My glutes hurt and I stink

It’s been one of those crazy weeks.  The classes are all intermingling together and I am trying to keep straight just where am I going next, who am I team-teaching with, and what am I actually supposed to be teaching?  Old or new, which class?!!!  DOH.  I must be tired.

My week?  Let’s just forget how many classes, and instead focus on how many times I got cleaned.

Monday:  3 showers

Tuesday: 2 showers

Wednesday: only 1 so far

But go ahead, ask me how I feel.  PRETTY DARN GREAT!  I love teaching, I love the moves, and I love how much everyone else loves the classes.  Now, wouldn’t you want to tell everyone else about how incredible it makes you feel?!!

Enjoy some good sweating over the next few days and have a few extra showers, okay?!! 

- Daisy

Release time = Potential Stress Time

It’s that time again!  Release time when all the group exercise classes get the new wave of music, moves and gives your brain and body, a new workout.

This is a WONDERFUL time for the folks who come to classes, but it can be a bit stressful for Instructors.  Afterall, we’re learning all new choreography, plus, we end up practicing multiple times, and we end up teaching typically 1.5-2 times more classes than usual.  For an instructor who normally teaches 4 classes per week – that would be teaching 6-8 classes in one week.  Wow.  No wonder many of us get sick after this time!

So, what’s an instructor to do?  Take it easy.  Don’t get stressed out.  If you flub, it’s no big deal and remember that it really won’t matter a year from now.

So, what can class-goers do?  Go to the special classes – the instructors spend a lot of time in preparation and it is always more fun and appreciated when the classes are packed.  Plus, don’t forget to tell the instructors how much you appreciated the special class.

So, what can I do?  I better learn 2 hours of choreography FAST, so I can help deliver a world class experience!

- Daisy

Heavenly Yoghurt

Yum.  I can’t stop thinking about this yoghurt my husband just purchased.

You know how yoghurt is usually 0.5% fat or even 0.1% or something really close to fat free?  I have always told him I wonder what happened to the high fat yoghurt.  When it came to yoghurt, I figured, the higher the % fat, the richer, the better.  Yum.  Stores seem to have lost all interest in high fat yoghurt so I mostly don’t eat yoghurt anymore.  We buy yoghurt for the little guy, but for me, the low fat stuff just isn’t worth it.  If I’m going to eat something like that, I may as well go to something really bad.. like ice cream or Tiramisu!

Well.  I’m back on yoghurt now.  The favourite spouse purchased 8% fat yoghurt yesterday.  I kid you not.  It was to die for.  I think I’ve died and gone to Yoghurt Heaven.  Oh my.  Hmmm hmmm good.

Hmm, so what does this have to do with fitness and why am I even writing it on my fitness blog?  Because I think it is important for people to know that indulgences once in a while are OK!  Remember I posted before that I like to eat – the reason I don’t balloon out is because I spend the same if not more than what I take in.  Lately, I have upped the ante on both cardio and strength training, and I can tell my body needs to take in more calories.  That’s how I am able to endulge in these little heavenly splurges once in a while.

My other trick is to tell the spouse to stop buying 8% yoghurt.

- Daisy

Setting up for Success

Think about how many people want to lose some weight or get fitter, and then months later, they seem to have lost the urge? What happened? Typical excuses range from having no time, to it being boring, or the lack of results. Yet many will return again with a resolution the following year to do it all again.

Stop the madness I say! How can we break this cycle?
We have to start with our own minds, and allow ourselves not to sabotage our success. I’ve seen it, and heard it many times with people who want to achieve, and yet do not believe they are capable.

Let me use an example with my little guy on goals and beliefs. I think you’ll find it is very similar to the thought process others have regarding fitness:

Michael - Mommy, let’s do this kitten puzzle.
Me – Sure, let’s do it.

(We work on the puzzle for a few minutes.)

