elbows open them up again. And repeat. Finally, we squatted again to see how the exercises had opened up our hips. The second squat did feel a lot easier than the first.
The last thing that we did was partner shoulder stretches. I partnered up with another woman about my height, and she started on me by pulling my arms up as I laid face down with my arms over my head.
I forgot to warn her that I’m a tiny bit hyper-flexible in my arms. My shoulders made a couple of loud pops as she pulled up and she thought she had done something wrong, or broken something. I thought it felt great! We got through the rest of the stretches without any more scary noises, and that was the end of the class.
I feel better than before the class, but I also have a greater awareness of where I’m sore. I’m going to keep working my legs with my foam roller at home today.
I have no doubt I’ll still be sore by tomorrow morning’s WOD.