How my arms stopped working

On Saturday, inspired by the Tim Ferris Show Jocko Willink podcast that I listened to last week I decided to start again with a 10 week programme of Bodyweight Exercises. I am repeatedly telling myself that I want to try to get a better level of all-round fitness and strength but always struggle to find the time or a suitable programme to follow. Last year I came across a book and app by Mark Lauren (an ex-US Forces trainer) and, on paper, his course looks well thought out and do-able. In fact, last autumn I completed about 6 weeks of his Basic programme, albeit stretched out over an 8-9 week period but then gave up.

The problem I have with any strength training exercises is that I have practically zero upper-body/arm strength, so I completely struggle with push-ups, pull-ups, dips etc. I remember that last year I found the programme very difficult in this respect, doing less repetitions and easier forms of exercises, and I am pretty sure that it was this difficulty that led me to give up the programme when I did (about the time I was supposed to start doing more-or-less proper pull-ups).

So on Saturday it was a case of starting from scratch with Day 1 of Week 1 which just so happens to be a set of push/pull exercises. The routine involved four exercises – push-ups from a knee-high surface, pull-me ins (holding onto door handles and pulling your body towards the door), seated dips and pull-me ups (pulling myself up to a waist-high bar). Each exercise was done for six 30 minute periods separated by 30 second rest periods aiming for 12 repetitions of the exercise in 30 seconds (so that, in theory, 6 x 12 = 72 repetitions of each exercise are completed). Writing this down does make it seem a lot… Anyway, I dragged myself through the routine although in some cases the number of repetitions I managed was as low as 5 or 6. It was pretty obvious that next time I need to make some of the exercises easier (push-ups from a wall) or lower the target repetitions (aim for 6 x 7 repeats consistently rather than failing to do more).

Immediately afterwards my arms were fine. The next day (Sunday) I could feel various specific muscles in my arms and chests quite a lot. I wouldn’t say they hurt but I definitely knew that I had worked them. Yesterday, my arms pretty much stopped working. In particular, the outer part of my upper arms and the inner part of my lower arms just below the elbow joint were suffused with a burning sensation whenever I tried to move them. Even simple tasks like putting earphones in my ears were VERY painful and difficult to accomplish. It sounds ridiculous and, really, it was ridiculous. I don’t remember things being this bad last time I tried the programme. My arms are a bit better today. I can still feel the muscles that are sore, but things seem to be moving better and I sense a return to normality is in the offing. The snag though is that Day 3 of the routine (I did Day 2 yesterday but that was leg based and okay) is tomorrow, so if my arms have pretty much recovered from Saturday I am going to hammer them again and can’t begin to imagine how they will then feel by Friday…

… and thenI have to do it all over again on Saturday or Sunday!