Channelling My Inner Daniel-San

When I was around eight years old I got my butt kicked by a boy we'll call Billy Stark.  Billy Stark was a scary kid who was extremely tall and muscular, had been held back a grade at least twice, and had a five o'clock shadow in the third grade.  For all intents and purposes, one scary kid compared to me, a short little blonde girl, trembling in her karate gi in the first sparring match of her life while about thirty kids surrounded us in a circle waiting eagerly to see someone, anyone go down.  I remember seeing Billy Stark advancing on me like some sort of predatory animal and thinking to myself that my desire to experience my favorite movie, The Karate Kid, was about to be way more Daniel-gets-creamed-on-Halloween-by-the-Cobra-Kais and way less Daniel-cranes-his-way-to-victory-in-the-all-valley-karate-tournament.  No Mr. Miagi came to my rescue and needless to say I went home with my tail between my legs and never returned to karate again.

Being unhappy in my body and feeling overwhelmed as to what to do about it was a lot like the feeling I had when I got worked over by Billy Stark. 100 pounds ago I felt embarrassed, hampered, held back, unsuccessful and beaten down by the worst opponent I could face: myself. But, as I started to lose weight I started to feel the inner fighter, the one who motivated that eight year old to try karate in the first place, start to emerge.  I spent hours punching the heavy bag in the gym,  taking kick boxing classes, and doing P90X Kenpo DVDs.  I'll do just about any exercise and I like to keep things varied, but combat-related workouts always give me the most reward and get my blood flowing just a little bit more.  My sister loves to run, my friend Lakshmi loves Zumba the most, but fighting is evidently my thing.

One night last week I was leaving the grocery store and out of the corner of my eye I saw that a new dojo had moved into the shopping center closest to my house. Being too chicken to actually go inside, I called them from my car and talked to a very friendly girl who welcomed me to come try out a free class.

Nervously a few days later I stepped into class, looking around at all the other students for potential Billy Starks and finding none.   I didn't know anyone there and, like the first day I started this journey in the gym, I felt out of place and self conscious, but that inner fighter wouldn't let me hang back.  And I must say, it was awesome and I made some discoveries:

1. A year and a half of strength, cardio and cross training has given me strong muscles, endurance, flexibility and balance.  I could hang in karate!
2. All those hateful squats have created powerful legs that can kick.
3. Working on the heavy bag and lifting weights have created strong arms that don't hit like a girl.
4. Zumba and Step have given me coordination and more mobility in my waist and hips; better to land those out and in kicks.
5. I should listen to my inner fighter more often.

We all have our Billy Stark moments that hold us back.  Look how many times Daniel got beat down in The Karate Kid but he was victorious in the end because he channeled his fear and fought back. For me, the journey to fight back has added karate to my exercise regime, but your fight doesn't have to be that literal.  You fight back every time you step in the gym, no matter what form your workout takes.  You fight back when you make healthy choices with food, no matter how bummed or grouchy it makes you.  You fight back even in the times that you feel scared or intimidated or embarrassed but you keep moving anyway.  Amazing things can happen when you channel your inner Daniel-san.  

 

Crows, Ants, and One Mother of a Hill

I swore I wasn't running that hill again this week.  I vowed that I would plow through it again next week but I wanted to put some distance between me and it for a bit.  Bring on anything else, anything at all, and I was prepared to do it, but the thought of that hill again this week wigged me out.   Well, watch out for what you ask for because when I asked my trainer for a workout for me and the group, where do you think he sent us?  That's right, back out to that mother of a hill.

Here's the insanity that the girls and I did:

• Five times up and five times down the steep, long, mother of a hill.
• 50 jump squat rotations
• 100 push ups
• 150 mountain climbers
• 200 high knee sprints
• 25 burpees
• Five more times up and five times down the steep, long, mother of a hill.

Eight of us went out to the hill.  Seven of us ran up the hill and one of us (yours truly) had to grit her teeth and briskly walk up the hill, channeling her inner mountain goat.  Gravity was my friend on the decent though and I was able to get a little jog going.

The first round of hill runs down and it was time to tackle the daunting next set of exercises.  Gone were our cushy mats from the gym; I must commend all of us girls for toughing it out with push-ups on the pavement.  Intelligent person that I am, I decided after the first twenty push-ups to put my hands in the grass and was quickly rewarded with being bit by fire ants.  I shot up from the ground, said some choice words about this workout feeling like a turn in the arena of the Hunger Games as the venom burned (like um fire) through my hand, then sucked it up and finished my set any way.

