Thank you Waleska for sending me this.... It is wonderfully perfect...
Just how dedicated you are to your training?
1. If, on a job application, under "Previous Employment," you've listed weight training and under "Hobbies" you've listed your actual previous employment.
2. If you've ever made yourself so sore that it either takes you a full minute to sit on the toilet or you have to fall down onto it.
3. If you've been banned from an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant.
4. If you've ever broken a bone and tried to "train around it."
5. If you're buying a home and the first thing you look for is where your training equipment will go (not how big the kitchen is or if there's a furnace or running water or anything like that).
6. If you've ever mentally calculated the protein content of a piece of your own birthday cake.
7. If you'd vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger regardless of of his views, policies or even what he's running for.
8. If everybody you know asks you to help them when they move because you can lift heavy things.
9. If Navy Seal training "looks like fun."
10. If you've ever had to scratch your nose in the middle of a set and you've used the weight to scratch it.
11. If you've brought skinless chicken breasts to a rock concert instead of beer.
12. If you can remember your One Rep Max for 76 different exercises but you can't remember your family and friends birthdays.
13. You've kept an old vitamin bottle for 12 years because it "brings back memories."
14. If your fridge has more than 6 cartons of eggs in it at any given time.
15. If, when you travel, you pack an extra bag just for your supplements.
16. If your marriage vows include the words "for better or for worse or for pre-contest dieting."
17. If your idea of a good leg workout is one where you work them so hard you can't take two steps without falling down after a set.
18. If you use the squat rack more for squats than you do for barbell curls.
19. If your spotter is yelling "It's all you!" and it actually is.
20. You do bicep curls with your grocery bags as you bring them in.
21. You mix tuna into your cereal to get more protein.
22. If you need to go to therapy if you miss two workouts in a row.
23. If the thought of lifting a car sounds perfectly reasonable to you.
24. If you've ever set a 45-pound plate on your lap and used it as a TV tray for eating dinner.
25. If you set your alarm to wake up in the middle of the night to drink a protein shake.
26. If you don't even have to set your alarm anymore to wake up in the middle of the night to drink a protein shake.
27. If you've ever wrapped the calorie counter on a cardio machine back around to zero.
28. If you've ever had to add extra weight to a machine because there's just not enough weight on it for you.
29. You mix protein powder into your condiments.
30. If you're regularly the very first, very last, or only person in your gym.
31. If you've laughed at any single one of the items in this article because it describes you perfectly.
Sunday, 16 October 2011
Friday, 14 October 2011
If only we could do ourselves out of a job....
Since I am still experiencing a lot of sleepless nights...it was a 1.30am start to my day today... I have a lot of time to ponder.... could actually do without this pondering time, but hey, since I have it I might as well use it....
Of course some of the time is spent cursing my insomniac ancestors... I can still hear my grandmother telling me that she does her best letter writing at 2am, and my Dad is ecstatic if he gets an hours sleep at night... gee thanx folks... love you lots but you could have kept those genes to yourselves...
Anyway... one of my wandering thoughts this morning was that as a personal trainer my ultimate goal should be to not have any clients.... see this is what a wandering mind can do at 2amish... do laps, circles, star jumps and back flips until it discovers an anomaly in your life...
The way I see it is that if every client of every personal trainer (well the ones that really care and know what they are doing, that is) did exactly what their trainer told them to do, followed the program, ate the nutrition, believed in themselves as much as we do, reached their potential and found their goal.... well that client would not need us anymore... they would be self generating healthy, happy and fit individuals who could go on to reach any goal they aspired to... and then.... no more PT sessions... next client please.... then eventually... no more clients... because the original clients would have learnt enough to teach their children the amazing benefits of a healthy lifestyle....
See... told you... If only we could do ourselves out of a job.... imagine how healthy and wonderful the world could be....
Meanwhile at the end of that particular pondering session.... it is still only 3amish and off my brain goes again to the next lot of thoughts....
