Dead Lifts

What is a dead lift?

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You stand with your feet apart, knees slightly bent. The weights in each of your hands pull slightly at your arms as you hinge your hips forward, bending until the weights are almost touching the floor. Your back is straight as you raise yourself back up, drawing up the weight of the dumbbells. 

You hinge your hips forward again, still keeping your spine straight and after the fourth dead lift, you start to feel a tingling start in your upper legs, spreading to your calves and your lower back. The tingling intensifies as you raise your torso up and lower back down into your fifth dead lift. The dumbbells are pulling your body forward and you utilise the strong muscles in your back to fight their downward pull and lift your body up.

Your upper legs are feeling tight as you lower yourself for the sixth time, bending forward and keeping your spine straight, feeling your back tense to fight the pull of the weights. You breath, lift your body and lower yourself again. The weights are getting heavier and by the tenth rep, they feel like they've doubled in weight.

A hot ache starts to spread through your arms, especially around your shoulders. The stiffness in your legs and back intensifies and you're surprised to feel the exertion in your hip muscles since you're so rarely aware of them. You keep your back straight and lower your body for your eleventh rep, slowly drawing air into your lungs and exhaling as you lift yourself again.

The dumbbells feel like they've tripled in weight now. They're pulling hard on your tired arms and the muscles in your back are hot from fighting their downward pull. You feel the burning from your legs to your shoulders and down your arms as you bend forward, breath, and raise yourself again.

Just three more, you tell yourself, and ignore the pain as you do your thirteenth dead lift. Just two more. Your back and legs are burning, they feel too stiff and tight to move, let alone lift the dumbbells that feel like they've turned into thousand pound weights. You breath, and bend forward until your nearly touching the floor, then raise yourself back up, Just one more. The last one is agony. You just want to drip the weights, but you push yourself to keep your back straight, slowly lowering yourself and drawing yourself back up.

Jogging

The visualisation 

Sunshine beams down on you as you stretch to reach your toes. You rise and swing your arms back and forth, loosening your shoulders. You tap your foot against the dirt path to ensure that your shoes are tied snugly and you break out into a light jog.

Your muscles come alive as you take off and your breath becomes heavier as you feel your heart rate increase. Hot puffs of air leave your mouth as you breath in new air that spreads through your body and feeds your hard working muscles. Your feet hit the earth hard as you increase your speed and the sensation is like flying. You suck in air and try to regulate your breathing as your heart pounds in your chest. You can feel your pulse throbbing under your skin and it combines with the rhythm of your feet on the path.

You feel a stitch in your side and you slow your pace to ease the pain. You take this chance to catch your breath and let your heart slow a bit. Sweat drips from your forehead and you feel a wet patch on your back as well. Now that you've given yourself a chance to slow down, you can really feel the tightness in your thighs. You stop, do a quick stretch, then break into another fast jog.

Your breath feels hot as it enters your lungs. As a matter of fact, your whole body feels hot. You quicken your pace, enjoying the feeling of using your muscles, and you feel your heart pounding again as your feet propel you forward.

The heat gradually becomes a burn, starting in your thighs and spreading through your body as you begin to feel the effects of your exercise. You breath hard and ignore the burn. You're only halfway through and your muscles are already asking you to quit.

You breath in again. You have to focus hard to keep your breathing normal as your body begs for more air to fuel your tired muscles. You inhale. You exhale. Your heartbeat in your ears sounds as loud as your pounding feet. Your awareness is drawn away from the scenery and is focused entirely on your body. You inhale. You exhale. You feel the burn in your muscles and you keep running.

You pass the marker that says you're three quarters through your run. You allow yourself to slow down for a few minutes and your muscles are grateful. You inhale, You exhale. You throw yourself into a run for the last quarter of your jog.

Pull Ups

What is a pull up?

The Visualisation

You reach up to the metal bar above you. At first it seems impossible to lift your entire body with just your arms, but you feel your stomach clench and the muscles in your back harden and you manage to lift yourself until your chin is level with the bar. You breathe, amazed that you have done what you thought would be impossible and you let yourself drop to the floor again.

You tighten your hands around the bar and lift up again. It's harder than it was in the first time and you feel all of your muscles more acutely. You let yourself drop and pull up again. Your arms are beginning to feel like cooked spaghetti and the rest of your muscles are suffering a similar fatigue. You drop and pull up again, experiencing a strange feeling of both strength and weakness as you work your muscles until they're fatigued.

You're more aware of the muscles in your back than you've ever been as you lift yourself up again and a throbbing burn spreads up your arms, to your shoulders and down your back. Your hands are growing slippery on the metal bar and you breath, pushing yourself to do just one more.

You grip the bar and lift with your arms, feeling the muscles harden all over your body as you lift yourself again so that your chin is level with the bar. You hold yourself there and count down from ten. Your muscles flex to maintain your position. You can feel them in your arms, your back and your stomach, using their strength to hold you up in the air. As your countdown reaches zero, you let yourself drop to the floor.