Training day - rain check

So, since J was at a baseball game yesterday, we switched my session to Thursday. Then I got a text from him that really we were training today. Yipes! Fortunately my routine is always at the same time so I can switch anything around if necessary (case in point) so I'll just do today's cardio tomorrow so that I can train yesterday's session today. You follow?

So we start with walking warmup, lunge lateral lunge and what the hay, inchworm too. Then Godzilla sumo smash with two (two!) different resistance bands. And that's just the warmup

Then it was time for the bulgarian bag. Just spins, snatches and overhead squats, no biggie, oh except also big ropes after that, like in the biggest loser, those ropes.

After that set, still with the bag but now also with the 35lb bell, I did 20 squats (bag) and 8 clean & press (bell) - this was probably the toughest part of the session, lifting like that is no joke!

Then we eased it up  a bit, with the squishy medicine ball, a few rounds of throwing it sideways into the wall, and then we got crazy and threw it backwards behind the head into the wall. Actually I got the hang if that one really quickly and had the rhythm down where the ball was rolling right back to me, I didn't even need J there! (Just kidding I always need J there) 

Then, since I just did abs yesterday, we eased it up and did just a few Turkish getups with the light bell

And glorious stretching, starting on my belly this time, because now I'm a contortionist apparently. J must be getting bored with his usual arsenal of torture holds, he's starting to experiment with new moves!

Training day

Training day again!!

And it's Boxing Day! With much anticipation and possibly equal amounts of trepidation I came ready to get my hands pounded today!

First jumprope though, two minutes and I still tripped a few times (and I'm pretty sure it was longer than just 2 minutes)

Then J wrapped up my hands and got the comically big gloves on my little stumps, they practically went up to my elbows, haha

We boxed for about half the session where I bubbled around and tried to get some good hits in there (tried), but I'm still too bouncy and wobble around too much when trying to punch. And then my hands start screaming at me, righty was especially bad today. So J had mercy on me and cut it short (he also didn't time the rounds out either, so it was more fun for me)

After boxing and my hands were released from being trapped in the padded cage of wrapping, we did a few sets with the Kettlebell (35 pounder): swings, clean and press and front squats. And man that last set was a struggle!

Then ended with vups and backbridge pushups with just enough time to stretch. I really really need to get yoga back in my life!!!

Training day!

It's Tuesday! It's training day! I get so excited for training day, I start bouncing by the time I get to the trainers' desk. And it makes all the other trainers jealous that they can't have a client as awesome as me ;-D

It was weirdly empty today, so we got the whole spread of the gym, I didn't even have to watch where I was going for the dynamic warmup, because there was no one to bump into!

While I was covering serious ground warming up (walking lunge, lateral lunge and inchworm) J was gathering every possible contraption he could find. Literally. The only thing we DIDN'T do today was the bulgarian bag. And we totally could have, if we had really wanted to. But no bag today. Instead, he had gathered the big squishy medicine ball, the dense yellow medicine ball, 17.5lb dumbbells, the black Kettlebell, the blue Kettlebell AND the red Kettlebell (35, 45, and I guess 55? Respectively) he also brought over the rollie abs wheel of shame, just in case.

So we start with the big squishy ball, and I attempt to toss it up to the ceiling. Then throw it sideways against the wall. As with every new thing I do, I feel (and probably look) completely ridiculous the first few tries, but by the end I got the hang of it.

Then the next set: wiith the dumbells, renegade row, jump up, clean and squat. and repeat. if ever, for some twisted reason, you need to make your shoulders feel like they are lit ON FIRE, do those. it will get you there. immediately after the half manmakers, we take the yellowball (I think it's 40lbs, but don't quote me on that) and throw it as far as possible for a few yards. Then over the shoulders. So so many times.