Then it was time to face that blankety blank hill again.   At this point we were all struggling to one degree or another and like an omen, a group of crows decided to gather on the power lines overlooking the hill and commenced to honk loudly at us as we ran by.  "Shut up crows!" we yelled but they cawed even louder.  Our muscles were screaming, the sun beat down, and the cacaphony of crow music was non-stop but somehow we managed to finish and stagger back to the gym.

Later, when asked by my trainer how I liked the workout I said, "I hated it. But because I hated it that must mean I need to do it."  That being said, the hill and I are done for this week.

Modify, Keep Moving, And Just Don't Stop

I've gotten to a point in my journey where I love to challenge myself.   I don't ever want to take it easy in the gym and I'm not satisfied unless I'm drenched in sweat, sore and utterly exhausted. A year ago, I looked at people who had this outlook on fitness and literally called them crazy...but that was before I drank the Kool Aid.

That being said, when my friends said they wanted to do the Hill workout again today, I was not looking forward to it.   The Hill just about broke me the last time we did it (The Hill), and it was hot, and a busy holiday weekend did not lend itself to exercise, but I'm up for whatever the majority wants to do and I've made it my mantra not to back down, so out to the hill we went. 

Standing at the bottom of the hill and looking up at the steep incline, I began to feel defeated already.  The last time I'd done the workout, I really didn't know what I was getting myself into but this time I was in full awareness of how hard things were about to get.  The sun was beating down on the asphalt of the street that afforded very little shade, the breeze that had made me optimistic on the walk over was nowhere in sight, and my weirdo sore toes gave an involuntary cramp.  My inner doubter (that has lately been beaten back into submission) was already telling me that I couldn't do it.  And so we began...

Usually our group is made up of ladies of all fitness levels and body types, but today it was just me and three of my friends who are in awesome shape.  Like gazelles they shot up the hill ahead of me and I chugged up behind in their wake.  These days I can do pretty much any workout that I attempt without modification and keep up with just about anyone, but suddenly on this hill I was back in that old place where I was the one who had to stop frequently and modify.  The sun beat down, my breathe was ragged, my legs were on fire and the only relief was the easy run back down the hill which was fleeting with the knowledge that I was going to just have to turn right around and deal with that hateful incline.  My mind told me over and over to stop, that I was going to hurt myself, that I simply couldn't do this.

But the cheers and high fives from my awesome friends drowned out the inner doubter and suddenly I took the old mindset from a year ago that was dragging me down and twisted it to my advantage.  What was my old philosophy back then, I asked myself, and answered: modify, keep moving, and just don't stop.

The lessons I learned today were:

• There will be times when I'm faced with things that are hard, but that doesn't mean that I'm back in my old state of un-fitness.
• The only way to get better is to keep challenging myself.  Growth doesn't happen from taking the easy way out.
• It's good to workout with people who can do more at this state than I can because they inspire me to move forward and give me a glimpse of my future.
• No matter what: modify, keep moving, and just don't stop.

So the hill may have kicked my butt today, but it didn't beat me down and it didn't break me.  And one of these days I will master it.

"I'm gonna cuss you tomorrow!"

Exercise makes you feel good...you get your body going, your blood flowing, your endorphins kick in, you feel the good burn, you push yourself past your limits and you end up leaving the gym feeling like you rule the world.  I myself get rather giddy and even more giggly than usual and I'm more often than not laughing like a hyena as I return to the locker room.   That being said, sometimes (no matter how much you like to work out) exercise can make even the cleanest of mouths involuntarily spit out a four letter word or two.  Maybe its because you're in the middle of a hateful set of squats and you feel like your quads are on fire, or maybe its because you moved your magazine to look at the time, thinking the timer on the elliptical was going to say fifteen minutes and only five have passed. One of my best friends (who shall remain anonymous) has even been known to get so frustrated with the way time seems to crawl the moment you step up on an elliptical machine, that she threw her water bottle across the room.  Thank goodness she works out at home or it wouldn't have been pretty.

