Posts Tagged ‘personal training’

Not Feeling It

I went to the gym this morning after pulling some teeth to get there. And no – it wasn’t the kiddos who needed a little convincing. I did.

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And apparently I needed a nap too? Ah, the joys of self-timer pictures.

Tuesday morning’s routine usually calls for a weights workout and whatever cardio I’m feeling that day. Generally I could take or leave the cardio portion and get all sorts of excited to whip out a new workout pumping some iron. It’s how I get “bitchin’ arms”. <--- I promise I’m not vain…just a shout out to Heather and the calamity she started in the #HLS Twitter feed during our panel. Talk about unexpected feedback. Winking smile

Well, these arms turned into “bitchin’ and moanin’ arms” at the thought of picking up a weight. That..or the painful bowling balls I have sitting on my chest right now thanks to weaning made weights sound like a no go. I wonder why FitSugar didn’t think to include that as an event that sabotages your workout? Hmmm…

I considered just scrapping the workout all together because I didn’t want to do weights, but then remembered Beth’s “all or nothing” post from yesterday and knew I would feel better getting in at least the cardio portion of my workout. Plus, I could use the mental release and escape with all the emotional stuff going on recently. Forty distracting minutes on the elliptical later and I felt much better.

Kind of like how it felt good to succumb to the mindless distractions after getting home from the hospital last night.

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Google Reader. Best time suck for mindless entertainment out there.

I guess the whole weight training motivation passed me by then too. You see…I should have taken the time to study for a pretty important test I hope to take in November.

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In fact, I haven’t really touched my personal training study materials since a week before leaving for the Healthy Living Summit. I needed to prepare for my trip. Then I needed to catch myself up with the inevitable pile of to-dos that comes with going out of town. Then I took off running with the million new ideas for the blog that I had to take a crack at because it is my number one work love (if you don’t count the mom job).

I had high hopes of getting back on a good study routine last night…but my mind wanted mindless entertainment and to not think about muscle synergies and optimal training systems. But it’s time to suck it up, buttercup! Heck, I actually like the material and find it incredibly interesting. I can’t be a slacker forever. Especially since I look forward to training clients via an online platform someday in the (hopefully not too distant) future. I guess I’m just in the ebb part of studying…hopefully it will get flowing again soon!

  • What “time suck” do you find yourself drawn to for mindless entertainment?
  • What have you slacked on lately?

Posted by on August 30th, 2011 41 Comments

Stable And Balanced

Oops! I forgot to catch you up on this weekend’s posts earlier. So, in case you missed it -

Today was the big day. I mentioned tearing up early this morning at the thought of Makenzie starting preschool officially today. I cried a bit after dropping her off.

And then…I got home and realized the blessing of extra time to rock out some productivity. I love my little munchkin and thought about her consistently, but I can certainly see the bright side to this whole preschool thing now. Plus, her beaming grin when I picked her up let me know how happy it made her. I can’t argue with that. 🙂

Before dropping Makenzie off at preschool, I decided to keep things as normal as possible for her routine. I didn’t want her noticing me hovering extra and then thinking something was up with this whole preschool thing. That meant hitting the gym for my Monday morning weights session as usual. I did something a little different this morning and incorporated a plethora of stability training into the mix.

I coupled a bunch of exercises together in supersets with one traditional exercise and one stability exercise for the larger muscle groups (legs, chest, back) and a couple stability exercises together for the smaller muscle groups (arms, shoulders, abs).

