Meeting Krista S.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Krista Schaus in person - Krista is out from Canada at the moment working with Lisa ( www.lisastokes.com.au ) on Biosignature Evaluations and although I was apprehensive about having a pair of bodyfat calipers close to me, it actually worked out to be a good experience.

I'm in the region of 18% bodyfat which is not bad for a post operative sloth whose not really doing too much in terms of training at the moment and what came up, was what I have been blogging about - poor sugar management. I had already put into place a few protocols which have been working, but Krista and Lisa gave me some suggestions to really amp up fixing the issue. Cortisol is also an issue for me being so busy with online training, one on one and teaching classes - so I'm going to spend some more time doing recovery protocols (hooray!)

Then we had lunch which was just awesome - Krista and I both tried Israeli Couscous with Grilled Chicken, which is about 5 x the size of regular couscous and looks amazing on a plate and Lisa went for some delicious looking salmon with mixed greens. It was a great lunch - I felt like I "connected" with Krista immediately which is unusual for me - and Lisa and I agree on nearly everything which makes our working relationship a very easy one for me. Lisa, if you're reading this, I'm temporarily devastated about Saturday RPM, but we have to do what we have to do right now (big smile and I'm with you all the way!) I left our meeting with a real sense of energy for what the future holds for all of us - certainly I've gone in directions I've never dreamt as being possible!.

Had my second cortisone shot in the shoulder bursa today - this was pretty darn painful, but I feel like I've had almost instantaneous improvement this time around. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Stretching My Limits

Just wrapping up a pretty busy weekend up here in Brissy - taught my usual Hi Performance class on Saturday. I still have a long way to go before I can say that I'm really fit, but Saturday's effort was better than the previous attempt, so I am content. I think this is the hardest part to accept when you're coming back from a huge layoff - that you can't compare your "new" self to your old self - I am now choosing to compare myself to the baseline I achieved when I first started back to teaching RPM. The same thing will happen when I return to strength training.

The doctor thought that my shoulder isn't behaving as if I have a labral tear, which is good news. Yet, I'm still booked in for another ultrasound guided cortisone shot and I have a referral to an orthopedic surgeon if Plan A (the cortisone shot) doesn't do the trick. My other shoulder is now starting to grumble so I am back at the physio ASAP.

With all this going on, it's been time to reassess my goals. I'm still keen on becoming a FHMF, but I'm going to have to take a few more steps to get there. Rather my goal is to focus on being consistent with both my nutrition and exercise (ie getting something done!) Last week, I'm pleased to say I achieved both aims, had to give my Inner Sugar Beast a bit of a smackdown yesterday - it's good to realize sometimes that a craving can be just a craving and not actually mean anything, and trained every day before the PT Induction.

I have a pretty busy week lined up and my goal again is to achieve consistency with both eating and exercise.

New Sponsorship

I'm really proud to announce that The Fitness Solution is now being sponsored by Canterbury clothing! Today I received my first set of compression wear and it is so comfortable and supportive! I also received some "heat wear" which is made of a technical material that draws heat away from the body. I will be trialling it in RPM tomorrow and can't wait to wear it! You can check out the website at www.canterburynz.com.au

A big thank you to Canterbury for your support!

On being a cruiser

Today we had a lecture on marketing yourself as a personal trainer, which was pretty interesting because I disagreed with a lot of the material presented - this initally made me feel anxious - am I terrible at advertising and selling myself? Is the way I do things "not right"? I think it made me nervous because I've never been one to be pushy about my coaching. Most of my clients have "found" me, rather than me aggressively going out there and marketing myself.

I was able to chew on this on the bus ride home from Lutwytche ( you gotta love the speed of the new Northern Busway) - and came to the conclusion that I'm a cruiser and that it simply doesn't suit me to be aggressive about hunting for live clients (I've just re read this and it sounds hilarious, so I'm leaving it in there hoping you all get a laugh). I'm going to continue to do what I do best and cruise and work with one on one clients in my own good time.

That said I always enjoy these 'self development' type of courses because they really make you think about who YOU are and why you act the way you do. That's why I find psychological testing so interesting and why I've put my Myer Briggs Type on my side bar - and I've just done a Caliper test for PN. I will get the results later in the week to share with you and find out just what sort of leadership style I have. Interesting stuff!