Michael – I don’t want to do this anymore.
Me – Why not?
Michael – I can’t do it.
Me – Sure you can.
Michael – No, I can’t. It’s too hard.
Me – Don’t you want to see it finished?
Michael – Yes, but I can’t do it.

(Michael had the goal, but didn’t believe he was capable. See what happens next.)

Me – Oh look, I found the kitten’s eye. Can you find the other eye?
Michael – Yeah, here it is.
Me – Great! What else can you find on a kitten’s head?
Michael – Ears and whiskers! Look what I found!
Me – Awesome! Can you try to put together those eyes, ears and whisker pieces?
Michael – Yeah!

We finished the puzzle and he was so proud of himself.

What transpired, was simply a parent’s belief in her child. I believed in his ability, I broke down the task into smaller chunks, and encouraged him. He always had the ability, but just wasn’t sure he could it.

This should be no surprise, but we all go through times of self-doubt. We have days when we feel that we can’t do it, and those excuses like “it’s too hard” and “it’s too time-consuming” discourage us into inactivity. Don’t let those days and times of doubt sabotage your success, or else, you may find yourself making the same resolution again.

Believing in yourself is the path to success.

For the times when you’re not sure you can get started or keep going.

• If you’re going to skip a day, remind yourself that skipping the first time only makes skipping again more likely. Delay the skipping as long as possible, and only when absolutely necessary.
• If you’re not convinced you want to do your activity, remind yourself how great you’ll feel during and afterwards.
• Ask for help! Get support from a trusted friend or family member who believes in you and will motivate you to get moving.

Lastly, acknowledge that there will be some days when you won’t believe. It’s okay, and very normal. What’s more important is what you do, in spite of those feelings.

- Daisy

A darn sweaty great day

Today was a darn sweaty, great day.  I team-taught a very special cardio theme class, and then later a strength training class.  What was the best thing about today?  I had more happy faces and smiles today than I remember in a while.  Not only that, I had a number of individuals take the time out to tell me personally how much they enjoyed the classes!  Wow.  Remember, I only recently went on my 72 hour madness training for the strength training class, so for people to give me their incredible feedback, it was a real pat on the back to remind me that I’m doing the right things.

I think I made the right choice.  We should all make the right choices because being true, makes us all extremely happy people.

- Daisy

Stronger

Sometimes I get frustrated as an instructor because I can see people have far more potential than they seem willing to dish out.  It’s very easy to spot when instructing a strength-training program because you can really watch people’s technique and look at their facial expressions to help determine their effort level.

Some people have been coming to the same class for years.  And still have not changed their weights.  Is it possible they have not gotten stronger in all that time?  Or are they simply not trying hard enough?

If we look at the motivation, I think most people are there to improve and staying at the same weights while barely breaking out a sweat, is, in my opinion, a bit of a waste of time.  I’ve never been successful at doing things halfway – if I’m going to spend the time to get to the gym, I might as well work it, get fitter, get stronger, and enjoy the time, because time is precious.

Motivation is a two-way street and I know what will make instructing a real gem for me.  I saw it the other day when I got one person through the last few reps of the bicep curls even though I knew she thought she was done.  Her eyes told me she didn’t have it in her and I told her over the mic she did.  When she got the final one curled with perfect technique and the music ended, she smiled and I knew we both made it together.

I teach for people who push themselves further than they ever have before.  Are you game?

- Daisy

 

After the Madness

It’s over. It was wonderful. It was exhausting. It was hard. It was challenging. At the end of it all, it reminds me that teaching additional fitness classes is what I should be doing!  It is so ME.

Tomorrow will be 1 week after the 72 hour madness.  I must say that it drained me in a way I didn’t expect.  Perhaps it was draining for multiple reasons – it was physically very challenging, mentally challenging, and since my return, I’ve been personally challenging myself to stay at a maddening pace similar to the crazy weekend pace.  Ahh, well, therein is the answer to why I’m so tired!