  • Legs: deadlift superset lunge on upside down Bosu
  • Back: cable high row superset dumbell pullover on the ball
  • Chest: flat dumbbell bench press superset alternating incline press on stability ball
  • Shoulders/Biceps: side raises and bicep curls on upside down Bosu
  • Triceps/Abs: dips on stability ball, ball crunches

I did three sets of 8 to 12 reps for each superset. It went rather quickly but I really felt the challenge on doing two exercises for the same muscle back to back. Plus, I have recently fallen in love with stability training! I used to think it didn’t add much of an extra challenge or benefit, but it really does. I can feel it work my body in new and different ways. Plus, from my personal training studies, I have learned the large benefits in focusing on stabilization muscles for a broad spectrum of fitness improvements. Gotta love a solid foundation to help better your fitness overall. 🙂

I have recently been loving on the following to add some extra fun in the form of stability or balance training to my workouts:

Doing Moves on an Upside Down Bosu Ball

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Doing Alternating Movements (on or off stability ball)

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For example: Instead of pressing both arms at once in a shoulder or bench press, do one arm at a time. Training one side at a time can increase the need to balance yourself and it can display if a side is weaker than the other.

Traditional Moves Done on a Stability Ball

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Wow. The iPhone takes junky pictures. LOL

Almost any move I would use a bench for I can sub in a stability ball for an added challenge in balance and stability training.

 Staggered Moves

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Having one side of the body slightly higher than the other can increase a need for balance. Another example would be doing squats with one leg higher on a step with risers.

I gotta say that I love putting into practice a few of the things I have learned. Hopefully I can stay on track to get certified sometime in November and start up with the online training stuff by the new year. Sometimes I even brain storm ideas of having an end of the year or start of the year (depending on timing) program to host for all of my blogging friends. What a fun way that would be to kick off the new venture! Who would be with me? 😉 Okay…getting ahead of myself. Sorry, but I just can’t wait!

Well, now I must get to making up lost time with my little M before settling in for an exciting night of leftover lasagna straight out of the tupperware and Bachelor Pad viewing. Peter’s Monday night meetings this month will equal high class evenings around here. Ha!

  • Do you ever incorporate stability or balance training into your strength training workouts? What ways do you like to do so?
  • What things do you tend to do when by your lonesome for the night?

Disclaimer: This post is not meant as advice on how you should train. I simply strive to share my personal fitness journey and some fitness ideas along the way. Use them at your own discretion. 🙂

Posted by on August 15th, 2011 46 Comments

 

 
Catch Up With Recent Posts

Announcement Time

Posted: November 23, 2011 at 7:47 am

Well, I have had a whirlwind of a few weeks over here. I missed all of you so much! I can’t express enough gratitude for your patience while I got some important things sorted out. Some scary things. Are you ready for the announcement? Here goes! I will no longer be blogging at Faith Fitness […]

88 CommentsRead more →

Self-Love Reflection: The Road Not Taken

Posted: November 20, 2011 at 11:47 am

Hello FFF readers! Nice to meet ya! My name is Carissa and my husband and I blog at Fit2Flex.  Well, I blog…he consults! We are both certified personal trainers with a passion for healthy, active living and clean eating.  I am also studying to become a registered dietitian, a race announcer, and a runner.  Stop […]

24 CommentsRead more →

Healthier Eating For Kids

Posted: November 19, 2011 at 10:56 am

Thanks to Plum Organics for sponsoring my post about tips for baby feeding magic. What if you let baby choose what’s for dinner? Check out their cute "Quest for Yum!" video and see what happens! As parents, we want the best for our children. We help them to feel loved. We strive to teach them […]

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Announcement

Posted: November 17, 2011 at 3:36 pm

Hey, everyone! I wanted to pop in and say I am working on some new and exciting changes.  As a result,I may not be posting as much during the coming week.  Please stay tuned for the big announcement! Love you all! And still feel free to find me on Twitter and Facebook for the time […]

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Where The Change Happens

Posted: November 16, 2011 at 7:54 am

It’s kind of funny. I become a certified personal trainer and the first workouts I turn to this week come from someone else. The book came in for me at the library last week and, after flipping through it, I couldn’t wait to give the circuits a go. Making The Cut includes a lot of […]

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From Beginning To End

Posted: November 15, 2011 at 11:53 am

Good morning! First off, thanks for the many congrats yesterday. Love you all bunches for the tons of support you have given me in so many things this year. I hope I can return a little bit of that love through this here blog as well. So yesterday I had my first parent-teacher “conference” for […]

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