The other thing that I'm remembering that was brought home to me on the Melbourne trip that it is "all about me" so before the course started today I got into the gym and did:
Elliptical intervals 30/15/30/45 and 15 Tabata bike cycles - yes, what is good for my clients is perfect for me as well.
Shoulder rehab and bodyweight squats and lunges.

I've been quite the busy little blogger despite me supposedly being scarce this week (that's the recalcitrant streak coming out!)

Monday

Phewy, can't believe I'm posting tonight - made it through today after my 5.00am start - guess I am going to have to get used to that sooner or later. Got into FF Lutwyche and punched out a run and some elliptical/shoulder rehab work before going to the induction.

What I learned today - I'm a bit of a "cruiser" (no Shannon, not a "turner" if you're reading this). I produce my best results when I don't try too hard. Start thinking about everything and in my case it all falls to pieces.

Feeling a bit anxious about my shoulder and got a bit stroppy with one of the other PTs who wanted to try and "write me a program" in one of the practical sessions today - with the recovery from surgery and my shoulder combined, I'm really everybody's PT nightmare.

Sunday update

I'm just about to head off and teach RPM this morning at Toowong but I thought I would post before the week that is coming up totally gets away from me. I am going to four days of Fitness First PT induction which is pretty much 9 till 5 and on Friday am having the MRI I mentioned for my shoulder - so blogging is going to be put on the backburner this week I'm afraid. I've already been given my timetable for my first week of "green" hours where you basically help people out and do gym orientations etc. You're also supposed to use the opportunity to establish a client base. I have four clients lined up already so I'm just going to cruise and let the cards fall where they may.

I survived RPM Hi Performance yesterday morning as well as some shoulder work, but got really swollen and sore last night. Sometimes I "forget" that I've just had major surgery and this is a reminder to wind it back a bit.

Yesterday I received some fantastic news. I am going to have two new sponsors - a new supplement company and a well known sportswear company and I'm going to be able to pass the benefits of both onto my clients. I don't want to sound to clandestine by not announcing who they actually are yet, but rather want to stitch up everything officially before I make anything public. I was pretty blown away as I haven't been actively seeking sponsorship but I do believe everything happens for a reason.

Katie asked team FHMF about their favourite quote - I have so many, for so many different occasions, from Shakespeare to Van Halen - but seeing Miss Katie is getting down with the Pope this week I thought I'd send out a decidedly Christian one..

"The Greatest Commandment of All is to Love One Another as I have Loved You" - Jesus Christ.

To me this quote represents seeing the good and the potential for success in everyone. Sometimes we believe that we are "broken" and that there is something wrong with us, but it's so untrue. Everyone has the potential to do great things and I try and remind myself of this whenever I hit a coaching roadblock. Sometimes it takes a different perspective or someone else even to say the same thing a different way to make the penny drop. Which is why it's wonderful to have some great associates around me..but that is for a different post.

Hope everyone has a great week.

Win Win and "Sex in the Off Season"

Ha! You all really may have thought that I was going to discuss sex in this post (really I wouldn't know where to begin..) but I'm going to discuss what makes sexy toned muscle..so stay tuned.

First of all though, my win win for today. I had been feeling mildly discouraged by my lack of ability to really get in there and cane it being a MHMF, but today I improved on my efforts of last week and when I consider that 5 short weeks ago I was proud of my 4.5km/hr treadmill walk, I am really grateful for how well my recovery has gone really, shoulder and all.

Today I did 14 90/30 treadmill cycles and pushed the speed up to 10.2km/hr (running, yeah!) and increased my time on the elliptical to 12 minutes of harder work. Then I did some shoulder work that the physio has given me. It's very basic, yet very specific, which I love. I got to do some very strict seated rows and bent over barbell rows and I also got to do some serratus activation (which as Lisa would tell you, helps create a nice stable bench press). I am learning so much about shoulder anatomy and dysfunction and am going to spend a day with her in the clinic assessing sports injuries. I think if ever I went back to study physio could definitely be an option.

I also got an email from a dear friend today about coping in the off season.
"I want to be leaner!"
"I want to be stronger"
"I want to be bigger (gain muscle)"
"Do I need to cut back on cardio to get stronger?"
"Is thirty minutes of weight training enough?"

Many competitors often feel "lost" in the off season, once their competition was over. All of that focus that you channel into leaning out and preparation, posing and routine seems to have flown out the window. There doesn't seem to be any good reason to eat well or go to the gym because it's all over. Yet you want to compete again.

