Elements class number 2: Presses

I felt pretty good after my first class Wednesday night; so much so that I thought I was maybe under-weighted for the class and could probably handle more. I was feeling cocky.

Last night's skill was presses.
Key takeaways: elbows stay ahead of the bar, suck your ribs and ass in. Trust, it sucks less that way. Also, do not do a push press because Chris won't let you count the rep. Lastly, wear more clothing to avoid this:

The workout was to be completed in 13minutes (I did it in 12:45) and consisted of:
5 x (5 presses*, 10 burpees)
*I used the medium bar 35lbs, no added weight. Yay! Big girl bar!

Really doesn't look like much right?
Considering I have kindling for arms and burpees make me want to vomit, this workout was challenging for me. Chris was trying to get me to puke during the burpees; he felt it was his personal challenge but nary a dry heave in sight.(WIN!) He was making us lift our hands off the ground while horizontal to force us to use our arms, and not momentum, to push back up. That was killer. No reprieve for my poor match stick arms. The presses stripped me, made me drop my ego into a sweaty, quivering heap on the floor. Thankfully my competitive, stubborn nature helped me grind through the whole workout without Chris dropping my weight. Again, the real time form corrections were awesome, keeping me safe but challenged!

What does this morning feel like?
Muscles that I didn't know existed are screaming. Lifting a coffee cup to my lips makes me gasp. It's a two hand effort this morning, preferably with my elbows resting on a desk. Driving my manual transmission car was a battle of attrition. I am grateful for green lights and a short commute.

My next class isn't until next week. Koach Koala has plans for me in the meantime. #luckygirl.