Workout of the Day… The Equalizer

Dressed like a Creamsicle

Francois Watching from Above

Pumped and only 2/3’s done!

Even Lu cheered me on

Stitch assisting with the set up

Okay, it was a tad warm to do the workout in my grey sweats; warm maybe because set up seemed to take me so long.  It’s amazing how difficult some tasks suddenly seem with this single Go-Go boot on my leg… Instead I ended up working out in attire that made me look like a human Creamsicle J Quite cheery!

 

Here is what I ended up doing:

Lying Pull Ups (one leg on ground only) using both bars 4 x sets of 15 reps (palms facing inward)

Lying Pull Ups (one leg on ground only) with alternating grip on a single bar, 4 x sets of 10 x each alternating grip.  No rest between grip change till final set and then I had to because my arms were so PUMPED! I  finished with palms facing me and cranked out another 2x sets of 20 x Lying Pull Ups.

 

Triceps (kneeling w/feet up), I did 2 x sets of 35.
Was gonna do more… But it was very fatiguing and just awesome These were much safer than dips and there was zero stress on my rotator cuff. It was all about the triceps!  Found it hard to remember to breathe with those ones. YOWZA.

Leg* and abs I’ll do tomorrow morning before I see the el’ docco…  (*No that’s NOT a typo)

 

How To Start a Day Off Well

How can the day go wrong when you wake up next to a funny duck that squawks and flutters its wings when you grab it around its neck?  It simply can’t!  Grabbing the duck around its furry (furry in this case because it’s a stuffed animal of course), is very therapeutic and I recommend it to all. 

Today will be my big “solo performance extraordinaire” on The Equalizer. Hooray! My cats will be impressed I’m sure.  Whatever shall I wear?!  Well, maybe I shouldn’t get too over zealous on day one I might not be too smooth.  Perhaps I’ll just stay in my mangy grey (that’s right grey! Thee worst colour to work out in as some of you out there know), sweat pants and a ragged t-shirt.  I’m certain the cats won’t care, they’ll just be dazzled by my performance between their eating, stretching and sleeping on the couch… 

When I conquer my moves and flow about with ease on the bars, perhaps I will add a video clip to this blog.  Be sure I’ll be suitably clad in fine workout wear when that time comes!

Fresh Air, Fun Faces and a Darn Good Workout

I forgot to mention in an earlier post that Joey “cooked me” Chinese food the other night.  I opened my fortune cookie and it said “Look with favour upon a bold beginning.”  Some people believe that everything happens for a reason… The 9 Week Challenge was supposed to be a new beginning of sorts to for me, it was the reason I dreamt it up!  The day I went to the hospital for my leg, I was in Emergency with Carolyn of Ultimate Sports Therapy, and Joey was getting the house inspection done on our new home.  By the time I got my cast on he had finished the inspection, so he, the realtor and I met back at our apartment and voila the final signing that made the home ours was done.  So here’s to a new bold beginning.

I went in to teach a private student and then my class tonight, but before those tasks were tackled, I took care of me first! Joey and I did a great workout tonight:

Chin ups (Ladders; first round 1 thru to 7, second round 1 thru to 3 and so on till 6 sets were done and we completed a total of 47 chins at a very quick pace. I was the one lagging, I admit! Joey was going strong but I felt they were quite tough tonight.  Mentally I think I was screwing myself up because I was only able to jump up to the bar with my left leg and my silly brain kept telling me that it was more tiring to do so… Won’t let that happen next time.)

Push ups (4 x 25 push ups with a 60 sec rest in between each set)

Pistols (aka. one legged squats… I did 5 x 5 sets with my left leg only – obviously!)

Shoulder press (using a 20 lb dumbbells I did 3 x 10 reps and 1 x 8 reps)

Abs (Joey ran me through a series of abs with the 6lb med ball, and can I tell you! I NEVER feel abs, I can do abs like a madwoman… but tonight I sure felt them.  I attribute it to the use of the crutches… but who knows?)

My private was great as always, he’s a pleasure to train and he didn’t even complain when I sat on a plyo box and called out drills while he worked the bag and sweated away J

Class was awesome as usual too.  They are gonna love me over the next few weeks as I will be pushing them and pushing them beyond what they think are their limits. I’ll be living, in part, through them.

One and a half more days till I see the Surgeon, gotta keep busy till then!

Tuesday Already? Time Flies When You’re Having Fun!

