My Kettle Bell Kicked My Ass

I was feeling very motivated yesterday during preschool time, which is pretty much the only daytime alone time I get all week. I thought about taking a walk or going to the gym in my community. Instead, I thought I'd workout with my kettle bell.

I can't remember when I bought the kettle bell. I think it was early in the spring, so at least six months ago. I had been watching a marathon of the British version of The Biggest Loser and the trainer used kettle bells for the workout. I ran right out and bought one - and it's been sitting in the box in the corner of my family room every since.

So yesterday I decided to try the kettle bell. It came with a DVD, so I popped it into the DVD player and got ready for my workout. The DVD ended up just showing you how to do the exercises. I did them. No big deal. I had bought a pretty light kettle bell - "only" 10 pounds. The nice lady on the DVD (with the very skinny body and huge muscles) talked about how your lower back shouldn't be hurting if you are doing the exercises right. My lower back did not hurt. I did lots of squats with the kettle bell. Okay... a fit person wouldn't consider it a lot, but for me, 20 is a lot.

Last night, my legs hurt a bit. I took a long, hot bath and felt pretty good. This morning, though, my legs and back are killing me. I'm sitting with the heating pad on my back as I type this. I'm probably going to have to go take another hot bath. I'm pretty sure the kettle bell was used as a torture device back in the middle ages.

But... I did walk/run on the treadmill this morning. I did some stretches and do feel a little better since I exercised. And you read it right... I ran. I walked for 3 minutes, then ran for one minute. I know it's not much, but it's a big deal for me. I hope to be able to start running on a more regular basis. My husband has been running regularly for a couple of months and has lost quite a bit of weight. I'd like to lose 10-20 more pounds, though, before I run outside where people can see me.