When we started working out we didn’t know much about anything. Any muscle that was aching after doing a workout with multiple squat variations was called a “squat.” Hamstrings are squats, glutes are squats, quads are squats.

I still do a lot of squats. They still make my squats ache, too. Today my squats are really aching!

Lower body day at the gym. As I was doing my warm up on the elliptical I watched the trainer drag a bench, some weights, and a body bar over by the mirrors. We did iron crosses with five pound weights – start in a squat with your arms in front of you, move them to the sides as you stand. Then regular squats while holding 17.5 pound dumbbells. Oof, getting tough. Then a sort of variation on Russian hamstring exercises. Kneel on the lat pulldown machine and hook your legs around the pads. Use a body bar to balance yourself, and lower down. This is precarious. How I didn’t smash my face I’ll never know. Then lift your body up using your hamstring muscles. Tough stuff.

But I had the hardest time today with single leg squats. I just couldn’t get my body to do them! I know I have trouble with body and spatial awareness sometimes, and even with all the mirrors and different arrangements I just kept falling over. It was so frustrating. I knew what I wanted my body to do but I just could not do it.

After three sets of those exercises I told the trainer I was all squatted out, and we switched to abs for the rest of the workout. When my legs are tired it’s really easy to focus on abs because my quads are too pooped to join the party. I did alternating toe touches, crunches with a medicine ball, side twists with the medicine ball, bicycles and leg lifts. It felt good to really bang it out. My core is like a sack of cement!

Today’s Workout

Total time was about 40 minutes.