How to Pick a Challenge and Defeat the Crap Out of It

For anyone who has ever done a plank up + down.

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If you’ve somehow missed all the blog posts about pain and muscle fatigue, here it is: I’m working out on the regular again.

And I love-hate it.

It’s like this awful destructive relationship where I feel good when it’s all said and done but while I’m in it I want to cry.

Traumatic much?

All my pain can pretty much be summarised in one, evil, move.

The “Plank up + down”, or as Kayla’s army call them, “Commandos”.

It sounds easy, but it’s the exact opposite. It’s not that quick, sharp pain you get when you stub your toe or step on a piece of Lego, it’s more like the pain you get after being in a really uncomfortable position for a long period of time.

You start in a plank position, (which is hard enough as it is) lying on your forearms, then one arm at a time, you reposition so that instead of lying on your forearms, all your weight is resting on the palms of your hands.

It looks like this:

It’s a lot of work for your arms and core, but it pretty much requires cooperation from your entire body.

If you’re still sceptical about how hard this is, try it. Try doing it once.

Now imagine doing 10, 20, 30, 40 of those.

This is my current situation. Any time I do a workout and these are involved I cry a little on the inside. They suck.

But.

I refuse to let them get the better of me. I’m going to make sure I beat them. I’m going to practice the crap out of them, starting with one a day, and then one day soon, when they show up in my workout, I will shrug my shoulders and mentally say ‘So what?’

Is there an exercise you dread, or something you know you need to do that you hate doing? Think of a battle plan to help you tackle it. What can you do today to make it that little bit easier next time? Start small and grade up, it’s only impossible if you let it be.

/Femi, The Girl Who Hates Working Out

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