My treat

I'm closing in on my third week of serious training and have decided to treat myself to some Lorna Jane clothing when I reach my goal. I don't think I have even mentioned the goal, which was to get six weeks of solid training under my belt and to lose 2 kg which mysteriously crept on whilst I was running around moving and not training a lot. I decided to chart a 0.3kg loss per week and was starting to get a little bit miffed that nothing had changed after two weeks. However, suddenly I got the scale "whoosh" I was looking for this week and at 3 weeks in have lost 1kg and done all my training. Maintaining a healthy weight and a relatively lean (but not competition lean) physique is extremely important to me as I want to be the type of coach who 'walks the walk' and is living proof of what a healthy lifestyle can do for you. Plus, it is always fun to be setting yourself these little goals.

Today I did deadlift shrugs which is a more explosive variant of a standard deadlift. I also did squats. The goal here is to get my technique perfect. As well as the lifting, I knocked out a 25 minute interval run. I warmed up for 10 mins then did 6 cycles of 4.45 min k runs for 2 mins, then cooled down. My cardiovascular fitness is starting to improve as well.

I had my panel interview for Fitness First. I was asked what sacrifices I would make to be a good trainer - I found that a little weird - as I truly believe that it is no sacrifice seeing someone's life improve for the better! Anyway I have a few "New Member Orientations" next week and I'm sure I can convince them that RPM is in their best interests, hee, hee.

Speaking of RPM, I am teaching class at Toowong tomorrow. I really like the crowd there and I have known many of them for nearly 20 years, so it is a very comfortable atmosphere.

Tagged Me Again!

The lovely Lia has tagged me, so here are another seven weird and wacky facts about me.

1) I'm the Queen of Moving House - we have moved ten times in ten years of marriage. Every wedding we attend, we reminisce about what adventures were in front of us (having never moved out of Brisbane ;) ).

2) I love Indian food and always have Indian takeaway on the Monday before a Figure Comp.

3) My hubby and I sometimes spend all night staying up in bed laughing and telling jokes like school kids having their first sleep overs.

4) The number of half marathons I have competed in is more than the number of times I have moved.

5) Sometimes I am called the "Smiling Assasin" in RPM :)

6) I'm scared of DOMS. This last two weeks has not been pretty.

7) I hate having my haircut and coloured - I love the end result but I just about go mental having to sit in the one spot for a long time.

I had a great time teaching RPM this morning and got my hair cut and coloured. I am lucky that my sis is a hairdresser. She transformed me back from beastly to beautiful and even though I had to sit in the chair all that time, I'm feeling much better :)

Tomorrow I'm going another round with Alwyn and unfortunately I am not having Indian tonight.

What I need right now!

Today's workouts were, as Rae would say, a doozy. I did a 40 minute interval run and then followed up by a 5 x 5 workout for the upper body which left me begging for a good long stretch. I'm following a program from "New Rules of Lifting" by Alwyn Cosgrove and somebody (his name escapes me) Schuler designed for hypertrophy, using large compound type movements done in superset formation.

Looks like this:

Cable Seated Row paired with Incline DB press

Wide Lat Pull down paired with DB shoulder press (I did these standing because I'm a masochist)

Close Grip Bench press paired with High Pulls (I haven't done these for ages, but I can feel it now in my hamstrings/glutes - probably because I was really focused on initiating movement from there).

Swiss ball crunch.

After hammering those weights I got really hungry in the afternoon and grabbed some extra food. DH cooked chicken breast on the barbecue tonight and we had that with lots and lots of steamed vegetables. Yummo!

Tomorrow I have another date with RPM and a long overdue hair cut. I'm one of those people who hate sitting still in a hair salon for hours on end. Just about drives me bananas. A sports massage - could stay all day!

Good quote for the day!

"It is not how much you do, but how much love you put in the doing."

I love this quote - if you live with passion, as Kimmy (from Blogland) suggests, life is so much more fulfilling.

I've enjoyed a well deserved rest day - I knew as soon as I rolled out of bed this morning that some down time was needed, so I've spent the day writing programs, sending emails and paying bills.

Tomorrow I have the panel interview that was deferred from last week and I have to work out how I am going to fit in live personal training, my own training and all the online work I am doing. The last thing I want is to spread myself too thin. My game plan is to work Tuesday through to Saturday and take Sunday/Monday off. From next week I am teaching RPM on Monday mornings at Toowong, but it's still going to be a nice cruisey admin day.

What else? Time to race off and cook dinner - it's gotta come from somewhere and as I've mentioned before, I'm not as much of a planner as I should be when it comes to dinners etc.

Weekly Wrap Up

I can't believe it, I've trained seven days in a row this week. Time for some well earned recovery this week. I've taught four RPM classes, a Bodystep, done two runs and 3 strength training sessions. Apart from some hamstring DOMS that I keep telling everyone about, I'm feeling pretty good right now.

