Go sit in the corner !

In this day and age it seems people are always on the go. We all have lists of chores and things that need to get done two days ago.  I find myself to be  included in this generalization. Most importantly, I find I do this in my training. I never take the hint from my body or my evil boyfriend/coach, to take a time out. Approximately three or four months ago I hurt my right shoulder.  At this time I started seeing someone for structural integration ( if you're interested, check out Alyssa Dodson's website  www.alyssadodson.com/.testimonials.com) and it really started helping. What's that you say? Did I ease up at the gym?  Of course not! That would make sense. "Hey, you're injured. Take a break, dummy."  Slowly, my shoulder felt better as I continued to work out.  About a month ago, the boyfriend asked me to perform a move checking my shoulder mobility. Just as I feared, the verdict was, "Your mobility stinks, to put it nicely. No snatches or presses for you." Being the brat I can be when being told I can't do something I start whining, "What this? Can't be. I'm gonna do it anyway." After hearing this I had a thirty minute ride home to let this sink in. Hmmm, maybe he's right. Maybe I should listen this time before I really get hurt.  So, I decide to listen to him. Ooohhh unbelieveable!  I took it easy for about two weeks.  It was easy enough until I realized I had to get in 3,000 swings in three days to complete my 10,000 swing challenge for the month of October. Well I finished it.  Usually I'd say, 'woohoo!' or something to that effect. Not this time, for several reasons. One, I did not plan this challenge out well. I knew I was going away in a few days where I had no acess to kettlebells and I knew my shoulder wasn't feeling great. Sometimes it's okay to throw in the towel. "The goal is the goal", and my goal is the RKC, not to do x amount of swings.  So, the coach wrote me an email advising me to go home Monday night. No gym until friday :(.  I was sad but I know it's in my best interest to rest and do a lot of mobility work.  I guess sometimes even as adults we need to be put in time out :)

O ye of little faith in YOU!

People are always advising that you should believe in yourself. You can do anything if you really put your mind to it, right? Isn't that how the saying goes?  I've been "greasing the groove" with bands in the pull up department for about a month now . I've been doing this three to four times a week and it had been getting easier. About a week ago my boyfriend/coach  said, "In november you're just going to do pull ups. Lose the bands". Excuse me!  What did you just say?!  No! No way, not happening.  I will not give up my security blanket! I was a little upset, to say the least. How could he think I was capable of doing that? . The real question is, why did I think I couldn't?  So, it was Wednesday around 8:30 pm and we had just finished 'boot to butt' kettlebells. One of the guys started doing pull ups. I'll be honest, as soon as I saw this I knew I was in TROUBLE . I looked around in a panic  to find someone to engage in a conversation.... too late! I hear, "Bubb, Bubb come here."  It was the evil boyfriend. "Go ahead Bubb." He grabbed a chair, put it infront of the trx rack, and said, "Have at it."  I get on the chair and I say, literally out loud, "Now what?"  He said, "You hold on, hang and pull up. Duh." Wow. Really? That easy? I must admit I had a million things running through my mind at this point. I figured I had no other choice but to try. Okay, hands on the bar. Now walk off the plank ;) ( I know, I'm dramatic.)  So hands on, step off, hang and pulled up. I DID IT!!! I was shocked, ecstatic and so proud of myself. I admit this was a much needed lesson for me. When trying something new believe in yourself!  What's the worst thing that could happen? You don't do it and you have to keep trying.  Have faith in you!  What's something you accomplished you never thought you could achieve?

Elizabeth M

Lunch is served !!!!!!

I have to start by saying as a full time dental hygienist im very lucky! First, I have a full time job and in this economy I'm very grateful and thankful to have it . There are several perks at my job and one of them is our lunch is purchased for us daily. I find the ordering of lunch in my office very entertaining. I call it 'feeding time at the zoo'. :)  We order from a website so there are many restaurants from which we can choose. On any given day there will be sushi, pizza, burritos or my favorite, grilled chicken and steamed veggies.  I order the same meal every single day of the week ! I know you're shocked.  Why would I do that when I could eat something different everday.  Hmmm, maybe you think im boring ? I just like having good clean food that will fill me up. Im sorry, but a cup of salad with cucumbers and carrots is not going to satisfy my appetite, let alone get me through a workout.  The women I work with refer to my lunch as "chicken poop".  I find this very amusing.  They always tease me about eating the same thing everyday. Shockingly, whenever someone wants to eat healthy they order the dreaded "chicken poop". ( even my boss ;) shh don't tell) I don't feel there is anything wrong with eating the same, if not similar, meals on a daily basis.  If I was bored or sick of it I wouldn't eat it!  If you get bored of the same meals switch it up!  But switching it up doesn't mean it has to be unhealthy. Do you have any meals you like to cook/eat on a regular basis?

