When we came up with the idea to do a kratom fitness challenge, I was really curious about how my own participation would go since I never have considered myself the most fit individual. Almost fifty now, I never worked out in a gym for more than a month or two without giving up and blaming the whole idea of fitness on the fact that I wasn’t athletic or I just wasn’t the type of person to work out in a gym.
Growing up, and all through my twenties and thirties, I tried all sorts of sports and activities. Mountain biking, cycling, skiing, snowboarding, skating, surfing, motorcycle riding, swimming, running, tennis, volleyball, and basketball. I know I am leaving some out and pretty sure I was terrible at them all being the clumsiest person I know. When I put my mind to something I need to try every angle, research every dark corner and crevice until I crack it. All I ended up cracking was my body, over and over, injury after injury; never sticking with any of it.
Let’s just say I still haven’t ‘cracked’ fitness.The only thing that ever resonated with my body was yoga. I must have needed it after all the injuries because I always went back. At first I thought it was because I learned about meditation and breath work. Finally in the last few years, I have had some consistency and I realize it’s was because it helped me relate to myself and my body a different way.
With the help of plant medicines, a plant-based anti inflammatory diet, yoga, and meditation, I felt ready to embark on a new perspective about fitness. Due to my past relationship with sports, gyms, and the like, I enlisted The Training Lab, here in Miami Beach. When I looked them up I saw they “focus on mechanics, intensity and consistency.” A lightbulb went off with the word consistency. I thought if I apply that same logic to working out, as I did to wellness in general, maybe I will get results.
From day one two things stood out to me. The dedication of trainers and how simple the work out is. I thought I can do this. Pull ups, squats, push-ups, sit ups….plates, dumbs, kettlebells, sleds, and cardio. And wow with the magic of kratom, tiny weights, my team at Dakind and the amazing trainers at the Lab, I realized what I had been missing out on all these years.
Don’t get me wrong, every day I woke up in a fetal position and slid out of bed. EVERYTHING was sore. I was up close and personal with all the parts of my body that have been asleep for all these years. Had my kratom, water, other supplements, stretched a bit and got going. Every day.
As the days went on, I listened to the signals my body threw at me. Things were twitching, jumping, pounding, and mis-firing. Kratom was there for my muscle recovery and inflammation. In addition, I tried dry needling for trigger points; acupuncture to move the energy through my blood; and percussion therapy to roll out my muscles. All of which did their part to assist me in my journey.
The challenge lasted only three weeks, but I know I am onto something. From day one to day twenty-one, I still can’t do a push up or a pull-up. I started with five assistance bands for a pull up and I am down to one. I started with a training bar and now I am benching and squatting more weight than ever. Yes, I am happy with those results, but what surprised me the most, isn’t that my body is stronger, or more fit; It’s that I can look in the mirror and visibly see that I am healing. My eyes are clear, my skin is glowing and I feel driven to keep going. The genie is out of the bottle and I can’t or won’t ever to put back in.
Adrianne Read
Executive Producer
