A Visit From Charlie

…Charlie Horse that is. What the hell? But let me get to that in a moment.

I got home from work on Tuesday and the weather was a little too iffy to attempt another bike ride outside. Michael worked on the garden outside, filling the composter, and I went back to the trusty ol’ Nike Training App workout. I checked out the new Law & Order LA (I love all the shows) while I worked out at home.

I did the Action Figure workout on the app and was dripping in sweat within 10 minutes. The High Knee Runs and Straight Leg Kicks will make your thighs burn!

Instead of the “Recover” portion I did the Bosu Ball as an “active recovery.” Michael recently bought a Bosu Ball to do his physical therapy exercises at home. He’s had back/hip issues since December and the weekly physical therapy has really helped him a lot! Our lives are so much better now because of it. On the Bosu Ball I stepped up, then stepped down to the side and repeated to the other side. I don’t know what you’d call it, but it works the hips.

I did a bunch of those exercises on the ball whenever it was “Recovery” time on the app or it was an exercise I knew I couldn’t do. For Example: the Ski Jump to Cross Back Lunge. I skipped that one because it had “This Will Cause Knee Pain” written all over it! Plus I was already doing quite a lot of squat variations with this workout.

I like the Sumo Squat with Press a lot. I was able to do the Plank Row to Rotation (which made me pretty happy). And Michael walked into the living room when I was doing the Modified Burpee. He commented that I was able to do the Push Ups the “real way”–and a lot of them! All this time I’ve been discounting my efforts and saying that I couldn’t do pushups when in reality I CAN do them! And for real, too. I think all the weight lifting I’ve been doing has paid off.

Confession: I didn’t feel anything when I was doing the Reverse Crunches. I wonder if I did them wrong or something? And the Inch Worm to Push Up felt like a waste of time, so I swapped in the Modified Burpees for that too.

After 30 minutes of the Action Figure workout, I was ready to hop on the bike trainer. I was feeling really good about my abilities thus far. I also burned a nice amount in that 30 minutes:

I hopped on the bike trainer and did another 40 minutes on the bike. That’s when it happened: The Charlie Horses! Oh my god, I’ve never experienced something like this before. It happened as soon as I started pedaling. I had a weird cramp in my right calf muscle. It stopped pedaling and it went away. Then it happened in my left calf muscle. I looked down at my form to see if it was something I was doing but I don’t think I was pedaling in a weird way.

I kept pedaling and in about 5 minute intervals the cramps came back. They’d only last a second or two, and they weren’t painful enough to make me stop cycling. But I honestly can say I’ve never experienced something like this. What is it?? Am I lacking something in my diet? (I heard that bananas can help cramps.) Did I do too many squats before getting on the bike? Not enough water? Someone PLEASE tell me what the heck happened.

Whenever the cramping came I slowed down the rotation of my pedaling. I don’t feel like I got a very good workout on the bike as a result. I probably didn’t even do 10 miles last night. It was pretty disappointing considering I have my sights set on training for 40 miles next month!

Stats:

Time: 1:13

Calories Burned: 613

Despite the Charlie Horses I burned a nice amount in the hour. Even when I was running a lot I never had Charlie Horses. I am totally baffled by this phenomenon. I finished up with some stretching and then Michael’s old roommate, Shoe, stopped by. He hung out for a bit and it was really nice to catch up with him. While we were all chatting I was fixing dinner. Check back this afternoon for the amazing recipe! I love this new recipe I tried. So tasty!

QUESTION: What the heck happened with my calves???