Being a Badass

"but they say the sky's the limit,

And to me that's really true,

And my friends you've seen nothin'

Just wait 'til I get through....

Because I'm Bad, I'm Bad - Come on(Bad Bad - Really, Really Bad) " Michael Jackson, "Bad"

I was inspired by the late Michael Jackson to theme today's RPM Hi Performance to be simply all about "Being a Badass" - today I dropped the motivational cues and technique focus to just bringing it home hard and strong! Class was packed and the amazing thing was that I didn't need to give any motivational cues, the momentum just kept building over the course of the class and it was an awesome feeling being part of it. That's what I love about teaching Group Fitness, sharing the joy of movement, giving and receiving encouragement and not to mention a top notch workout!

On the subject of workouts, Shelley and I got down and dirty in the gym yesterday for our first session together training chest and biceps. Groans all round doing decline push ups with a 10kg plate on the old back and then I surprised myself with a comfortable 40kg bench press for 8 reps ( I remember 30kg being a struggle at one stage). We finished with cable crossovers and let me say we're pretty good at doing "The Incredible Hulk" impersonations doing this move. Until yesterday I thought that I enjoyed training my biceps but that concept was blown out of the window - three sets of sheer pain doing barbell bicep curls with a good whack of weight. Luckily I was not alone with Shelley at one stage whimpering "I can't" then taking a breath and roaring back "I CAN!!!!! (thatta girl, Shel!) and finishing strong. My biceps aren't too happy this morning with the DOMS setting in.

With all this training going on, my Inner Beast has been tapping on my shoulder and telling me to troll for all sorts of crap. Today my Beast has been renamed from "Inner Gollum" to "Vera Sluttinski"...ie will encourage me not to be choosy and have a stab at anything! Yesterday was one of those days where old Vera was calling out to me...."eat some crap....after all you deserve it, you've been training so hard". I had to firmly put old Vera in place by taking the line that even though sometimes I don't feel like it, I'm going to continue to eat well and that I won't wake up in the morning in a fog of regret.

Living without a 'fog of regret' is not about being on a starvation diet or never having a treat meal ever again, it's about respecting yourself enough to take a stand against the bad habits that can lead to becoming overweight and unfit. Some days making the choice to "live without regret" is the only one to make, rather than relying on intuition and your feelings. Because it's likely that your feeling for instant gratification will lead to regret later on - so work out whether it's you or Vera speaking first (put it this way, I'm really pleased I said no to the Cheezels...).