Today the last 10 minutes of class were all cardio. I've discussed how I hate cardio because I struggle with it so. I know it's what's going to burn the fat and get my heart into shape and I know it needs to go hand in hand with the strength training but it ALWAYS kicks my ass and NEVER EVER gets easier.
I have the power and strength to work with the Kettlebells all day long. I can do step ups onto the tire till I'm blue in the face. I can work with the TRX and the rings to the point of complete exhaustion but when it comes to any sort of leaping or hopping or explosive power move I do not have the strength. Jumping Jacks, Burpees, Mountain Climbers, Star Jumps, even skipping kills me.
Anything that requires pushing off and launching my body off the ground I struggle with in a way that frustrates me. It's not a muscle thing, it's more of a feeling, a lack of energy. It's like my body becomes a million pounds and I cannot gather the energy to push off and kick out in a Burpee or jump for a jumping jack.
I really want to be able to do a box jump. It's a simple move that I should at this point be able to do and yet when I try to propel my body off the ground onto a short step aerobic turquoise step I wind up smacking my shins and falling over because I can't clear the damn box.
Same with the Burpees.At this point I should be able to kick my legs out and pop up into a leap but I can't. Today I did get my legs to kick out but then I struggled to right myself to a standing position and forget about the leap. I looked and felt ridiculous.
This lack of energy or ability is the one thing that makes me CRAZY about my body. My brain wants to do it but my legs don't want to cooperate. My body simply lacks the energy to get these basic, simple exercises done.
I'm not sure what I can do to correct this issue or make it better beyond practice and not giving up. I just felt really frustrated and self conscious in class today. Not my best day...Tomorrow will be better!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Heavy gals
Today I went to class with the goal of swinging the 60 pound Kettlebell. I had no goal in mind as far as repetitions or number of swings. I just wanted to see if I could do it. I would have been happy with one good swing.
David in his infinite wisdom was all for my reaching that goal but he wanted me to do it the proper way and work up to it.
At the end of class he set up a 35, 40, 50 and the 60. My instructions were to do 10 clean swings with each weight.
The 30 and 40 were no trouble. The 50 I started to feel in my legs and while I did them I struggled. The 60 I lifted it and was able to do 2 clean swings and clearly the struggle was showing in my body language and on my face. I knew I couldn't do more.
He had me put the Kettlebell down and take a break. He said that I should try to channel the energy it's taking me to contort my face and tense my muscles and transfer it to the 60 pound Kettlebell. No grunting or huffing and puffing, no screwed up faces, only deep even breaths and focus on doing 5 clean swings.
I walked around, got a drink of water, sat down and psyched myself up. I knew I could do it but I wanted to do it RIGHT. I wanted to not be sloppy and I wanted the swings to be proper and clean.
I'd be lying if I told you it wasn't the hardest I've pushed myself. A 60 pound Kettlebell is NOT the same as a 60 pound child or a 60 pound bag of groceries or luggage or even a 60 pound dumbell or barbell.
It's concentrated all in one iron ball and it is CRAZY heavy. It is also a very far cry from the 45 pound gal I've been working with.
I took a deep breath and concentrated on doing 5 good swings. Turns out I was able to do SIX good swings. WOOHOO!!!
I'm very proud of myself for not getting frustrated or giving up when I didn't succeed at our first goal of 10 swings. I love that I have a coach who keeps me in check and makes me do it all the proper way & that he wouldn't let me give up or let it get under my skin. He had me shake it off, take a break and come back. I love that I did one more swing than my revised goal.
Today was a good day!!!
Part one of the swings
Part two
David in his infinite wisdom was all for my reaching that goal but he wanted me to do it the proper way and work up to it.
At the end of class he set up a 35, 40, 50 and the 60. My instructions were to do 10 clean swings with each weight.
The 30 and 40 were no trouble. The 50 I started to feel in my legs and while I did them I struggled. The 60 I lifted it and was able to do 2 clean swings and clearly the struggle was showing in my body language and on my face. I knew I couldn't do more.
He had me put the Kettlebell down and take a break. He said that I should try to channel the energy it's taking me to contort my face and tense my muscles and transfer it to the 60 pound Kettlebell. No grunting or huffing and puffing, no screwed up faces, only deep even breaths and focus on doing 5 clean swings.
