Reintroducing the Home Coaches and a New Addition to the Team!

Back in the springtime I included photos of my little guys Francois and Stitch… They were my “home coaches” while my foot healed from being broken and mu subsequent surgery. Seeing as I will have to squeeze training in here there and everywhere, I thought reintroducing my guys was called for.  They aren’t so little anymore!  Also, new on board is Drago a new little monster that is a ball of energy and interjects MUCH life to this household.  He gets everyone moving and shaking around here…

Alas the foot is healed and I have started running again, so the treadmill is going to be a best friend again…

And finally, for those that are on a budget, that eat on the run and are much too busy to cook all of their meals… Vietnamese is an awesome way to go! We have a place within walking distance that serves food at a great price and offers a decent selection for healthy grilled or steamed dishes. Thought I’d add this in now as we just went there for some grilled chicken

That’s it for me today… Tomorrow is a work and a workout day for me.  I’ll write again soon.

Now 11 months old and a strapping 13 lbs

Also 11 months old and 11lbs…

5 months old and always on the go

Running again :)) Life is good!

Healthy eats for people on the go!

Happy New Year… What R Ur Health/Fitness Plans for This Year?

I always make it a point to really relax over the holidays.  I believe that a break is extremely beneficial, and very needed for healing and a change to your system.  Although I take a little break every year I always find it amazing that even though I eat healthy, keep drinks to a minimum etc., even just a few days of little to no physical activity can really have a toll on the mid section and the body in general.  Yikes! Where did all the definition go?! One look in the mirror and I’m already motivated to go!!

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, staying active and keeping in shape truly is a lifestyle choice, and a great one in my humble opinion.  It’s not something you just do until you achieve your desired goal, it is a work in progress.  It takes continuous hard work, discipline and dedication to better oneself and even to maintain what you’ve accomplished once you get there.  Aren’t you worth it though?

2009 is going to be a chaotic year for me. My work schedule is going to be extra erratic and keep me hopping so I am going to have to strive harder than ever to get to where I want to be… BUT NO EXCUSES! I have one year and one week left in my thirties and I am bound and determined to march into my 40’s as the strongest female I can possibly be; physically, mentally, and emotionally!

A new fitness challenge will be starting soon at the Kombat Arts.  I cannot wait to get it started and get me started in the challenges that are coming!  Continuous self improvement is wonderful thing!  Lots of photos and workout ideas will be posted to help keep myself and anyone reading this motivated to reach new health/fitness goals.

Finally, if after the holiday season your idea of rock hard abs is looking something like the photo below…  Then don’t worry  

Soon with a little hard work and dedication you’ll have the real deal yourself; or get them back again anyway, now that the holidays are over!

Well… Technically they are ;-)

Where Do I Go From Here?

Yowza! Been far too long since I added to my blog.   That’s what happens when everything heals up and you’re back to “normal” again and running around.  Not only that, but I’ve been contemplating what to do with this blog now that the original reason for starting this has long since passed.  The 8 week journey is over! I’ve been running, jumping, leaping, frolicking like a madwoman now that my foot is 100% and in truth I’ve almost forgotten that it was ever even broken.  I’m even back to kickboxing and have zero fear of harming my foot.  I have no pain whatsoever!

Anyway, enough about that.  I recently picked up the new DVD for the Lebert Equalizer called “Advanced Athletic Conditioning” and as I type this, I have the DVD loaded on my laptop ready for viewing.  I’m quite excited about it!!  I was limited in what I could do with the Equalizer when my foot was broken, but now?!  I need to learn all the other wonderful, taxing, and torturous exercises I can inflict on myself with this fantastic equipment

So, I think this blog will have to be re-titled… and the flow and direction will change, but it’ll still track progress of what can be achieved when you push yourself beyond limits you think you have. Also, in the New Year, another Kombat Challenge will start, so hopefully you find some inspiration in my words…

Happy training everyone!  I’m now going to view my DVD and report back soon complete with photos!

Finally… My 9 Week Results

At the beginning of the 9 Week Challenge there were eighty, that’s right(!), eighty participants that decided to take the challenge to better themselves and see what they could do to improve their health, strength, nutrition etc.  Here we are now at the end of the 9 weeks and where oh where is everyone?!

I refuse to even mention the excuses made by the people that wanted to do the challenge – but didn’t.  And I refuse to mention the reasons why some fell off the wagon and couldn’t treat their bodies well for 9 weeks because those who know me know; my # 1 pet peeve is negativity! I had a broken foot for gawd sake!

I didn’t meet one of the goals that I had set for myself, but gosh darn it, I am still proud of the results of today’s testing and had I not kept plugging away at training… you know what would have happened?  First and foremost, I would have let myself down!  I would have let my students down and I would have been a depressed mess.  Exercise keeps the mind, body and spirit strong!  Aren’t you worth it enough to take care of yourself the best you can?  You’ve only got one body.