Done with the balls, onto the bells. Swings, going progressively heavier. I noticed quite a few things during this portion of the session. first, there was a kid wandering around wearing a Bowdoin shirt... ! ... Hey! Bowdoin! I went there! (I didnt see him after my workout, but I'm sure we'll cross paths eventually, also I need to get more bowdoin gear to wear at the gym)

The next thing I noticed was that on the left arm of swings, something was going on inside my shoulder. Not pain, not even anything that noticeable, but SOMEthing. Like a teeny tiny clicking over the back of my shoulder. I say as much to Jason, and he calmly goes to get a towel, comes back and puts me in a submission hold of pressure point agony. It's cool, I didn't really need that shoulder anyways. My tui-na lady could get a run for her money next to this guy. He should start up a side job moonlighting as a massage therapist, because that is some DEEP tissue stuff. If you ever need your tendons manually relocated to other areas, I think he could make that happen.

Eventually he let go, graciously leaving my arms still attached to my body, so that I was able to finish the rest of the swings.  Then just a few rounds of snatches with the 35lb bell. I didn't tear anything, got an extra arm 'massage' before the last set. and by massage, I mean I no longer had primary control of my forearm (i think the whole gym could hear me yipping in pain. But in a good way. Oxymoron pain)

Finally time for stretching. Notice we didn't have time for the rolly-polly abs wheel of torture....that just means I'll be making up for it on Thursday

5 Stages of (weight) Loss

So, it's been over a year since I've decided to get into shape and healthy and all that stuff those fitness people keep talking about. I've learned so much this year and accomplished things I never thought possible....I even lost (a little) weight!

But I'm still not nearly close to where I want to be. And even what I've accomplished so far was not without a lot of work and a lot of struggle. This might not be what you want to hear, but losing weight -even just a little bit- is really really hard.

The first step is to decide that you want to do it. That's easy. You do that every day. The next step is to actually do it, and that is a whole different story. Actually, the first month of getting in shape is super easy, everything is new, it's exciting and interesting.

It's easy to do anything for a few weeks. You start to see results, you feel good about yourself, and you spend every second obsessing about your new healthy routine.

Then eventually the realization hits - I have to do this for the rest of my life. And life is not so accommodating.  Life is unpredictable, plans change, things spiral out of control, and the next thing you know, you're curled up in sweatpants on the couch at 2am halfway through a chocolate bar with no intention to stop until the evidence is destroyed. 

There are all kinds of things you can physically do to lose weight, things you already know (if you don't know, I'll make it easy for you: hire a trainer. If I can afford it, you definitely can. And it will be the best decision you've ever made). However, exercise is just like the tip of the iceburg: it's the easiest thing to see, but it's only about 10% of the story. The REAL work is the other 90%...your diet.

The thing is, diets don't work. You won't make it more than a month, if you even make it to the end of the week. To really REALLY lose weight, you have to change your entire lifestyle.  You'll be giving up everything you've ever known -the very things that bring you comfort- and moving into a world that it scary, confusing and overwhelming.  If you're like me (and normal people everywhere), food is a constant battle between eating what I want or eating what I should. And in order to get fit, I can't eat what I want. And that's a harsh pill to swallow.

During this process, I realized that what is actually happening (and why it is SO much harder than i thought it would be) is that I am grieving.

I'm literally moving through the 5 stages of grief over losing my old lifestyle and am moving (kicking and screaming) towards accepting that this IS my life now. And I won't ever get that Adriana Lima body until I make it to that glorious final phase of acceptance:

5 stages of (weight) loss

1. Denial

Once you get past the excitement of trying new things, you will find yourself pining for the good ol' days when you didn't have to work so hard to look this good. And will want to act like you can get away with a few cheat days here and there without it impacting your progress. You can't, and it will. And once you realize that, you move pretty quickly into stage two:

2. Anger

It feels weird to admit, but I really did hit this stage with a vengeance. I was pissed that I can't have my cake, and eat everyone else's cake too. It's just not fair! I (figuratively) starve myself for weeks and then I have one piece of cake and gain it ALL back. You work so hard and for what? You still can't eat whatever you want!? But I love eating! Which then sends you spiralling into stage three:

