For the last year or so I have felt like I have been cheating. Ignoring my first love – running and completely obsessing over my second – CrossFit. People have tried to guilt me into going back into running and I miss it terribly as well. There are two primary reasons that I haven’t been able to take it on again. The first is my chronic knee injury and the second is my unabashed love for strength training. In our country the only thing we ask of our women is to be thin. Diet, walk even run but stay thin. Well, as a long distance or any kind of runner I can assure you that is the easiest and most certain road to enduring injuries. I wish someone had told me this.
During my recent and very hectic trip to Hampi and Gokarna, I realised how much strength & mobility training and eating better is helping me. The 5-day trip was physically demanding and action packed. Anyone, who’s been to Hampi would know how much walking it involves, plus we were climbing boulders or small hills twice a day to see some of the most stunning sights and sunsets. Gokarna involved one of the best hikes of my life yet, so beautiful that I almost had tears in my eyes. Anyway, let me get back to the reason why I decided to write this article. Despite the hectic schedule and challenges we faced,
1) I didn’t once have any pains or aches.
2) My back didn’t hurt even once in the 10 hours we took to get to Gokarna from Hampi in a not very comfortable vehicle.
3) I didn’t get any cramps at all despite using all my energy to run up 500 steps in as less time as I could.
4) At no point I felt that I can’t go any further.
5) I didn’t experience any kind of stiffness throughout my trip.
6) Let me not speak of the woes of others in the same group
No, I’m not trying to say that I have turned into some superwoman. But I could feel how strong I have become in the last one year. And how conscious I have become of feeding my body well. Simply taking out a dedicated 1 hour, 3-4 days in a week has reaped benefits beyond belief.
And I’m eating more than I ever have. It’s just that I’m naturally choosing and craving good food. Fried eggs, fruit bowl or a plate of idli for breakfast over paranthas. Chicken sizzler over pizza for lunch are just some examples I can think of right now. I don’t remember the last time I added sugar to my tea/coffee even though I do give in to sugary drinks once in a while. The difference is
1) I feel lighter and higher on energy.
2) I’m less cranky on most days. But this hasn’t been able to help my PMS days though. Let me know a wonder drug for it if you find any.
3) I used to have a lot of acidity issues and I’m experiencing lesser episodes of that.
4) I’m in better shape than I ever have been.
3 Comments
Totally agree to what you’ve said. I started strength training after i joined the running group here in chennai.. and like u said, i felt little or no fatigue after a full day of exploring Hampi.Not just Hampi, but any other travel that I do. And that happiness when we see ourselves strong is something unmatched. 🙂
Totally in sync with what you said about strength training. All types of exercises benefits us in different departments. May be the best way would be to combine them all in a good way to get maximum for the body. Only contention which I like debate is that .. how is idli better than paratta? Both are carbs and if paratta is well made isnt it same as idli or rather better than idli as wheat fills u longer than rice would
Hey thank you Lakshmi. When you are eating home cooked meals, then paratha is fine but on a trip when you are mostly eating at shacks, then parathas are usually made of maida instead of wheat with whole lot of dalda/butter rather than ghee (unless you are in Punjab ofcourse :)). I found idle the safest bet in terms of carbs.