Okay…  Enough preaching.  Here’s the dirt:

Original weight: 140.4 lbs,  End Weight: 135.4 lbs =  5 lbs weight loss

Original Chin Ups: 13,  End Chin Ups: 17 = Increased by 4

Original Push Ups: 60, End Push Ups: 66 = Increased by 6

I have to state right here and now that I was sorely disappointed in the push ups at first because my goal was 75.  The flexibility in my toes is really bad right now and it’s painful to do push ups with both feet down.  My goal was 75 because I’ve done 72 push ups in 60 seconds.  I figured that I should be able to do at least that in this challenge.  What I wasn’t taking into account was that you cannot pause between your push ups in this challenge; you have to have a steady flow of movement… With the 60 second drill it is simply how many you can do in the allotted time.  So?  Maybe not quite as bad as I initially thought, it’s an entirely different way of doing the drill.

I am going to put together a much different challenge for the Fall.  And in hindsight, I will not allow the participants to go so long “unchecked”.  I think that next time the participants should have frequent re-testing to keep them on track.

Do I deserve the new T-Shirt I’ve had in hiding?  Did I do well enough?  Looking at the “after” photos, I think so, yes! I’ll have to get Joey to take a photo of me in “THE SHIRT” so I can add it to this blog…

Congrats to everyone that has come in for the re-testing!  The increased strength, sensible weight loss and toning looks great on you all.  You’ve done yourselves proud and your body good!

Cheers to that!

 

A Workout of a Different Sort

I’ve had a very pleasant interruption to my “regular” training recently and thus the reason for having been remiss in writing and updating my blog.  I’ve moved!

Packing up a spacious two bedroom apartment lived in by two people that apparently collected a whole lot of “stuff” over the past few years, was quite a chore!  We moved from an apartment into our very first home together (a cozy 3 bedroom townhouse), and it literally felt as though it was a house move into another house move! It’s a huge task when both legs are functioning properly… It’s even worse when one leg is out, but the move is done and most everything that we wanted unpacked is unpacked and all is well again…

I had taken some photos of the mountains of boxes that I packed and maneuvered around by hopping on one leg, but they really weren’t that exciting to post.

Hard to believe that we are already at the end of the 9 Week Challenge!  Testing will take place Sunday 10:00am – 2:00pm and again on other dates TBA.  It will be great to see where everyone is at.  I myself am finally back to walking too!  Now it seems crazy that it was a whole 56 days ago that I broke my foot.  When I was in the midst of teaching and training by hopping on one foot or utilizing my crutches it seemed agonizingly slow.  Now I’m thinking “where did the two months go?!”

And of course, with the Challenge now coming to an end, I’ll have to decide shortly what will become of this blog…  But that will have to wait for another day!  Today was just an update on where I have been, soon I will be updating on the successes of myself and the others and then we’ll go from there.

Got to admit that I’m already thinking of ways to improve upon this current challenge and will be dreaming up an even better one for the fall!  Isn’t it great to push yourself and see how far you can go, no matter what falls in the way of your path?  I think so.

I’m not certain that I’ve earned the right to wear the new T-Shirt that I talked about in an earlier post.  The goal was to get in the best shape possible, even though injured, so that I would be able to wear my cheesy (but fun!) shirt with pride  

I will see how the conquering of the testing goes and how well I do.  I can’t just break out this little reward for myself unless I feel that I really deserve it. You’ll know what I mean when I finally unveil the shirt… Lol.

 

Another New Workout Song…

Gotta love this one!  It’s not a new song, in fact it’s from 2006, but I am thinking it’s just great!  The video is a tad lame (yikes!) but the music – it’s the music that’s important people!!  Just close your eyes and listen…

Thank Goodness I Have a Massage Booked for Tomorrow…

Today I really pushed myself with the help of my partner Joey.  There are less than four weeks left for the 9 Week Challenge and I wanted to see where I’m at.

Today’s workout:

Chin Ups (Ladders): 1 to 5, 1 to 5, 1 to 4, 1 to 3, 1 to 2 and 1 = 50 chins in total

Push Ups: 4 sets of 25 : 1st rest was 60 seconds, 2nd rest was 30 seconds, then finally 20 seconds rest.

Tabata Abs (3 minutes 50 seconds)

Tabata Supermans (3 minutes 50 seconds)

Rested a bit…  Then thought to myself “50 chins are really nothing to blog about” so I ended up doing 15 Chins straight, rest, 10 Chins straight, rest, 10 Chins straight, rest, then 3 sets of 5 = 50 more Chins.

Chatted for a tad with a student and then said to myself… I CAN DO MORE!!  So I repped out another  10, 10, & 5 Chins.