My eating has been pretty good too - lots of vegetables, lean protein and plenty of water. I did make the mistake of letting myself get too hungry yesterday though - I came home and wolfed down a peanut butter sandwich before I realised what I was doing. Rather than beat myself up for eating "off the plan", it is simply a case of "plan ahead next time and just keep going!". My relationship with food has completely changed - it used to be "I've blown it and I'm a failure"(and keep on overdoing it some more) - now it is more about being more intuitive - "how am I feeling? What does my body need?" Gosh that salad looks delicious...mmmm". It's only taken me a few good years to get to this point where I can say now that I truly "walk the walk" as well as "talk the talk".

This week I'm rejigging my training and starting an Alwyn Cosgrove Hypertrophy Program. Miss G is begging me to take her to the gym tomorrow. I would rather have a day off, but I will see what happens in the morning. Tuesday could be an even better rest day - meet up with DH for lunch in the city and swan around Borders for a few hours :) What could be nicer?

I've been tagged!

Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!


1) I am obsessed about cleanliness of my bed linen and only like 100% cotton sheets.

2) Sunday just isn't Sunday without slopping around and reading both the Brisbane and Sydney papers.

3) I've had some interesting jobs - deveining prawns for a Japanese restaurant, stacking shelves at Woollies and doing one letterbox drop (there is no money in that) after I had Miss S - I thought that I would get more exercise. The only exercise it was - one of frustration!

4) I do what I love and love what I do.

5) I married my high school sweetheart too. I dated him in high school, disappeared for 8 or 9 years and took up where we left off. Not really. It was a little more complicated than that - we've been married 11 years in August.

6) I love cooking and trying out all sorts of new recipes. However I cannot sew to save my life.

7) My ultimate dream is to be able to retire early and indulge in lots of world travel, sounds pretty good huh?

OK, I'm tagging
Kerryn
Hann
Liz D
Lesley
Rae
Stacy
Magda

Food for thought!

"The diet industry is the only industry that I know that makes a profit out of its product failing"

I have decided to go "green" today and see how it comes up on my blue background. Hope you all can read it.

I've had another busy day - firstly I taught RPM over at Mount Gravatt. The participants were very friendly, but the club had a completely different vibe to that of Toowong and Indro. The weirdest thing was having to catch the lift to the Cycle Studio although I was informed later on that there are stairs in the building.

I then enjoyed having a look at the Garden City Shopping Complex and bought the girls some clothes from KMart and Pumpkin Patch. It is much easier shopping without them. Last time Miss G got her eye on a dress and refused to take it off. I walked out of Pumpkin Patch $40.00 lighter that day, though I must say she has worn said dress an awful lot. I also got to visit Borders and would have counted more than 100 books on the shelves related to dieting. That is scary!

I am looking forward to a busy weekend - I'm hitting the weights tomorrow and teaching RPM again on Sunday. I think my hamstrings will thank me for my planned rest day on Monday. Did I mention I like teaching RPM? :)

Training the pretty little muscles!

Today I trained what I call the "pretty little muscles" - biceps and triceps - with me doing so many compound moves these days, it's probably not really all that necessary to train them! However I have April in my mind as the next time I compete and I'm throwing in these exercises for that reason. Many of the exercises bodybuilders do aren't dreadfully functional (and this includes some of the training I do when I am prepping) and I am at the moment really enjoying getting back to basics with squats, deadlifts, pull ups and the like. I am planning two more break in workouts and then I'm going to work on both pure strength and hypertrophy for 12-16 weeks.

Cardio wise, I am having the time of my life teaching RPM and Bodystep! I have been monitoring my heart rate with my F11 and I found myself almost fully recovered early into Track 4 and today I went for a run and was running under 5 and a half minute ks at only 70% max. Which makes me think that the old gal still has some speed left in her1 I am sure I have mentioned it before but I would love to beat my best 5k time of 21.25 again. I haven't been anywhere near that for years! Decisions, decisions! I could, of course wake up in a few weeks and run the Gold Coast Half Marathon - will have to see what everyone is up to. It wouldn't be my best running effort, but the social part would make up for that!

Quick Training Update

I'm going to be pretty boring with a quick training update.

Today: RPM 45 mins, strength training 30 mins (squats, dumbbell rows, split squats, push ups and swiss ball crunches).

Still lots of paperwork to get through, but I'm getting there :)

For Mikey

Hi Liz,I came across your blog looking for trainin... Hi Liz,I came across your blog looking for training tips. I'm a mountain climber and cyclist so I stick to DVDs like The Tri-Athlete (which I love) but I am always looking for new training methods and ideas. It might be time to check out Cathe Friedrich. Any other suggestions?

Dear Mikey, I accidentally "rejected" your comment, so I've copied and pasted it. If you are into cycling I would suggest that you check out Coach Troy and his Spinervals workouts. They are excellent - you can use a stationary bike or bike trainer with these really well. The address is www.spinervals.com . The other person you can check out is Chris Carmichael. I haven't seen any of his DVDs but believe they are very good.