In saying that you want to compete again, you've already got another goal. And if you're anything like me, you will want the package you bring to your next comp to be bigger and better. If this is your goal, then listen up because the biggest changes in physique will come in the off season and reestablishing your goals is a must. Most natural figure competitors need to add more muscle so establishing a strong focus on muscle growth is a must.

Everyone asks me how lean you can stay whilst gaining strength. My own experience has shown me that if you are eating well and consciously eating more good quality food, that you can stay reasonably lean in the off season - this will vary from competitor to competitor of course, but it's usually in the ball park of 5-7kg over the weight you brought into your last competition. Focusing on improving your body composition rather than being too hung up about your weight is a good idea. For example, if you're maintaining roughly the same weight and gaining strength, you're probably adding a bit of muscle and losing a smidge of body fat - very positive. Stay too lean and restrict your eating comp style and you'll lose muscle - simple as that - the very opposite of what you are trying to achieve.

Aiming for increases in strength is an excellent idea as increased strength correlates with increased muscle mass - just check out our resident powerlifter Lisa Stokes (www.bodyworx.net.au ) . Off season is a great time to get rid of many of the useless isolation moves bodybuilders do - they may make you look pretty, but they are not going to improve the way you move anytime soon and replace these with big meaty compound lifts that use a lot of muscles, burn a lot of calories and have functional value in real life. I'm talking about pushing, pulling, twisting and squatting moves such as chins, deadlifts, squats and bench presses. These are a powerlifter's bread and butter and should be yours in the off season. If you are doing these moves and the bulk of your workout is taking 30 minutes (not including warm up and cool down), it's probably a good sign. These big moves fatigue you quickly.

Doing too much cardio can be detrimental to the goal of gaining muscle but it is a contentious issue as to how much is too much. I usually don't recommend more than 30 minutes a day, 4-5x a week if you're trying to gain muscle. If you do less than that,even better. However, I love a bit of cardio so I have to watch my nutrition to account for this. If you're planning to do more, eat appropriately for recovery (this is where a good post recovery drink such as Surge can be incorporated).

The other thing to work on is your mental game. Walk into the gym with the goal of becoming bigger at the forefront of your mind and don't take any prisoners when you train. You get out of it what you put into it.

images of inspiration

My image of inspiration today is Jelena Abbou at the Houston Pro where she came 4th recently. I think Jelena has awesome glutes and has done some amazing things with her shoulders.

Today I managed to squeeze in RPM, despite being horribly busy and delighted in some post workout Surge. It is better than I remembered!

Tomorrow I have plans to do some running and shoulder rehab and maybe some leg work. Even though I'm moving at snail's pace, it is nice to work out. My next plan is to put together some more meals for next week as I will be away all week on PT induction.

Good news and bad news...

Well firstly the good news. As an inaugural member of FHMF, I got organized today and did some training and had my eating plan all laid out nicely. In fact I even did something new for dinner tonight - I stuffed a chicken breast with a mixture of low fat cream cheese and sundried tomato pesto. I smeared the mixture on the top as well so it wouldn't lose moisture and I covered it in foil and baked it in the oven. It was delicious served with cauliflower mash, steamed greens and carrots...mmm. Perfect muscle chow!

Training wise I did 90/30 run cycles for 20 minutes today, most I've done since pre op. They were Cliff Young shuffles, but a RUN neverthe less. I did 10 minutes on the elliptical and in the interests of getting jiggy with the brazil nuts did some static lunges (super slow..ouch!)

The bad news is that my physio now feels that I may have a labral tear in my shoulder which if true will require repair surgery which means I will be walking around the gym with a sling on for six weeks. What a charming example of a healthy specimen! Next appointment with the sports doc is next Friday. How can one tear their shoulder labrum and not even remember? I don't drink, so I can rule THAT theory out. The good news is that I'm doing some shoulder rehab exercises so I can rebuild my massive traps and get a glidin' glenohumeral joint happening again.
I'm down, but I'm not out.

Hey Hey Hey! Team FHMF are in da house!