3. Bargaining

'I did good yesterday, so I can reward myself with takeout tonight' 'If I do an extra lap tomorrow, then I can have this cookie today' yeah, no sweetie, we all know you're not doing ANY laps tomorrow, so back away from the ice cream. Admittedly, I'm still squarely stuck in this stage right now. But every so often i see flashes of the impending time that I will be moving to stage four:

4. Depression

Maybe I'm mistaking this for stage one, but I get pretty bummed out that I can't just have that cupcake like I used to. I know too much now, I will regret it later. and that really sucks. I will make it though, and when that day comes, I will bound gleefully into stage five:

5. Acceptance

Someday, I will really truly accept this lifestyle and will feel like I really am a 'fitgirl', maybe even consider myself (gasp) an athlete. But until then, I just gotta "fake it 'till I make it."

Definitely legs day

Today's workout was kind of a mashup on the fly. Hectic day at work for me, and apparently for J too, since he didn't send me a workout!  So he told me to pick something from the 52+ weeks of workouts he's sent me. (also, holy crap! I can't believe it's been a year already) I already knew today would be leg day, mostly because I can barely lift my arms after pullups on Tuesday. Of course J so generously suggested I warm up with jumpropes, and sent me off to gather one from his locker:

Warmup

Jumprope 5 min - while I'm doing this J (all the way across the room) flags down my attention and starts air-gesturing that it's time to switch to burpees. That was NOT part of the plan! How many?? I foolishly ask. Oh, just do 30. !!

30 burpees - apparently I have good form, according to a new trainer -yay- and that I should keep going...nay

Workout

Squat to tuck jump -10 reps(15 reps last 2 sets) - apparently I have impressive skills in this area as well and can 'jump higher than Eric', whatever that means

Sldl 2x20lbs 10/10

Lateral lunge / drop lunge -2x15lb 10/10reps

Pistol-20lb 10/10 reps - not gonna lie, the last 5 of the last set I had to do sans weight, because my legs were SO done.

Backbridge push up -10 reps

3x -oopsies, I did 4 sets! D'oh!

Abs

Hang leg raise 15 reps

Back extension 15 reps

side plank drop and reach through 10/10 reps

3x pretty much the same as last time, but I've got the coordination down on the plank, doesn't make it burn any less though.

And done. While I was stretching, J had his last client cancel (I still don't get how people do that!), so was goofing around and trying to get me to do a split.  Which would have ended in hilarity except that I can actually do it (just on the right side though, the left side is still kinda goofy looking). I don't know who was more surprised, him or me!

Training day with j!!

It's Tuesday! The best day! You know what that means, it's training day!!

And I had a loooong weekend to work off today, although I probably did better this weekend than I usually do (I even ran a 10k boot).  I guess traveling (and fitting into a very non-elastic unforgiving cocktail dress) helps avoid overeating since you can't breathe, or make snacks appear out of thin air when you're on the road.

Anyways, I was super bouncy and excited to start today, I had all that pent up energy from resting over the weekend I suppose. So we jump straight to it. J grabbed the big red band, so that could only mean one thing: pullups. And I almost didn't need him pushing me up for the last few...almost

Then it was deeper into the free weight room, to the big squat rack, bigger than the usual one I've done before. So I started with just the bar, then J put more weight on, then more, then even MORE. And I dutifully squat away, doing slightly less reps each time, but still doing full (lower than parallel) squats and then I finish and J looks at me and says 'how much did you weigh last time?' And I'm like '134' and he says,

'You just squatted more than your body weight'

Two 45lb plates on a 45lb bar.....you do the math (I had to). After multiple rounds of high fives, I'm gigglelaughing out of shock and delight while J herds me back up front. Next is the 35lb bell, for clean and press, where I work on my form and improve my terrible grip (I'm looking at you, lefty), then with the 45lb blue bell of doom, squats, squats, and more squats.  And we finish off with one hand swings.

Epilogue: a very thorough and painful stretching. you know it hurts when I start laughing uncontrollably