Tuesday morning, rise and shine.  Wow! I tell ya, if you have a pair of crutches kicking around you should really give them a shot for a few days. Choose one leg for a few days, and then switch it up to your other for the same amount of time.  It really is a good workout, especially if you’re strict in not letting one of your feet touch the ground.  When you don’t feel like using the crutches (they do hurt the ol’ armpits let me tell you!), just hop around on your leg. I’ve been doing that a lot – maybe too much.  I’m well conditioned and I feel it BIG TIME.  What if I wasn’t in shape, or strong enough to hobble around avec stick assistance?  Would I be in wheelchair? Ugh. Much worse for high speed manoeuvring around…

My hub stayed home with me today to lift my spirits and help get some chores done.  That was sure nice! We ventured out for breakfast and I got questions fired out at me like a machine gun by some cute little inquisitive 5 year old girl who wanted to know all the how, what, where and when’s of why I was in a cast.  The only comment that got me a tad anxious was the “I always kiss all my booboos better”, to which her mom ended up scuttling her away.  Whew!  I really didn’t want her to kiss my foot better for me, the thought was sweet enough.

Tonight I’m going to go in and teach my wonderful class and help get their training in.  I will do some abs and upper body training in and stretch!  I am so not used to sitting and lying around doing nothing, my body is so stiff and sore.  Besides that, yesterday I decided to take a little snooze on the couch (something I NEVER do), and I awoke to one of the babies using my stomach as a cleaning post…  I felt somewhat degraded.  No more of that! Must keep as active as possible.

Onward and upward, will see what I can get in tonight at the club and then I will start The Equalizer training tomorrow.  Woo hoo!

Monday Morning Here I Am

Ideally, I should have been up early and on my way into work doing a job that I thoroughly enjoy, but instead I am trapped in my apartment today and likely will be for many more…  The cats seem to be pleased to have their “human toy” home, so at least I am feeling quite loved.

Woke up to Jabba the Hut laying on my chest (aka Lulabelle) and the little cats playing hide and seek around my cast.  Good for them!  Might as well have some fun with this…  Speaking of fun, how fun was it to get ready this morning? I have never been in a cast before – what a royal pain in the butt.  Had to kneel over the bathtub to wash my hair, then I had to fill the tub and drape my leg over the side in order to shave my legs. Ugh.  I may very well go on leg shaving strike till Thursday morning when I go see the foot specialist.

Sadly, I must succumb to using the crutches more around home.  I loathe the evil metal and plastic sticks, but the arch of my left foot and my glute (yowza!!) is killing me so I must relent and make use of them.  I don’t want my Physique Development to end up being an overdeveloped left butt cheek, that’s not quite what I have in mind for myself.

My friend Marc Lebert is going to stop by at lunch and drop off his invention The Equalizer so I don’t go out of my mind at home.  It’s a great piece of equipment for bodyweight training so since I am going to be bound to the confines of my home I might as well use my time wisely; time is a ticking with the challenge! 

I’d like to be able to do at least 15 chin ups and 75 push ups in eight weeks time.  My weight, I am not too concerned about.  It’s more about how I feel, and I want to feel healthy and STRONG!  In fact, I purchased a wonderful new t-shirt online yesterday that I won’t have any business wearing unless I give 100% and really do something dramatic with my physique. I’ll have to train hard to be able to earn the right to wear it! Won’t tell you what it says now; you’ll just have to wait and see. 

 

 

What Began As a Let Down Kind of a Day…

I didn’t eat, I didn’t drink (though I was entirely compelled to do so with the pain I was in!), after midnight last night, just like the white piece of paper told me.  I had literally been counting down the hours till 7:45am this morning as I awaited the relief it would bring.

“I’m a fracture specialist, not a foot fracture specialist”, those were the doomed words that started my day. “You’ll have to make an appointment with him, so he can assess the situation”.  Aaahhh… Right now that Thursday appointment is seeming a lifetime away.

The source of my frustration and the reason for writing this blog is a right broken foot that is hindering my normally too active lifestyle.  As the co-owner of the best martial arts club in the world!(No, I’m not biased) and a owner of a female self defense company, I wish I could give a grandiose story that would wow your socks off; how brave I was… how the other one looked when I was done with them, but sadly I just don’t know how to walk properly!

There’s really no point in boring you with that lame story. The end result is that I have managed not only to displace the 5th metatarsal bone (the long bone on the side of the foot that attaches to the pinkie/baby toe) but fractured it in two places as well.  Apparently, as I have now researched, it is a very common injury for athletes to have, but is a long time in healing (6-8 weeks) and is a painful process.

I am a very positive person so this is not to be a “rant” blog; rather it will be about overcoming obstacles and not using excuses to give up so easily on promises made to oneself.  I vowed to do the 9 Week Challenge and doggone I’m doing it! I may not have measured my Broad Jump and Box Leg Ups, but I did manage to have Joey record the following:

Friday, April 25

Weight: 140 .4lbs, Chin ups: 13, Push Ups: 60

Where can I go from here?  I can only go up!  Eight weeks to go… If all goes well, surgery (if necessary) will be long since done, my cast will be removed, and who knows?  Maybe I’ll end up 10 times stronger…

 

On a side note, is it just me, or is it kind of weird that the break happened right where I have kanji script tattooed meaning “never give up”…