One definition for adaptation is “the changes made by living systems in response to their environment”. Two days ago I put this definition to the test and today suffer the consequences.
As is true with many of life’s experiences, we grow more and faster the greater we stretch ourselves. We seek challenge, and often independent of whether we succeed or fail we improve ourselves as a result of facing the obstacle. In this case my challenge was given me by a friend. It wasn’t a cerebral challenge, but rather one of flesh and iron.
Enter the kettlebell.
The kettlebell is little more than a cast iron bowling ball with a kettle-like handle. Dating back over a hundred years, it is one of Russia’s oldest sports / exercises. Very functional in nature, a kettlebell workout has you moving this cast iron pood (the iron kettle that traditionally ranges in weight from 35 to 105 lbs) under, over, and around your body. When it was first explained to me I suspected it was just another fitness fad. But after just a little research I learned that it is an old and respected means to strenuously exercise one’s body. I also quickly learned it was quite a challenge.
And as I said above, most of us do enjoy a good challenge.
My associate took me through his workout. Within 45 minutes I was completely exhausted. I could also tell that there would be at least one day of reckoning for challenging my body in this new fashion. I was whipped. I am motivated to try this again, for the soreness I have experienced shows me one thing that is certain; I used my body in ways my regular training does not. The result will be, in a word, adaptation. My body will grow and rise to this challenge.
This of course is exactly what we all want, or at least need, from our exercise routines.
Give me another day or two of recovery and I will hit the kettlebell again. If this proves as fruitful as I expect, I will write about the details of the workout and pass on my (hopefully less painful) experiences.
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