We've been pushing it hard all week and today was no exception.  Our workout, courtesy of Pinterest, was as follows:

• 100 jumping jacks
• 90 crunches
• 80 squats
• 70 leg lifts
• 60 jumping jacks
• 50 crunches
• 40 squats
• 30 leg lifts
• 20 jumping jacks
• 10 bicep curls with weights

Like the maniacs we are, we ran through it twice.  Let me tell you,  twenty in to that squat set and you're ready to swear like a sailor.  And, if you're not ready to say a few choice ones at the time, the next day when you creep your way out of bed, muscles screaming in protest, you will.

Leaving work, one of my favorite workout buddies and I were predicting the shape we're going to be in tomorrow thanks to the workout above that was my suggestion today.  As we parted ways in the parking lot, she grinned and said, "I'm gonna cuss you tomorrow!" I just chuckled and realized, that makes two of us!

The Hill

In the ongoing effort of stepping it up (or going slowly insane, whichever definition you prefer) today we tackled my trainer Jeff's hill workout.   It looked pretty simple:  do some squats, run down the hill; do some jumping jacks, run up the hill (5 reps of this); then do some high knees, run down the hill; do some pushup rotations and run up the hill (5 reps of this) and then simply to finish up with two times up and down the hill.   No problem right?  We'll be done in no time right?

Ha ha.  The hill I thought Jeff meant was a nice, shady slope next to the gym and a rather short length.  Oh no. He was quick to correct me; the hill I thought we were heading for was a baby compared to the mother of a hill we were headed to one block down from work.  It was so steep that running down was a challenge in not tripping head over heels.

Here's us before the "Hill"; look how happy we look.  No pic of after but I am happy to report that we all survived.

 I love my workout girls because we're all different shapes, fitness levels, and ages, but everyone roots everyone else on and has fun sweating it out together.  There were a lot of high fives given through the ordeal that was that hill.

Not to sound braggish, but remarkably pretty much any exercise I set out to do these days I can do.  My strength and my stamina have really surprised me lately.   Well the Hill broke me today.   I don't know if it was the incline or the heat, but I didn't have it in me to go the last round.  No worries though.  I sat down in the shade, chugged my water and cheered my girls on.  Then we all walked back to the gym, relishing the breeze, and collapsed inside together.  And psychos that we are, we made plans to do it again.

3,000 Reps In 50 Minutes

The gym has a reputation as a place where the body takes over and the mind goes to rest.  While there are times when you go to the gym to just zone out and get your sweat-on, if you're really challenging yourself, the mind gets just as much of a workout as your body does.   The first part of it is just psyching yourself up for a challenge or, on the flip side, conquering the inner doubter.  The second part of the mental challenge comes with all the little tricks you use in order to concentrate on something else than how many reps or seconds you have left in whatever it is that you're doing. 

Today my friend Stephanie and I put both our bodies and our minds to the test with the 1,000 rep workout that we ran through three times.  Each round has 10 exercises that you have to do 100 times each and let me tell you...doing anything 100 times in a row is brutal.  When we'd done this particular workout last week we managed to get through it twice in an hour.  Today we got through it three times, for a total of 3,000 reps, in fifty minutes. 

Each exercise was challenging...100 seems like a long long way away, especially when you're doing something trifling like squats or running on the treadmill with no power, trying to get to 100 steps. Your body screams,  your muscles lock up, and you seem to get tired just counting to 100 over and over again, much less doing the movements.  But one thing I've found that works is to count to twenty-five four times as opposed to counting straight through from one to one hundred.   Twenty-five is a much more attainable number.

If we had set out thinking, "we've got to get through 3,000 reps" we would have most likely been defeated right at the start, but by mentally breaking it down into easy chunks, we got it done and surprised ourselves.  And an added bonus for me...realizing at the end of the workout how great of shape Stephanie is in and the fact that I had just hung with her every rep of the 3,000.

Milestone Buddy

I have to give a shout-out to my friend Katie who reached a big milestone this week with her weight loss: 50 pounds!!!  Katie and I have been on parallel paths in our weight loss journeys, at times with almost spooky similarities.   We lose weight at the same intervals, hit the same plateaus together, and then this week both hit major milestones, me 100 and her 50. 

Katie and I

My hat is off to Katie who has lost weight successfully even in the face of terrible back problems.  She really is a testament for the statement, "where there's a will, there's a way."  So she can't lift weights right now, no worries. She got on her bike and burned some major calories...all the way to a 50 pound victory.  You go Katie!  So happy to share this week of milestones with you!