Do what YOU love !

                             



When it comes to working out and staying healthy there are hundreds upon hundreds of philosophies.  So what's the best?  There is no one answer to this because it should be based on the individual.  Everyone has different fitness and training goals. No two people have the same strengths and weaknesses. A wise man once told me to train those weaknesses! ;)   Aside from basic differences most people have likes and dislikes. For instance, I love going to the gym for a group class called sports conditioning ( it's a one hour boot camp that the instructor actually puts his foot up your @ss hahaha, no anesthesia required) I enjoy the comradery, intensity and having my butt sufficiently kicked. If I'm not working to my full potential I want the guy next to me to tell me to MAN UP !  I also take a small group training kettlebell class with an amazing group of men and women. All of us constantly push one another to work to our full potential. Everyone strives to be better and learn as much as we can cram into our brains.
All this being said, zumba is also a small group class. Im sorry, but  you'd have to tie me up and gag me to get me in that class. I'm pretty strong so good luck with that hahahaha :) . I don't think the lady next to you is going to say you're not gyrating your hips enough.  
About a month ago, my sister, cousins and a few girlfriends mentioned they were going to do a 5k. I've done this race before. It's called the tunnel to the towers. You start in Brooklyn, NY, right before the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, and run down to the World Trade Center site. This race commemorates a firefighter who on 9/11 ran in all his gear to try and help at the towers and lost his life. So I contemplated running it.  I was actually all ready to sign up. Then came the shocking realization that I don't enjoy running. I'd honestly rather tackle obstacles, run sprints with a parachute or run stairs with a weighted vest. I just find running very boring.  I know some people love to run, and thats awesome, it's just not my thing. I'm not saying this to deter anyone from running, I just prefer kettlebells . Not everyone is going to enjoy kettlebells and I understand that. So, when you realize you're participating in something you don't like find something new. I'm not saying if you feel like your working too hard, quit ! Just do what you love! What do you guys love?

You are what YOU eat !

We've all heard the term you are what you eat!  In most situations it's meant figuratively but how about you take it literally! Errrr what? Let me explain .... I was a junior in high school,  in my honors English class . Our teacher incessantly  teased that the class as a whole was a bunch of nerds. We all thought this was hysterical (like she said nerds lol).  One day while we were all filing into class, she seemed very excited to get the lesson started.  But we were the nerds?  =) Finally, the bell rings for class to start  and my teacher begins walking around from student to student, placing a small box on each desk.  Everyone was in such suspense as she walked around. What she placed on our desks was nerds the candy!  After she had handed one to each of us she then declared with such enthusiasm " you are what you eat" ! In this situation it was true. ;) But are we really a product of what we put into our bodies ? ? Is what we put in our mouths a direct reflection on our daily performance ? 
Take a look at the person that constantly indulges in fast food and alcohol. Is this the diet of a person training for a race or any type of physical competition? Now take a look at the person eating clean ( lean protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats ). I don't know about you guys but ill take the clean eating over the fast food. I know its hard to eat clean! You have to go food shopping , cook and carry food with you constantly. I know this because I challenged myself in the begining of September to be ONE HUNDRED percent compliant. This also meant NO alcohol!  I know, I nearly passed out when I decided to commit to this. The reason I decided to do this was first, to see if I had enough self control to eat healthy and stay within my calorie range. Second, to see if there was a difference in my performance during my workouts. Third, to see if my body fat would change. I did not do this because I felt I needed to lose weight!  I should have measured my body fat before I began but I didn't =(  (Come jan 1, I will be taking measurements and checking my body fat . Jan 1 marks one hundred percent compliance until after the RKC in April ) Here it is oct 1, and I did it ! woohoooo ! Where's the wine and champagne to celebrate ? Lol. But seriously, what did I learn?  I learned I have all the control!  I was faster with my sprints, my workouts were crisper and I definitely noticed a change in my body fat. So what exactly did I eat?  That's another blog :) So if I am what I eat im defintely a chicken !  What are you???
Elizabeth M

EXTRA, EXTRA read all about it !!!!

