Solid Madness

It’s been a while since we had a new weekend workout hard enough to write about. We’ve hit Bash regularly, and that’s still a favorite, but not much new to report.

So, Lisa invited the local gang to a twofer on Sunday. The last time we did two workouts in one day Lisa had to leave the country for a while. Not that she was in any danger from our angry, and broken-down bodies, but she leaves the country a lot.

This time, she selected two classes we’re familiar with, and convenient to each other in Old Town Alexandria. MADabolic and Solidcore.

MADabolic in Old Town is on North Washington street. It’s easy to find, and parking on Sunday was plentiful and free.

I arrived first and explained I have been to other MADabolic locations in the past. I also explained we were going to Solidcore later. The looks on the trainer’s faces was like the look people have when they see a man hit in the crotch. They could almost feel the pain.

We used ClassPass, so the gym staff was expecting us and had the usual waivers for us to sign. They also take pictures of us in order to identify the bodies later. Standard procedure.

One of the Meg’s showed us the studio and explained the routine in general. The lobby is small, but the studio is like a warehouse. A great, well-lit space that makes it easy to keep out of each other’s way.

The Meg for the day took time to explain each station in the circuit. Each station had 15 second intervals, with 15 second breaks. Unilateral exercises switch each interval.

Station one was a unilateral dumbbell snatch and press. She focused on form, making sure only the targeted muscles are engaged. The snatch starts with the shoulder to avoid back engagement. Then momentum carries it to a point where you can press up.

Next was the bags. Simple crosses. Lead for one interval, then non-lead. So, I did a right cross for 15 seconds, then switch my stance and did left crosses the next interval.

Kettlebell swings. This is one we all debated about after. The swings we all remember are starting in a deep squat, thrusting through the hips, then swinging the bell up to shoulder height. No upper body muscles should be used other than to stabilize. The arms swing freely from the shoulders.

Meg had us do something like a good morning. Start by leaning out forward with straight legs. The kettlebell remains above the knees and your back and hips engage to move the bell up to just nipple height. Not old braless lady nipple height. You know what I’m saying. Your elbows remain tucked in more than in a standard swing. It requires engaging unused muscles to control the movement, rather than targeting the large muscles. There is a price to pay for this, as I’ll explain later.

Next is plyo push ups. Ironically, Meg worried more about the aggressiveness of these. They had two plate weights about shoulder width apart. The exercise is to jump your hands up from the floor to the plates, then walk them down and repeat. The tougher stations had heavier, therefore thicker plates.

Next is jumping. 15 seconds of simple straight squat jumps, then the next interval is a standing broad jump. I was a little proud I could still cover a decent distance in a standing broad jump. Though, this isn’t in to a sand pit like we had in high school.

Training Meg had a good warmup that started with a run around the block. Lisa ran just ahead of me and John. The “Lisa ran” part is the shock. She did great, in fact. She recently went to a running store for evaluation and got a nice set of Brooks running shoes. I can recommend Brooks, but more than anything we all recommend going to a professional and getting evaluated before choosing your shoes. The shoes do no cost more in those stores, in my experience, and the evaluation is free.

The run was quick but had the desired cardio effect. The next warmup exercises targeted the muscles and movements we’d use in the workout.

We all needed correction on the kettlebell swings. The regulars seemed to know better, but even a few of those had trouble. It just seemed unnatural. I had chosen the gray line, which is second from the heaviest. The lightest kettlebell was 55 pounds. A challenge with normal movement. The second round Meg provided a 25 pound one which made it easier and may have saved my back.

The only other station I had trouble with was the pushups. I naturally did a pushup for each movement. That is, I sprang up onto the plates, then sprang back down rather than springing up and walking down. By the end of the first round, it had taken its toll and I had a hard time controlling my descent. It burned out my triceps more than anything else though. Meg pointed out my mistake of doing twice as many plyo pushups after the first round.

The others were pretty straight forward. Snatching a 50-pound dumbbell is easier than it sounds when the movement is done right. She had demonstrated a little jump at the end of the thrust, but I couldn’t do it. I think my legs can get 230 pounds in the air ok, but not 280.

There was no real cool down period, so we all filed out at the end. No real time for goodbyes.

We dropped our stuff at Lisa’s car and walked the half mile to Solidcoore. It was a good cool down after MADabolic.

This Solidcore is sentimental to the Wheelers. It was April, 2015 when we set out from UFC to explore strange new gyms and workouts. Solidcore, this Solidcore, was the first.

John arrived first and mentioned we just did MADabolic. We were told we should have done Solidcore first. I’m convinced it’s because we’d have never made it to MADabolic if we had.

Our trainer, Meg, was a young man who was friendly and animated. Unlike some Megs, this guy seemed to be naturally funny, friendly, confident, and eager to motivate. He even asked who celebrated Rosh Hashanah, which we had just talked about with Lisa. He was also extremely helpful during the torture session.

It’s been many years since I did any reformer Pilates. For those unaware, the “Reformer” is what they call the rack. The design hasn’t changed. There is a small stationary platform on either end, with a large sled larger sled on rollers between. The sled is connected to the frame using any number of springs, all with varying resistance. Meg had all the new folks connect only one of the lightest springs.

