I woke up this morning pretty sore. My calves and thighs had been put to work the last few days. I spent the last three mornings at the gym doing pretty rigorous interval runs and pairing them with full-body strength workouts from my Aaptiv workout app. There really wasn’t a single part of my body that was not sore other than my face, neck, hands, and feet. But it was a good kind of sore, the kind of sore that says, “hey! I’m working out, and my body is changing as a result of all my effort! Yay!”

So this morning, I decided to go “easier” and choose a 30-minute intermediate-level yoga routine. I stretched and strengthened, and while lying on my mat at the end, I thought, hey, I could use a burst of something high energy. Why don’t I choose this 12-minute kettle-bell challenge?

That was a mistake I didn’t foresee. The last time I did any kettle bell exercises was probably over two months ago. I was used to the motions and the general form your body is supposed to take. On the 6th kettle bell swing, I immediately felt a twinge on the right side of my lower back that yelped, “danger!” and I slowly put the kettle bell down and laid down on the floor. Oh, crap. It hurt when I put the kettle bell down. It’s hurting now as I’m rolling over from my butt to my back. I just hurt myself working out for the third time in the last four months. This is not good. Why does this keep happening to me…?

As I lay on my stomach, identifying where exactly my back was hurt, I thought, well, at least I am alive and can actually get injured. I should be grateful for that, too, right? 

This is what getting older feels like, huh?