I decided to work with one of the trainers for some private sessions since I wanted to improve my form and focus on needed hip work. I picked Adolfo since he always puts in extra time helping me in class, and he is 53 and in better shape than I have ever been. I felt he would be able to appreciate my struggle to find a balance of being mindful of my age where it matters but not limited by it.
So Friday at 1 pm I did the normal class and then at 6 pm I did the personal training. Both were brutal and I was pretty zonked last night. This morning my back was acting up a bit, reminiscent of when I was healing from my back injury last year. So I will begin to do the same recuperative daily practices to keep my back happy. I think the only thing I need to ask my trainer to skip for now is the assisted stretching. I think that was what pushed me past the safe zone since my back is still a bit tight in the area that had the problem. It is definitely time to actively work on improving range of motion in my back as well as my hips and pace myself with back strain. For the most part, the workouts themselves are not the problem.
I think I will still do this double session on Fridays and see how it goes.