By now a few of you may have seen team FHMF being posted on various blogs and wondered what the heck we're all banging on about. After our weekend at the All Females; Shelley, Shannon, Katie and I are committed to becoming fu*kin' huge and packing on the muscle. My goal is to be able to crack macadamia nuts with my glute cheeks. Or am I the one who's nuts :)

Gosh, I had such a fantastic weekend I don't know where to begin. Shannon picked Shelley and I up from her place on Friday and armed with a couple of huge salads we hopped on our flight to Melbourne where we met up with Katie, who had arrived from Sydney at the airport. We cabbed it to our accommodation at the Milano Apartments which had a rather interesting water feature in the foyer. Then we cased out the joint and decided to head off to Lygon Street for dinner. We had a fantastic banquet dinner at the Balti Indian Restaurant and then headed over to Koko Black for post dinner chocolate. I felt like I was going to explode at this point, so I opted to just buy some chocolate to take home.

Tossed and turned a bit after I went to bed - I must have been dreaming of RPM 38, Track 5 as I apparently woke up and said "hey! hey! hey!". We went to RPM Hi Performance at the Fitness First at South Yarra and did a bit of training beforehand. It was there we met up with Lisa S and Wendy and I had the pleasure of meeting Kerryn for the first time. It didn't feel at all like a first time meeting as after about 5 minutes of meeting I was pushing her to pump out some chin ups at the gym and generally being a big bad boss. Shannon hit the pull ups hard and I feared I had given poor Katie a massive headache. But she pulled out a stunning effort in RPM and I had Shelley next to me encouraging me all the way. We had a great instructor and I left feeling very accomplished and starving (this is par for the course for me).

Had an awesome breakfast courtesy of the cereal aisle of Aldi and headed over to the show venue where I got to head out backstage and meet Erica for the first time. Glued her in and helped her to pump up whilst the official barked out that Figure Novice were about to go ON.
Erica looked great and had a lovely big smile and I thought she'd done a great job on her back.

Saw all of the other competitors, Rae, looking thicker through the back than I remember and Shar, who looked stunning in green and really nice symmetry. Then there was Hilde who was the most stunnng sportsmodel I've seen - I don't know what the judging criteria for sportsmodel is but I thought Hilds should have been the winner - she looked curvy, lean and athletic all at once. I think Di and Ursula had the toughest line ups of them all in Open class - Di came in the best I have ever seen her (with a nice set of RPM legs I might add) and Ursula was breathtaking (I want to have as much muscle as her after I get heeewge).

I got to meet Magda, Kerry, Cheryl, Irene, Lindy (who I've already met but don't want to leave out), Lia, Rae, Shar, Di, Combatgirl, Jadey, Wendy and Charlotte at the show and some of us went around the corner and had a great lunch at a cafe in Caulfield. We had a look around Chapel STreet whilst waiting for the evening show to start and had a great time watching all the routines and posedowns. A highlight of the evening was Shelley winning one of two lucky door prizes - a $300 pair of sunnies.

We had a late dinner at a Thai restaurant on Lygon Street and I realized that with much pride that everyone at the table was actually a client of mine - I haven't really thought about it much, but the decision to focus on coaching has been very rewarding for me - I am lucky to have the privilege of being able to learn from my clients as well as helping them.

Rolled into bed after midnight and I think I was too tired to do the hey hey routine. Had breakfast and checked out of the hotel. The four of us went to Bridge Street and had a great shop - I hadn't planned on buying anything but with the help of my personal stylists Miss Shannon, Shelley and Katie, I was soon stylin' with a pair of new boots and two jackets. Then it was lunch at this great Vietmanese place where we ate buckets of veggies and talked and laughed some more. In fact I haven't laughed this much for a long, long, time.

Sadly it was off to the airport to say goodbye to Melbourne - Katie headed off first but not without a little massage first and then as I didn't want the shopping to end, picked up two handbags and a scarf from a store at the International airport.

Got home late but very happy. I think I've developed jaw DOMS from talking so much and a taste for the Melbourne cold - I have been roasting here in Brisso today.

I got a lot out of the weekend too - I feel so lucky to have become involved in such a great circle of friends through my blogging, I feel like I've known you all for years. I felt a quiet glow of pride that hopefully we've all started a quiet revolution in the bodybuilding world with our commitment to eating well and maintaining a sense of balance and I simply had a great time being more of a girly girl.

Making the commitment to my team to keep training and to do what I can in the light of my injuries and rehab, am committed to carving out time in my schedule for me to train hard and eat well also.

Ripsnorter of an RPM and a RUN!

Two excellent reasons to celebrate today - firstly I RAN for the first time today - I did 15 minute intervals - 1 minute running and 1 minute walking and felt fine. Made a note to myself to buy some more supportive sports bras though - not used to having any "bounce".