I walked around, got a drink of water, sat down and psyched myself up. I knew I could do it but I wanted to do it RIGHT. I wanted to not be sloppy and I wanted the swings to be proper and clean.
I'd be lying if I told you it wasn't the hardest I've pushed myself. A 60 pound Kettlebell is NOT the same as a 60 pound child or a 60 pound bag of groceries or luggage or even a 60 pound dumbell or barbell.
It's concentrated all in one iron ball and it is CRAZY heavy. It is also a very far cry from the 45 pound gal I've been working with.
I took a deep breath and concentrated on doing 5 good swings. Turns out I was able to do SIX good swings. WOOHOO!!!
I'm very proud of myself for not getting frustrated or giving up when I didn't succeed at our first goal of 10 swings. I love that I have a coach who keeps me in check and makes me do it all the proper way & that he wouldn't let me give up or let it get under my skin. He had me shake it off, take a break and come back. I love that I did one more swing than my revised goal.
Today was a good day!!!
Part one of the swings
Part two
Monday, March 21, 2011
Bad days
Woke up this morning to a deluge of rain and colder temps. I didn't feel like doing anything but crawling back under the covers and sleeping all day long.
I'd promised myself that I was not going to miss a single Boot Camp before our Disney trip and I needed to keep that promise.
I got to class and usually just being there improves my mood but today I felt flustered and grumbly and out of sorts.
It didn't help that I was wearing my shapeup sneakers because I couldn't find the other ones. While I love them, they aren't the best for balancing which is exactly what we had to do today.
I couldn't pull it together in class today. Couldn't get my brain to push my body at all and I found myself punking out on the weight, going for lighter kettlebells, shaving one or two off of reps, stopping more often, taking unnecessary breaks. All this just made me much much crankier and angry at myself.
Finally as I was mentally punching myself over and over a quiet voice piped up and said
"You came to class that has to count for something"
I realized the tiny voice was right. I DID come to class and it wasn't like I was standing around not moving at all. I can't go full throttle every day and can't expect every day to be my best. Some days are going to suck harder than a Dyson and it's those days and those moments that I have a critical choice to make.
I can be angry at myself and break myself down for not being as good or as strong as yesterday, or I can stop, take a deep breath and figure out how to redeem the moment or the day.
I decided to have the lovely Mistress Jesse (because that's her new nickname as far as I'm concerned) videotape my swings with the 45 pound gal today. Today I was going to do 20 swings. I got them done and on the last few I lost my focus and lost my balance and form went out the window and I struggled but I GOT THEM DONE.
I could have beat myself up for almost falling over, for not having "hinge hips" for losing focus, for being sloppy and for a zillon other things I'm sure I didn't do right but I chose to focus on what I did do right. I did 20 swings with the 45 pound Kettlebell.
I did 20 swings with a weight that a year ago I couldn't even lift let along swing. I've set a goal and I'm working hard to meet it. Every day I'm stronger and so what if today wasn't my best day. It sure wasn't my worst and tomorrow I have a chance to do it all over again and max it out like a rock star!
Editing to add that I just watched the video of my swings and I'm REALLY glad I had her tape it. It felt MUCH sloppier and unbalanced than it actually was. My form, while not perfect isn't a wretched as I thought it was and I'm not as out of control as I felt. The camera also only got 18 of my 20 swings but I PROMISE I did 20!!!
I'd promised myself that I was not going to miss a single Boot Camp before our Disney trip and I needed to keep that promise.
I got to class and usually just being there improves my mood but today I felt flustered and grumbly and out of sorts.
It didn't help that I was wearing my shapeup sneakers because I couldn't find the other ones. While I love them, they aren't the best for balancing which is exactly what we had to do today.
I couldn't pull it together in class today. Couldn't get my brain to push my body at all and I found myself punking out on the weight, going for lighter kettlebells, shaving one or two off of reps, stopping more often, taking unnecessary breaks. All this just made me much much crankier and angry at myself.
Finally as I was mentally punching myself over and over a quiet voice piped up and said
"You came to class that has to count for something"
I realized the tiny voice was right. I DID come to class and it wasn't like I was standing around not moving at all. I can't go full throttle every day and can't expect every day to be my best. Some days are going to suck harder than a Dyson and it's those days and those moments that I have a critical choice to make.