Magazines.  There are millions of them, gossip, health, fashion, cooking, science and bodybuilding, just to name a few.  As a woman I can't deny that I've purchased hundreds, if not thousands, of magazines in all different shapes and sizes. I won't lie, I had to get my hands on People Magazine and see Kim Kardashian's three wedding dresses.  I previously had a subscription for womens health.  I actually considered asking for my money back. I finally had a realization. Why am I subscribing to this crap? Lift light weights, do lots of reps, be four pounds. :) Let's look at the content in these magazines. Every magazine these days wants to tell you what your favorite celebrity eats all day and what workouts they are put through. Hey listen, if I had a team of people cooking for me and telling me what to do every minute of the day I could eat a piece of lettuce all day too!  Lol, yeah I don't think I could or that I'd want too! But that's the mind set we all seem to be in as women, "if we aren't starving were doing something wrong!"  I know every single person reading this has said or heard a friend, girlfriend, co-worker, wife, sister or mother say "im eating a salad , im on a diet."   
So many of these  magazines instruct you to use 5 -8 pound weights. Hmmm... okay really? They say they are looking out for us they don't want us getting buff. First of all, what in your life are you picking up that weighs 8 pounds? My purse weighs more than that! You are not going to look like a body builder if you lift heavier weights! Don't believe me? ( 7 Myths of Women's Weight Training and Female Bodybuilding ) Psst, you have to get rid of the fat before you get buff ;)  Do you know how hard those women work ? How they constantly eat but eat clean and nutritious foods?  These magazines try to make women feel badly because they aren't "four pounds", but why would you want to be? (This term is used loosely to refer to women who appear alarmingly thin to me. It is not meant to insult anyone who is just naturally very thin. It's to the women who starve themselves that I use this term .) Who cares that you're not four pounds! Are you strong ? Do you bust your @ss in the gym ? Do you push yourself to be better ? Then throw those magazines out!
Elizabeth M

The HKC and me !

This past Sunday, September 11, was the HKC in West haven CT. I drove up the evening before with my sister, Olivia.  We had a nice dinner, then I made sure to find  the gym.  I'll admit I have an ocd personality or, shall we say, curious lol. Those of you that know me personally know its the former, not the latter. :)  So we finally find the gym after getting a bit lost, me freaking out a little, and my sister suggesting we stop and ask a cop. When we finally get there it was dark outside so I park the car and get out. I gaze into the huge floor to ceiling windows and check the place out. ( Not normal behavior you say ?) My sister said  I looked like a robber staking out the place and we'd better go before the cop comes back thinking we're up to no good. But then I froze and got really still because I saw the pull up bar! Olivia asked me if someone was in there. I said no, pointed to the dreaded bar and she started laughing.  I had been sweating this flexed arm hang for weeks. Why?  Well let me tell you, DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF. As I would soon find out, there was so much more for me to focus on there.

The next day began at 730 am at kettlebell daily. I walk in and am imediately handed a packet of papers to fill out. Then I get over to the dreaded bar and I know I need to own that arm hang.  I get up to the bar and I DO IT !  We were very lucky to have Dave Whitley, Master RKC,  as our instructor . The day consisted of LEARNING, yes LEARNING, how to preform  and teach a swing, turkish get up (TGU), and goblet squat. Dave was absolutely awesome. He was able to break things down and not only explain what we as students need to learn to better our swings, TGU, and goblet squats, but he also helped us with drills so we can teach others how to perform them.

 

The day ended with the dreaded test. First, we were tested on being able to explain and show someone how to correctly perform all three of these exercises. The second test was to execute them one at a time . After these tests we waited...  We were called in one at a time to find out how we did . For those of you who don't know, I passed =) ! It was a great day. I met alot of great people (strong women and men) ! I was also pleased to meet Amanda from sistasofstrength.com, whose blog I follow . One tiny, itty bity step closer to the RKC in April 2012!