Move It With Tai Chi!

It was one of the rare Saturdays when I pulled out of the roster to sleep in. One of my old folks called me up. She asked in Cantonese, "Why did you skip tai-chi this morning?"

Bleary-eyed, I yawned and replied her in the dialect. "I got backache leh. Too much exercise during the week already."

She tsk-ed at me and repeated my answer to others in the background. Then she came back on the line. "So young already backache. Next time how? Work that time say backache. Now not working also backache. Aiyoh. You not young anymore okay. Getting old already! You better turn up for tai chi next week hor." Now wide awake, I hadn't even finished saying "Orrrh" and she hung up.

I flipped around in the bed and scowled at the bears nonchalantly strewn across the covers. My oldies. They win.

But I really got backache lah! Muscle aches aplenty this weekend. The exercise regime is too intense. I might have to cut back a little. I'm on daily workouts of pilates, boxing and swimming. Pilates and boxing are high impact workouts designed to leave me drenched in perspiration. Swimming a couple of laps is the default stretch and relax thingy done at least thrice a week. When I added a mere hour of pole to it, I kena muscle aches in odd places and a huge patch of bruise above the tailbone. ARRRRGH.

I'm thinking of a shift of roster to the weekdays instead. So I've been doing a fair bit of it on the weekdays already, just to test out the new routine. But Saturdays seem special, somehow, because it's been going on for years. Although I really really really dread the 7am tai-chi sessions.