I can be angry at myself and break myself down for not being as good or as strong as yesterday, or I can stop, take a deep breath and figure out how to redeem the moment or the day.
I decided to have the lovely Mistress Jesse (because that's her new nickname as far as I'm concerned) videotape my swings with the 45 pound gal today. Today I was going to do 20 swings. I got them done and on the last few I lost my focus and lost my balance and form went out the window and I struggled but I GOT THEM DONE.
I could have beat myself up for almost falling over, for not having "hinge hips" for losing focus, for being sloppy and for a zillon other things I'm sure I didn't do right but I chose to focus on what I did do right. I did 20 swings with the 45 pound Kettlebell.
I did 20 swings with a weight that a year ago I couldn't even lift let along swing. I've set a goal and I'm working hard to meet it. Every day I'm stronger and so what if today wasn't my best day. It sure wasn't my worst and tomorrow I have a chance to do it all over again and max it out like a rock star!
Editing to add that I just watched the video of my swings and I'm REALLY glad I had her tape it. It felt MUCH sloppier and unbalanced than it actually was. My form, while not perfect isn't a wretched as I thought it was and I'm not as out of control as I felt. The camera also only got 18 of my 20 swings but I PROMISE I did 20!!!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
YEEHAW!!!
18+ swings with the 45 pound Kettlebell. I still marvel at the dramatic weight difference between the 40 and the 45 pound Kettlebells.
This video was shot by my 7 year old! Not a bad job I don't think!
This video was shot by my 7 year old! Not a bad job I don't think!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Good day
Today I was focused on getting the kids and the husband out the door on time and with all that they needed and I forgot about me. I went to Boot Camp on an empty stomach. Really stupid idea. Ignoring the rumbles in my stomach I went to class determined to push hard today.
We have a phenomenal new-ish trainer named Jesse who I've very quickly come to adore and look forward to her teaching class. She's big on the cardio and so I know in her class I'm going to be forced to do things I hate to do and attempt to avoid (Jumping Jacks and Jump Rope and really, any kind of leaping or hopping or anything that disturbs the fat and makes it wiggle and slap.)
Because I've been with David so long, I have a relationship with him that most others don't have. I consider him my super cool younger brother from another (very cute!) mother. Feedback, comments, questions, criticism is often passed to David through me and almost straight across the board the feedback on Jesse is that she's AWESOME and a hell of a lot tougher than David. I agree sort of. I don't think she's tougher, I think she's asking us to do more cardio and offering us new challenges and new exercises we haven't seen yet.
Today for example,she had us grab a kettlebell and do a walking overhead press the length of the loading dock. David would have had us just turn around and walk back. She had us do 10 star jumps pick the bell back up press it overhead and walk back to the other end of the dock. There we did 10 more star jumps and repeated the cycle. Then we went inside and did 100 trunk twists with the Kettlebell.
I did the dock walk with the 25 pound Kettlebell and in my desire to push myself while everyone else was doing a 2 handed overhead lift I decided to do it one arm up and one arm back. Let me tell you how badly my poor arms were screaming by the last round.
Did I mention that prior to this she had asked us to run 3 laps on the dock. I couldn't run today thanks to shin splints so I had grabbed a 15 pound bell and done an overhead walking press? Did I mention that I'd also attempted to do a windmill with the 15 pounder?
Arms, SO not happy with me.
I decided to go ahead and do my rountine with the 45 pound gal anyway. I lay down and did 10 presses and then tried to do my swings. I got to 10 and knew that was it. Car no go any further. I decided rather than give up, I would switch it up and so I did 10 squats with the 45 pound bell. By the time I got to the 10th one I was sure I would be stuck in the squat position for the rest of the day beacuse my legs were not going to get me back to a standing position.
I promised them a nice hot bath when we got home and they agreed and got me back standing up straight.
I feel really good about today beacuse I didn't let my exaustion get the better of me. I found a way to push myself without killing myself.
Smarter not harder right?
We have a phenomenal new-ish trainer named Jesse who I've very quickly come to adore and look forward to her teaching class. She's big on the cardio and so I know in her class I'm going to be forced to do things I hate to do and attempt to avoid (Jumping Jacks and Jump Rope and really, any kind of leaping or hopping or anything that disturbs the fat and makes it wiggle and slap.)