A grand total of 125 (next time, if I have a little more energy, I’ll aim for 140 – my IQ. lol)  Doing all those push ups and chins were perhaps not the wisest idea since I had to go right back to the crutches… But that was a self motivated push, and at 10pm, five hours after completing the above I am STILL pumped up and am feeling great :)

Tomorrow if I’m feeling rough, that’s okay… cause I’m treating myself to a one hour massage. Yay.

Some Cool and Some Not So Cool News

Didn’t have 3 the same size?

Nice job!

So I finally went to see “El Docco” today about my foot.  It was the first follow up session since the surgery on May the 5th.  Although I was hoping beyond all possible belief that he’d say ”crutches be gone”… I instead had a few extra days tacked on!  Unbelievable!  Today I actually did moan and groan and I pleaded with the Doc.  “You’re killin’ me!” I ranted, “this body needs to move”.  So now instead of 3.5 weeks…. I have a full 4 more weeks on crutches. Ugh – not so cool.

I also found out today that there are actually three screws in my foot, not two.  And the X-Rays I got today…well those were cool!

I cranked out a ton of push ups, abs and did a bunch of chin ups on Tuesday, and tonite I did a descending set of ladders on my own on the chin up bar and did 56 strong full chins in a few minutes.  Best get used to the sticks attached to my arms because like it or not they are a part of me for a few weeks yet… At least the bandaging and the stitches were removed today

Tomorrow it’s back to the Equalizer to build up my three fully functional limbs! Can’t wait.

Friday Fun: Osteopathy & Challenging Chins

My New Osteopath :)

My “Never Give Up” Tatt & stitches…

So I started out my day today by going to see my new Osteopath, Jason Brandow, BScTR.  He currently works on Tuesdays and Fridays at the Ultimate Sports Therapy clinic in unit # 11 connected to Kombat Arts.  Session one was great!  I am so glad to have a new Osteopath to go to. 

Osteopathy is a holistic, hands-on manual therapy that can treat conditions such as: neck & back pain (check), headaches & migraines (check), joint pain (such as ankle, hip. knee. elbow, wrist), traumatic injury & repetitive strain and so on.  Osteopaths focus on the body as a whole.  They assess everything from the heart and circulatory system, to the lungs, liver, stomach & intestines.

Before discovering Osteopathy about two years ago I had gone to countless specialists to try and ease the chronic headaches I suffer each and every day, as well as the debilitating migraines I get from time to time (kept under control with reg. exercise though).  I’ve seen everyone from Neurologists, Cranial Specialists, Chiropractors, Acupuncturists and even an Iridologist in Penetanguishene!  Nothing even came close to helping ease the tension and pain like Osteopathy, so I am very happy to have found a great new practitioner to go to.   If you have an ailment that has never been conquered by any other means, try Osteopathy out.  Your body will LOVE you.

So, that was the start of my morning… I gave my body a nice relaxing beneficial treatment. I planned on just finishing up some more paperwork (does it ever end?) at the club and then training a client later in the afternoon.  BIG SIGH HERE.

Dave Edwards went and pulled up a video that got me all going and that was it!  Back to the chin up bar we went.  You have to see what lead us to countless attempts at new drills on the bars we have.  I am going to have one sore back tomorrow!

This guy rocks! I am fully motivated to do muscle ups one day.  I tried and I tried… and I tried, but alas I didn’t have it in me today.  I’m going to try again on Monday and will keep on trying till I can do at least one.   I can only go up from there!!  I’ve done several of the drills he shows in the video and I tried one other new one today that he showed in the clip and was able to do it, so that was cool… But I really hate not being able to do something!  Muscle ups are going to haunt me till I conquer them! Gotta take a few people along the ride with me for mastering this move… Who else is up for the challenge with me?

Before I sign out for the day, here’s another little clip specifically on the challenging muscle ups.  Oh, and for the record, when I DO conquer them I’ll post a clip of me doing them on here too

Workout Song of The Week :)

This is my latest little fav workout song… Thought I’d share!

Jerk It Out - The Caesars

Wind me up
Put me down
Start me off and watch me go
I’ll be running circles around you sooner than you know
A little off center
And I’m out of tune
Just kicking this can along the avenue
But I’m alright

Coz it’s easy once you know how it’s done
You can’t stop now
It’s already begun
You feel it
Running through your bones

And you jerk it out
And you jerk it out

Shut up
Hush your mouth
Can’t you hear you talk too loud
No I can’t hear nothing cause I got my head up in the clouds
I bite off anything that I can chew
I’m chasing cars up and down the avenue
But that’s ok

Coz it’s easy once you know how it’s done
You can’t stop now
It’s already begun
You feel it
Running through your bones

So you jerk it out

Coz it’s easy once you know how it’s done
You can’t stop now
It’s already begun
You feel it
Running through your bones

And you jerk it out
And you jerk it out
And you jerk it out
And you jerk it out
Oh baby don’t you know you really gotta jerk it out
When you jerk it out baby don’t you know you really gotta jerk it out
When you jerk it out baby don’t you know you really gotta jerk it out