40 Days...

...until my last final at the National Personal Training Institute.  That time will go by really fast.  I have found learning more about anatomy and physiology really fascinating.  It has also been really fun to train people from my class at the gym.  I've gained a greater appreciation for goals.  Nutrition has always been one of my interests, and I'm really glad that I know more about the basic building blocks of nutrition, especially as it pertains to training at the gym.

Here are some other things I learned:

• All your strength gains happen during recovery. 
• It's important to get enough sleep.
• If you aren't getting enough sleep, it is really easy to stray from your healthy nutrition plan.
• Have a goal for training at the gym.  Long term goals are good, daily and weekly goals help you get there.

Yesterday was a great day at the gym.  Martina and I are personal trainers for each other on Saturdays.  We decided to workout together on Saturday so that we could see what our 1 Rep Max was for Deadlift.  We were both trying to deadlift 185 pounds and both of us got 185.  185 is what women have to be able to lift in order to make Team for strength.  (Your name and deadlift weight, or rowing time, or what have you, goes on the wall in the back of the room along with the names of everybody else that also made Team.)   I tried for 195, but that didn't happen.  That bar loaded to 195 was just not going to get more than a few inches off the ground.  I've never seen a bar that I was trying to lift bend like that before.

I learned yesterday that there is a real focus and clarity that comes with lifting really heavy weights.  I've always liked what Baron Baptiste (founder of the Baptiste Power Yoga Institute)  said about weightlifting:

On a recent trip to Los Angeles, I went to one of my old haunts, Gold's Gym, in Venice Beach.  That particular gym is like the world mecca of bodybuilding.  Arnold trained there, as have countless others.  When I told a friend where I'd gone, she laughed and said, "I love it....the big yogi pumps iron?"

"It's all yoga," I told her.  "On or off the mat, it's yoga."

Even if I'm in the creme de la creme of the weightlifting world, I'm still putting all I have learned in my practice into action.  I'm using my ujjayi breathing for stamina and presence, my abdominal lock for core stabilization, a focused gaze for calm determination, the Master Principles of Alignment for healthy form.  Yes, I'm lifting weights, but beyond that I stay aware of my edge, practice maintaining equanimity, and use my intuition to know when less is more and when to push further.

So yesterday, I found my "edge" as Baron Baptiste would say.  I look at my experience yesterday in Deadlift as one of the really great accomplishments that I achieved in my class.  It's an exercise that I wasn't very familiar with prior to the start of the class, but it became one of my favorites early on in the class. 

Now I'm just trying to think of what else I want to accomplish before my class is over.  Maybe I'll try for 195 again closer to the end of class.

Have a great week.  I'll get much better at blogging again in about 40 days.  I'll try to post a little more frequently until then.

     

Diet Dr. Pepper

After drinking 20 ounces of Diet Dr. Pepper, I am still thirsty.  I'll be drinking water the rest of the day since I'll be strength training tonight.

Milestones

I reached a milestone weight today:  160.0!  I've been wanting to weigh 160 for a very long time.  My goal weight is 158.2, so I am nearly there.

My First Practical

I had my first practical exam in my class today.  We were given a list of 8 exercises, then our instructor would choose one from the list for each of us to teach him.  I went last in the group and he asked me to teach him how to do a barbell squat.  Barbell squats are not my favorite exercise, but I'm getting better at them.  Barbell squats are my instructor's favorite exercise (he can squat at least 440 pounds), but I was able to focus on how I would teach the exercise to a beginner.

I taught him how to do the movement without the bar first.  He intentionally made a mistake, rounding his back which is very bad in a squat.  Then he made another common mistake which was taking the bar off the rack too high on his neck (the bar should be on the traps or upper shoulders), which I corrected immediately.

I got 100 on the practical.  Wahoo!   

End Of a Short Hiatus From Workouts

I took a short hiatus from my usual 5 workouts a week while I was out of class and off work and my trainer was on vacation.  I accomplished the things that I planned:  got my haircut and used my gift certificate for a free massage.  I also accomplished a few things that were completely unplanned such as my spur of the moment trip to the mountains when I lost power during a thunderstorm, and clearing out my fridge and freezer after everything went bad due to the power outage during the thunderstorm.

One thing I didn't accomplish:  going to the farmers market on Saturday morning.  Didn't see much point since the power was out and the area wasn't in great shape.  Better luck next time.

I went back to work today, and tomorrow morning I will go back to the gym.  I rarely have time any more to just workout on my own, so it will be fun.  Side planks and compound rows will be part of the workout tomorrow.  I've been thinking about side planks since Sunday which was day 3 of my no workouts week. 

Starting next week, I'll be back to a more normal workout schedule.  I'll have workouts Monday through Wednesday, workout on my own Friday morning, and workout on Saturday.

It's July which means my classes are half way over.  :)

Hello, Internet

It has been a while since I posted anything.  My schedule is just a little on the crazy side.  Last week I had workouts Monday through Saturday.  It has been nice to have today off.  And I don't remember the last time I was so excited to be off work and school at the same time.  I'm taking a few days off work for the 4th of July, and I also don't have school those days.  2 things I'm going to do during my time off:  get a haircut and use my gift card for a free massage.

In other news, I had a project for school where we had to analyze our food intake for three days.  My nutrition has been lacking any kind of structure lately, so I was not surprised to see that I was getting too many calories.  But I was surprised to see that my intake of carbs, fats, and proteins was kind of all over the place.  The only thing that was consistent was that the carbs were too high and the proteins were too low.  Maybe that's what happens when I don't get a chance to make my hard-boiled eggs at the beginning of the week?  Will need to ponder that further.

So today I prepared my lunches for the week, and now I'm going to go pack my dinner to take to school tomorrow.  Getting the nutrition back on track.

Deadlifts and Callouses

Deadlifts are a regular part of my workout routine when I go to the gym with my class.  They are my favorite of the 4 Power Lifts (Power Lifts:  Deadlifts, Bench Press, Overhead Press, Squats).  On Saturday I was deadlifting 110 lbs., at about 8 reps, and I'll probably be able to go up in weight tomorrow. 

The deadlifts have left some crazy callouses on my hands.  Check it out:

Both of my hands have callouses across the palm of various sizes and degrees of callousiness.  Those callouses aren't going to go anywhere.  I've had them for over a year.  They give me a sense of accomplishment.