Catching a wave!

Busy, busy, busy today - firstly taught Bodystep which was a lot of fun this morning. Then it was onto the New Rules of Lifting Workout B which is focused on compound exercises - more bang for your buck. I was pleased to increase the weight used in my deadlift and close grip pulldown and the whole exercise didn't seem nearly as painful as last week.

My panel interview was deferred until next week. This is fine by me as I am still adjusting to moving in properly. My DH tells me that judging by the untidy state of the house that I'm the happiest I have been for a long time.

He's right of course - I am most definitely riding a positive energy wave and life is good!

Riding the RPM train again!

I have just spent the weekend launching RPM and Bodystep. It was so much fun to team teach with other instructors and we had this wacky 70s/early 80s theme going. I knew that I had it right when DH asked me if I was going out "dressed like that". It's when your husband turns into your mother, you know you have made some impression! After a weekend of lots of launches, we all treated ourselves to Indian food which was just delicious. I got the expected carb bloat this morning though, but that was OK, it gave me the chance to really cane it today.

I really enjoy this new RPM release, particularly the Track 5 with the 2 minute time trial and I got to teach it again this morning. Bodystep tomorrow, some weights, a lunchtime meeting and panel interview tomorrow. It's going to be a busy one!

It has been raining here today and I have been catching up on some admin. I don't even mind that I still have piles of washing to do from last week - I would much rather see the rain than worry whether my washing will dry or not. Bring it on!

Media tart!

Yes, my mug is in Women's Health and Fitness Magazine again this month. I haven't seen the article yet, but my good mate Kek and myself feature in the "Active at Any Age" article. I am rather chuffed as I have never been in a magazine before, apart from this month and last month's effort.

It's been a really busy week so far learning all the choreography for the Les Mills programs and getting back on the bike. I bought a gorgeous pair of Shimano SPD shoes which are just awesome to ride with and I've cranked out two intense weight training sessions as well. My abs are so sore that it hurts to laugh.

What else, I have been approached by Fitness First at Indooroopilly and Toowong to work as a Franchised Personal Trainer. I'm leaning towards Indro at the moment as it is closer to home and there is only one other female trainer on staff. Plus I have all of my online clients to look after as well.

After being so bored in Woop Woop for so long, it's sooo nice to be busy!

Life's Little Hiccups

I watched my life fall off a truck on Thursday morning! Yes, you read right, the removalists dropped my computer from a height of 3 metres, which is delaying my return to normality somewhat as I wait on a replacement. Actually, much of our furniture was badly damaged in this move, so much so that the removalists are now called "Allied Prickfords" in our household - and the catch tag "the careful movers" has to be the most inaccurate known to man. Arrggh.

Despite these setbacks, life is pretty good. I went to RPM High Performance this morning and I am already feeling the DOMS starting to settle in. I decided not to do any weights until I'm fully unpacked - I keep joking that I'm worried about getting too sore.

Hope to be back more permanently soon.

The World is my Oyster!

Well here I am, back in Blogland at least, but still no email access for a few days. Sooo if anyone has trying to contact me, you will probably hear from me shortly.

It is so wonderful to be back. After two solid days of packing up, cleaning etc we spent our last night at the Woop Woop Coal and Cattle Hotel. We had a memorable last meal to say the least. DH ordered garlic bread which turned up charred, then his chicken was so overcooked, we could have sworn we could have used it as a grenade substitution through the pub window. Meanwhile , my chicken salad was raw! As there is nowhere else to eat out in Woop Woop the four of us went to bed hungry with memories of a bad meal that will last a lifetime!

We've been staying in serviced apartments in the city and have been dining out 24/7 and enjoying fresh (sigh!) veggies, fruit and the like. We've also both been out running, lifting weights and going to the movies. We officially move into our house on Thursday and the girls started kindy and school today. I have to go and do various bits and pieces such as changing addresses, electoral enrolment etc. I even squeezed in a workout this morning. Going to the gym was extremely decadent!! I ran on the treadmill for 20 mins and used the elliptical for 20 mins (am taking it easy to begin with) and had a good stretch.

Life is good!

Running and RPMing

Whew!

Just got home from Brisbane and we are packing the place up tomorrow and uplifting on Friday, which means we'll be home on Saturday. We have to wait until next Thursday for the movers to unpack at the new rental property though. It works out well in a way - I can learn all my Les Mills choreo whilst I'm waiting to move in. For the first launch in ages, I'll actually be getting to practice with other people.

It was lovely to see everyone and I got to do Ruthie Teina's RPM class. She is a phenomenal athlete and teacher and I just sat there absorbing it all, that is when my legs weren't screaming for mercy. Today I backed up and did John's RPM class this morning. I have DOMS up to ying yang, I had pasta for dinner, but I'm very happy.

Off to bed now - big day tomorrow - will see you all in a week and a bit ;)