Here’s a quick summary of the 3 days.  It involved weight training multiple times per day, every day mixed in with discussion and practical.  Friday began from noon until 8pm with minimal breaks, and then after 8pm, a chance for dinner, and learning choreography for the next morning.  Saturday was from 9am-6pm, and then we learned more choreography in the evening for Sunday morning.  Sunday began early at 8am-5pm.  Phew.  Then we returned home.

There are a lot of things that I will take away from the training.  I will only highlight a few choice ones, and perhaps at a later date, I will add plenty more:

• What motivates a person to begin on this journey may not necessarily be what keeps them on this path.  For me, the pure love of the exercise is why I decided to try to do it, but what keeps me teaching is absolutely the people.  It sounds so hokey, and yet it is true – being able to motivate and change people’s lives is why many of us teach.
• When your muscles actually give out and can’t physically lift one more – that’s pushing the limits.  So many people think, “wow, this is heavy, yeah, I’m done” and I can tell by the look on their face, they are far from done, yet they have not ever been pushed.  How can they approach the boundaries if they don’t know just how far they can go?  We are all so much stronger than we thought we were.
• My quads are crazy.  Holy mackeral, I just need to get my upper body stronger so I can get the weight up and over my head safely for squats.  I need to work on balancing my upper body vs lower body strength.
• The trainer mentioned that as instructors, we need to look the part for whatever program we teach.  That also means wearing form-fitting clothes so we can show people our lines – exactly where our belly is, how our body is aligned, where our knees are, etc.  No more baggy pants, no more baggy shirts.  My husband, normally in baggy t-shirts, finally purchased a nice form-fitting top after we returned.  Now I don’t know who’s the better looking Pump instructor – me or him? 

- Daisy

72 Hour Madness

My husband and I are getting ready for 3 days of intense craziness.  We’re going to be training together as we get ready to learn and eventually instruct in a strength-training class.  My muscles are already a touch sore, and I can only imagine that I will be falling out of bed before the weekend is over.  I’m sure I will leave no muscles untouched.

This is going to be fun!

Of course, I am sure I’ll detail some interesting things along the way and you should expect a flurry of nutty posts about small, little, inconsequential nothings.  See you on the other side.  Don’t be surprised if I write that even my fingers are sore.

I don’t know how to stop

Sometimes I don’t know when to stop. Or better yet, I don’t know how to stop.  I’ve got a classic Type A personality which makes it difficult for me to slow down once I’ve made up my mind and it seems that my over-worked body needs to fail before I will actually stop and give it a rest.

Now that my body has cried out in pain temporarily (don’t even ask, and the truth is, it’s not a huge deal), I have found myself not nearing the gym in, gasp, multiple-days-in-a-row.  It is unheard of and seems oh-so-wrong.  So of course, in my anxiety at not physically doing something, my calorie-burning body desperately tries to find something, anything – afterall, I’m addicted, can’t you tell?

It’s extremely difficult for me to be benched at the moment, and the best I could do was paint a bunch of baseboards and quarter-round for my almost finished basement.  Not exactly a calorie-rich activity, however, still something vaguely physical?  You see, I get asked this question about how I spend so many calories in the average day/week, and I realize that I just don’t know how to stop.  Even when my body stops me, I want to keep going.

I’m infused with it and being physically active has now become ingrained into me.  This rest period is killing me.  Please give me the willpower and wisdom to give it a rest long enough to get back into the game.

P.S.  I just did a Type A/B personality test – I’m stunned with the results because it seems I must be softening.  Here’s the test I did, and here’s what surprised me.

- Daisy

I like to eat

I like to eat. I really like to eat. It must be in my blood (and stomach).

Anyone who has ever spent a leisurely meal with me knows I eat like a pig.
Anyone who has seen me eat wonders how I keep my girlish figure.
Some people (who don’t know me) think I may have an eating disorder.

The truth?
- No eating disorder
- Genetics in my favour
- And I spend a truckload of calories every single day

Some people live to work. Others work to live.
I workout to eat. YUM.

- Daisy