Oh Gobi. 
.
40 mins I hope you do better than my team did last week with your champs defence.
Lyrics: yes Wabo, having a platinum moment there. And yes yesterday to SGQ - I used the same ones almost a year ago to the day. Even 'yes' to Gobi's rather sorrowful unused lyric yesterday. AND I knew Donald Where's Ye Troosers, thanks to being Of a Certain Age and listening to Children's Favourites - latterly known as Junior Choice. I'm on a roll!
Track tonight. Sunny!
Coaches, instructors and the like seem determined to kill me off at the moment. I dread to think what the Queen of Pain has in store for me on tomorrow affie.
Yesterday's torture merchant was my Pilates teacher. A whole hour and a quarter of her undivided attention, as there was no other booking. The smallness of the movements made no way reflected the amount of effort and concentration involved.
My two main 'naughties' are a small section of my left abs around the waistline area (tranverse) and weak shoulder rotators and serratus anterior on the right. It is such hard work getting the these muscles to fire, as others - stronger and more flexible - are determined to take over.
One exercise looks so simple but had an astonishing effect when I 'got' it. Sitting on a box arms by my sides, palms facing backwards, each entire hand in straps. Then pull the arms backwards - against resistance of course - but only about 15 inches/ 38 cms. Jodie nagged, prodded, corrected and encouraged. I sat up out of my hips - this involves really contracting transverse, pulling up through the pelvic floor and somehow growing an extra inch bewteen the hip bones and ribs. Basically the spine extends to its happy proper length for that position. But it hurts because we're just not used to sitting up straight.
Then I had to open across my collarbones. Ok, it sounds painful if not impossible. My shoulder blades have a tendency to wing (I look like a bloody chicken if I'm not careful) This pulls my back in, as the muscles tighten and shorten. But we got there. My upper back widened out and flattened. I looked in the mirror and laughed with astonishment. My upper body looked entirely different - I was a veritable triangle from shoulders to waist. Result! Waist looked tiny against strong, wide, straight shoulders.
COR!
Ain't half hard work though. I was a limp rag by the time I left.
