Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Swing Batta Batta Batta Swing!

So on Sunday I went to Game On, a bar in Fenway Park for a batting cage event. I had thought we would be hitting balls in Fenway Park (must've totally misunderstood their post), so I was a little disappointed when it was just a batting cage in the bar. But it was still fun. I got two turns up at the batting cage and they served us lunch too.

And let me tell you, I'm seriously sore now. My forearms feels like I held something in vise grip for hours, rather than just taking a swing at 20 balls (and connecting maybe 10-12). And my obliques are on fire every time I turn the least bit through my core.

Now, thing is, I cand understand the forearm pain, since I don't work them that often (except to support things like pushups). But the obliques shocked the hell out of me. I can normally do abs until the cows come home, whether it's crunches on the ball, bicycle crunches, planks, or what have you. Granted, I don't do as many abs as I used to since I'm now teaching boot camp. But still.

Regardless, it was fun, and I feel like I got some exercise out of it!

7 comments:

Barbara Gavin said...

Maybe we should all go to the batting cage a couple of times a month?
I am always fascinated by the surprising aches and pains that a new activity leaves me with. I think I am in decent shape, yet two days in the White Mountains leaves my quads on fire. What were all those hours on the Stairmaster for?

So, yeah, batting practice for us all!

romny said...

I play tennis on the Wii and my arms hurt afterwards!

The Lethological Gourmet said...

I went to a party on Saturday where I play Wii boxing and man, it tuckered me out! I wasn't sore the next day, but my shoulders could only take one round.

Barbara, I had to climb the stairs at Porter one day, and I was amazed by just how out of breath I was. I mean, seriously, I teach step aerobics! And my calves hurt afterwards!

Charlotte said...

Sounds fun!! Love that sore feeling. Happy Thanksgiving!

Hoarse Whisperer said...

Try adding overhead lunges and squats to take care of the oblique soreness issue. I always add them before snowboarding season. They make explosive turns a lot smoother and I am never sore anywhere in the core afterward. They will also strengthen your shoulder girdle like nothing. Oh, and I do the overhead work standing on the floor not on a bosu ball :)

Interesting you mentioned the Porter sq. station! In spring, I run up the middle layer of steps (120 of them). Usually I start by walking up as a warm-up (need to after sitting in the train for 20 minutes). Then I sprint up 2 or 3 more times with about a 3 minute rest in-between runs. Total time taken: 15 minutes. Then I am continuously hungry for the following 2 days! And, yes, I get strange looks from commuters, which I totally enjoy :)

The Lethological Gourmet said...

Gopi, when you say "overhead lunges" what do you mean? do you mean lunges with an overhead press? How does that work the obliques? I see how it would work the core, in stabilizing, but I'm not sure how it hits the obliques. I probably should walk up those Porter Sq stairs more often, since I don't get too much cardio anymore...

Hoarse Whisperer said...

Actually there's no overhead pressing. You simply hold the barbell up with elbows locked for the duration of the set. The barbell should be slightly behind the head in line. This girl's got it right:

http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/displayarticle.php?aid=123#ohsquat

The key to comprehensively engaging enough of the "core" musculature is by varying resistance. I warm-up with 95 lbs and do my work sets with about 135 lbs. And it is at the higher weight I can really feel the "side" muscles of my torso firing. Obviously your strength curve would be different. Try the overhead movements for a few sessions and you will see a significant change in how you carry yourself generally.

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