Because I've been with David so long, I have a relationship with him that most others don't have. I consider him my super cool younger brother from another (very cute!) mother. Feedback, comments, questions, criticism is often passed to David through me and almost straight across the board the feedback on Jesse is that she's AWESOME and a hell of a lot tougher than David. I agree sort of. I don't think she's tougher, I think she's asking us to do more cardio and offering us new challenges and new exercises we haven't seen yet.
Today for example,she had us grab a kettlebell and do a walking overhead press the length of the loading dock. David would have had us just turn around and walk back. She had us do 10 star jumps pick the bell back up press it overhead and walk back to the other end of the dock. There we did 10 more star jumps and repeated the cycle. Then we went inside and did 100 trunk twists with the Kettlebell.
I did the dock walk with the 25 pound Kettlebell and in my desire to push myself while everyone else was doing a 2 handed overhead lift I decided to do it one arm up and one arm back. Let me tell you how badly my poor arms were screaming by the last round.
Did I mention that prior to this she had asked us to run 3 laps on the dock. I couldn't run today thanks to shin splints so I had grabbed a 15 pound bell and done an overhead walking press? Did I mention that I'd also attempted to do a windmill with the 15 pounder?
Arms, SO not happy with me.
I decided to go ahead and do my rountine with the 45 pound gal anyway. I lay down and did 10 presses and then tried to do my swings. I got to 10 and knew that was it. Car no go any further. I decided rather than give up, I would switch it up and so I did 10 squats with the 45 pound bell. By the time I got to the 10th one I was sure I would be stuck in the squat position for the rest of the day beacuse my legs were not going to get me back to a standing position.
I promised them a nice hot bath when we got home and they agreed and got me back standing up straight.
I feel really good about today beacuse I didn't let my exaustion get the better of me. I found a way to push myself without killing myself.
Smarter not harder right?
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Kettebell Certification
Okay so I've found my new summer faux goal.
I'm going to work towards my RKC Kettlebell Certification.
It's a faux goal because I don't think I'll be ready for it by the summer but it's going to be my goal to work every day on the requirements for the physical test.
It's an absolute BEAST of a test andif when the day comes that I can do all that is required to pass I will then give myself the title of Queen of the Badasses.
Further motivation for me to continue taking this weight off is that there is a different Kettlebell weight requirement for gals that weigh 123.5 and under. If you are over 123.5 you have to do all your work with the 16kg Kettlebell. (A little over 35 pounds) Under 123.5 you have to do all your work with the 12kg Kettlebell. (a little over 26 pounds)
That 10ish pounds makes a MASSIVE difference in the world of Kettlebells.
Either way you have to do 100 snatches in 5 minutes.
That all by itself is CRAZY bad ass, but that's only part of the test. You also have to do a 15 second flexed arm hang plus a myraid of other things that they don't list on the site...
I watch this video and long to be as strong and agile and proficient as these folks are. It is my new long term goal. In the next 5 years I will earn my RKC Kettlebell Certification!
I'm going to work towards my RKC Kettlebell Certification.
It's a faux goal because I don't think I'll be ready for it by the summer but it's going to be my goal to work every day on the requirements for the physical test.
It's an absolute BEAST of a test and
Further motivation for me to continue taking this weight off is that there is a different Kettlebell weight requirement for gals that weigh 123.5 and under. If you are over 123.5 you have to do all your work with the 16kg Kettlebell. (A little over 35 pounds) Under 123.5 you have to do all your work with the 12kg Kettlebell. (a little over 26 pounds)
That 10ish pounds makes a MASSIVE difference in the world of Kettlebells.
Either way you have to do 100 snatches in 5 minutes.
That all by itself is CRAZY bad ass, but that's only part of the test. You also have to do a 15 second flexed arm hang plus a myraid of other things that they don't list on the site...
I watch this video and long to be as strong and agile and proficient as these folks are. It is my new long term goal. In the next 5 years I will earn my RKC Kettlebell Certification!
The Scale
I've had two people tell me how good I'm looking and I can feel changes in my body so I dragged the scale out again. 182! I'm thrilled to see the scale finally going in the direction I want it to.
I
How badly do you want it?
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