The platform has cables used for arms and upper body work. Upper body exercises on a machine primarily designed for core and lower body seems like the dumbbells they provide in a spin class. Not why you’re there. That’s not the case with the reformer. It’s capable of covering a lot of muscle groups with proper direction.

The theme of their workout was “Bun and Guns” so the cables would get some use. Proportionally, it works out. If you think of the large glutes and quads versus the smaller (Prime Hulk Hogan notwithstanding) biceps, it makes sense to spend a lot more time burning down the larger muscles.

We spent a lot of time at the front, stationary platform in a sort of lunge position. Meg had us forgo the platform mostly and use the floor. We would have most of our weight on the foot on the floor and use the rear foot to move the sled. I truly believe we spent 45 or more minutes on our legs there. First one, then the other. And each leg got 15 or more minutes of constant time under tension in various positions.

Meg did say it was ok to rest when we needed it (5-7 seconds) but between his energy, his ability to be everywhere in the room at once, and the positions we were in, it was hard to find a way to relieve the tension on the targeted muscles. I mean, when all of your weight is on the forward foot, and the rear foot has no leverage, it’s not easy to relieve the pressure. I suspect this is why we were planted on the floor rather than the platform.

We did stand on the platform later and worked a sort of side lunge. Picture a unilateral speed skater movement. One foot on the stationary part and the other slowly pushing the sled away. The sled didn’t offer much resistance. In fact, it was more designed to control the sled with smaller muscles like hip flexors. Like all the exercises, it was easy for the first 30 seconds. The next ten minutes got tough.

I was thankful when he had us move to laying down on the sled and take the black cables in our hands. My legs were losing feeling.

I should point out, Meg did hustle us from position to position. No time to rest between exercises.

We spent some time on arms. Much like the other exercises, he had us burst up, and very slowly release. It was murder on the legs, but I figured my biceps could handle it. After all, we’re not using much tension. I was wrong.

I was able to keep up with the exercises, but it was a lot more draining than I expected. The cable resistance doesn’t seem like a lot, but as smooth as the sled movement is, your body weight does play a part. I’m also more and more convinced of the value of slow eccentric movements. I’ve tried to do more of those on my own, and it feels like my muscles burn out in a lot fewer reps. Anyway.

We next turned to face the front of the room and told to add a black spring. The toughest spring. I did it wrong at first. The black spring is a lot stronger than I thought. Ironically, Lisa had an extra spring on while I had a little less.

This started the ab section. We did planks and roll outs on the sled. I have a decent core for these sort of exercises, normally. This bit where we’d push out an inch and hold, then pull back, tore me up. It’s not called Solid Core for nothing.

Once we were shaking from being pushed to exhaustion, we moved to squats. I remembered these from years before. In the front of the rack facing sideways, one foot on the stationary portion and the other on the sled. Very subtle movements, but the tension of holding the sled out works the quads and abductors to failure.

Adductors and abductors aren’t heavily used muscles unless you’re a speed skater, so the time under tension here was brutal. This is also when I learned that Meg, as personable and lean as he is, can go full Lou Gossett Junior when needed. He seemed quite insistent that we not quit. It was motivating.

In the end he knew he had done his job. He pushed us all to breaking and didn’t let us quit on ourselves. We wiped down our racks, but honestly, they needed to be taken out and hosed off.

We made it back to the front office for our shoes, and Lisa provided traditional apples and honey to toast the new year. Interesting taste combination, but it’s a tasty tradition we all enjoyed sharing.

The next question was where to have brunch. The only real answer was the place closest to us. It was also a great choice. We staggered over to Mason Social.

Don't Judge

We asked to sit outside because we simply couldn’t be around clean smelling Sunday brunchers.

We all worried a little about sitting. There was a genuine concern we’d not be able to get up without help. After a wonderful brunch we did manage to get up. We weren’t well coordinated, and we crept out between the potted plants to avoid walking around through the dining area again.

Lisa insisted we walk back to the cars, and she was right to do it. With all our muscles as tight as a black Solid Core spring, it felt a little like walking through pudding. Slow and steady progress, just a bit tough moving.

I promised to add more about the modified kettlebell swing at MADabolis. The kettlebell swings hurt us all, but they crippled Lisa for a while. Her doctor said her back muscles were so tight they had moved her spine. Two weeks of no exercise, including walking, and she’s getting back to normal.

I think the exercise the way it was demonstrated was meant to target those muscles rather than the larger muscles normally targeted. Trouble is that the movement is unfamiliar, and the back muscles are not used to that sort of work. We’re all told to lift with our legs, which is what kettlebell swings do, but that variation required lifting with our backs.

The moral of the story is trainers like to come up with new and innovative exercises. Just if the exercise contradicts what your body is telling you, listen to your body.

There’s no point in griping about two brutal workouts in one day anymore. They’re both great workouts on their own, though if you have to choose only one choose Solidcore.

We know Lisa well enough that she will arrange even harder workout days once she forgets how much pain she was in. There will probably be no kettlebell swings though. A body remembers.