The alternative to sit-ups
Usually the decisions that you take in the middle of the night are bad ones. Viewed in the cold light of day, they seem rash, exaggerated, hasty or just plain wrong.
Well, not this time. In the early hours last night I decided to discontinue the Sit-Up challenge. It’s been touch and go for a while. A niggling hip flexor has had a knock-on effect on my back, and no matter how I adapt the sit-ups (trunk curls, reverse curls, even planks), the niggle has got worse every time I’ve done an abs session. On top of that I’ve been suffering from persistent nausea (not ideal for sprint training) which I’m having investigated next week, and I need to rule out any connection with the daily strain my abs are undergoing.
So I need to take a rest from the 100+ daily sit-ups (and counting) and the problem with the sit-up challenge is there’s no rest day. I have come to realize that I’m prone to overtraining – perhaps my medical history is to blame (who knows? – there are so few former M.E. sufferers who have taken up a strenuous sport that there’s no one to compare notes with), or perhaps it’s just that my aging body isn’t as cooperative as it used to be.
Whatever. I’m taking a few days out from the challenge and after that, when I’m feeling more elastic again, I’ll resume my core work in some sort of adapted form that allows me to have days off to rest and recover. For a decision made in the night, it feels like the right one.
Of course, it’s a shame. I was looking forward to sporting a six-pack worthy of Jessica Ennis-Hill. Perhaps I’ll just draw one on instead, Meet-the-Spartans-style. Now, that’s a look.