Secondly I did the one of the hardest RPM classes I have done in ages with John this morning. He managed to take away any feelings of cockiness I had about my magnificent return to teaching with the pasting he gave me this morning - talk about expose all the old weak points. We basically kept adding resistance here there and everywhere (with recoveries in between) until I thought I was going to be sick in the best possible way.

Also saw the physio today - still not cleared to strength train but slowly improving. I may be able to start some "pull" type of work next week.

I have managed to keep the sugar fairy at bay as I witnessed the miracle of menstruation. I marvel at how consistent my menstrual patterns are down to the intensity of the day of cravings beforehand. I've enjoyed one of Shelley's therapeutic dark chocolates with a cup of tea this afternoon and feel more "even" than I did yesterday.

Slaying the Sugar Fairy

Today I am still plodding along attempting to slay the sugar fairy. It is amazing how your inner Beast can tell you all these lies about why you need to eat bunches of sugary crap. Today I have witnessed this terrific internal argument between my rational self and my inner sugar fairy. It goes something like this:

Sugar Fairy: "It's cold and raining and the kids deserve cookies. Why don't you go down to the shops and buy some chocolate chips and some sugar and you'll be set to bake all afternoon."

Normal Liz: "The kids don't need to eat cookies all holidays to feel worthwhile or loved"

Sugar Fairy: "But it's something for them to do!"

Normal Liz: "In reality you're just giving me another excuse to overdo the sugar/fat by putting me in a situation where I'm feeling weak (PMS) and in front of my big trigger (home baking).

Sugar Fairy: "But you keep saying you're in control"

Normal Liz: "I may be in control but I know at certain times of the month my boundaries need bolstering".

And on and on it has gone all morning. This phenomena, I am sure, happens to a lot of people. What many of us do is remain clueless about the fact that we're not beholden to our inner sugar fairies - we have the option of saying "no" at all points. We're not helpless against the onslaught of food cravings - we need to face them squarely as see them for what they are - cravings - and let's face it, whilst a craving is uncomfortable, I've never seen a craving KILL anyone.

I've just polished off a piece of salmon and some greens for lunch - it was delicious and just what I needed to give that fairy a good smackdown for the afternoon.

PMS beast

I hope you enjoy the cartoon - I thought it was hilarious!

Now onto more serious matters, the PMS beastie. It seems that as I get older that each month I am plagued by ever worsening PMS symptoms (I'm sure I could be a poster girl for that 30 Plus supplement that Lisa CurryKenny promotes) and cravings for sugar. Not only that, acne rears its ugly head around this time and as well as monthly development of a charming personality (not!) my looks just go into overdrive.

This month I have decided to fight back. I have been eating almost to 100% Precision Nutrition compliance and have been quelling the raging sugar cravings by adding more fat to my diet and focusing on "protein first" . I am also taking some glycine which has been recommended to me by Lisa and Krista. After eating some more good fats, I have been able to keep myself more even emotionally. If good nutrition strategies begin to wear thin, I employ my "phone a friend" strategy. It's a bit of work fighting the beast, but I know how much better I will feel in a week's time, so the discomfort of not giving into my cravings is a small price to pay for a clear head and a bit of sanity.

I have been reading some interesting posts about wheat intolerance and I am not surprised. From an evolutionary standpoint, our bodies' aren't designed to digest highly processed grains and I have seen so many digestive complaints which can be traced back to "grain intolerance", especially those grains which have had the life beaten out of them and reside in a packet, known as cereal. A few years ago, I spent six months in and out of hospital with undiagnosed digestive problems. As soon as I drastically reduced my grain/cereal consumption and replaced these foods with more fruit and vegetables, my digestive issues improved out of sight. I can cope with the odd sandwich here and there but for the most part I tend to stay away from overly processed grain sources.

Saturday Ramblings

I can't believe it's Saturday already! This morning I taught half of RPM Hi Performance again which was great fun - this week was a bit harder - seemed to take longer to warm up and I used more complex choreo - which I must revise again before I teach tomorrow. I don't have issues learning it but I like to break each track down and add a bit of my own teaching focus to it, which is the hardest part for me. Once I know what I want to focus on, I seem to be able to teach in a much smoother fashion.

I enjoyed a nice Crunchola Recovery meal (lotsa starchy carb) which was nice as I have been very PN compliant this week and only had starchy carb post workout. The problem is that most of my workouts lately I haven't considered "real workouts" - but I am very proud of being able to walk at 6.5km/hr on the treadmill comfortably. I've been experimenting with more fat and nuts, seeds etc - really it is just an excuse for me to get stuck into the Smoked Trout!

I'm slowly stitching up what I need to start at Fitness First from the personal training perspective in August. Yesterday's task was to redo my CPR, which is a once yearly thing for us fitness professional types. Then I met Shelley at FF Indro where I ran through parts of the new program I have written for her. It was actually good practice doing a bit of one on one (you were a great guinea pig Shelley ) and seeing just what I could do comfortably in the gym given my surgical limitations.

Next week marks the 12 week post op mark (Friday) and from this point I have been "cleared to do whatever I like". I may still phone the doc again and confirm this, but I'm looking forward to lifting a few weights and going for a run. I did have a little jig from the bus stop to the car and it felt good! The swelling that I have been complaining about has gone down a lot and I wake up pretty much flat in the mornings and I'm finally used the the shape of my top half. I definitely have no regrets about either surgery now, but the recovery has taken much longer than I would have liked.

Shoulder pain is diminishing and when I lift my arm, the impingement that was there has nearly gone. Neck vertebrae are still stiff, but that doesn't scare me as much as the rotator cuff issue.

To sum up this rather lengthy post - it's all good. I'm really looking forward to beginning the next phase of my journey and becoming really fit, strong and toned again. I can't predict the future past that though!

The diagnosis is in..

I've had a pretty busy day - I went to the sports doc who decided to book me in for an ultrasound and luckily I was able to get into the Radiology Clinic within half an hour of my appointment. The ultrasound itself was fascinating - I had a great chat with the technician about shoulder tendons and he showed me the bursitis that has developed in my shoulder as well as some tendinopathy in my supraspinatus. It's not massive, but has definitely been contributing to all of my shoulder pain - the Radiology Clinic has two Radiologists on site and after consultation with the sports doc I had an ultrasound guided cortisone injection right into the bursa. Unfortunately the local is wearing off now and it's all a bit painful but hopefully everything will settle down in the next 7-10 days. The pain was nothing compared with the abdominoplasty needle :)

I skipped RPM this morning as I was still pretty blocked up, but tonight I am feeling much better. I took the girls to the park instead which was great - the temperature and sunshine were just right.

Now for question and answer time:
Gillian asked about ITB tightness and knee pain in her comment to me - are they related?

Gillian, yes, ITB tightness and knee pain are definitely related - if the ITB is tight then it can literally pull the knee cap out of alignment and you then start to get patellar tracking problems. If it goes on long enough it is common to get overdevelopment in the vastus lateralis (outside quad) and develop weakness in vastus medialis (the muscle that runs on the inside of the thigh). ITB tightness can be relieved by foam roller work and it is often worth finding out why the ITB is tightening up in the first place - often the problem comes from hip alignment or foot alignment - this will give you slightly altered biomechanics and cause a consequential tightening of the ITB.

Still lurgy-fied...

Still battling along with the dreaded lurgy. I was able to teach RPM yesterday though and it was nice to be back, with most of my participants saying after the class "did you think you were going to die?" Charming! I must have started looking a bit green around the gills by Track 7 but I was able to hold on and bring it home. It was quite an exhilarating feeling to actually teach an entire class by myself and it was a pretty big class for a Monday (30 participants). I can never tell how the numbers are going to go for that class - I sometimes have a big class and then other times I struggle to get 10 participants through the door. I am taking on an early morning Wednesday class in a few weeks - which apparently only had 3 RPMers in it last week. I find teaching to lower numbers a challenge, but I've often taught my best classes and learnt the most with a small group.

Have my sports doc appointment tomorrow after a bit of a catch up with the physio today. She is young (only 25) but oh so intuitive about this old injury of mine. I won't be a bit surprised if the ultrasound shows up a slight tear of the infraspinatus which is what she has been guessing. It hasn't healed as fast as she would like, but I'm feeling so much more optimistic about it. We're going to sit down after the results come back and nut out a strength training plan. After injury it is so important to go right back to the basics of movement - I must say I see some personal trainers doing some pretty scary moves with people in the gym sometimes - they expect all of this high level stuff whereas the basics have never been taught.

Off to bed now!