I loved see the IFBB QLD Titles.... the competitors were in fabulous condition... and of course there was Kai Greene....
Kai was not only amazing to see... his posing routine was unbelievable... but this thoughts on bodybuilding and his journey to where he is now was mesmerising to listen to. He is a fabulous ambassador for the sport... and extremely easy to look at for hours.....
After seeing all the comps this season I am now pretty sure... well almost positive... maybe... sort of... yeah ohhh okay... looks like I will consider doing more comps again May 2012... I had decided I was too old then along came these damn women older than me looking amazing and loving the life and I realised I still had time to enjoy my passion for a little longer... damn those women!!! How dare they compete at 52 and 53... damn them... hehehehe
So I continue to stay on my cutting diet... I continue to train and do cardio... which I am once again almost enjoying... weird... shudder... cardio... ick... Yesterday I played in the Tabata class.... which may sound like some sort of exotic yoga but in reality is the most excruciating half hour of your life... and then the instructor (Brutal Brooke.... yes it is an apt name) and I did a round of the 300 workout just to make sure we were totally smashed... and because we are both vaguely insane...
But now its back to the vacuuming.... woohoo housework how lucky am I!!!! Yes that was sarcasm... I am not that insane!
Of course some of the time is spent cursing my insomniac ancestors... I can still hear my grandmother telling me that she does her best letter writing at 2am, and my Dad is ecstatic if he gets an hours sleep at night... gee thanx folks... love you lots but you could have kept those genes to yourselves...
Anyway... one of my wandering thoughts this morning was that as a personal trainer my ultimate goal should be to not have any clients.... see this is what a wandering mind can do at 2amish... do laps, circles, star jumps and back flips until it discovers an anomaly in your life...
The way I see it is that if every client of every personal trainer (well the ones that really care and know what they are doing, that is) did exactly what their trainer told them to do, followed the program, ate the nutrition, believed in themselves as much as we do, reached their potential and found their goal.... well that client would not need us anymore... they would be self generating healthy, happy and fit individuals who could go on to reach any goal they aspired to... and then.... no more PT sessions... next client please.... then eventually... no more clients... because the original clients would have learnt enough to teach their children the amazing benefits of a healthy lifestyle....
See... told you... If only we could do ourselves out of a job.... imagine how healthy and wonderful the world could be....
Meanwhile at the end of that particular pondering session.... it is still only 3amish and off my brain goes again to the next lot of thoughts....
I loved see the IFBB QLD Titles.... the competitors were in fabulous condition... and of course there was Kai Greene....
Kai was not only amazing to see... his posing routine was unbelievable... but this thoughts on bodybuilding and his journey to where he is now was mesmerising to listen to. He is a fabulous ambassador for the sport... and extremely easy to look at for hours.....
After seeing all the comps this season I am now pretty sure... well almost positive... maybe... sort of... yeah ohhh okay... looks like I will consider doing more comps again May 2012... I had decided I was too old then along came these damn women older than me looking amazing and loving the life and I realised I still had time to enjoy my passion for a little longer... damn those women!!! How dare they compete at 52 and 53... damn them... hehehehe
So I continue to stay on my cutting diet... I continue to train and do cardio... which I am once again almost enjoying... weird... shudder... cardio... ick... Yesterday I played in the Tabata class.... which may sound like some sort of exotic yoga but in reality is the most excruciating half hour of your life... and then the instructor (Brutal Brooke.... yes it is an apt name) and I did a round of the 300 workout just to make sure we were totally smashed... and because we are both vaguely insane...
But now its back to the vacuuming.... woohoo housework how lucky am I!!!! Yes that was sarcasm... I am not that insane!
Sunday, 2 October 2011
Sandstorm, sightless, sleepless and dreaming...
Over the last few weeks I have been experiencing the feeling that I am standing in a glass jar while endless sandstorms rage around me.... I have had days where I have loved every tiny minute of it and days where I just wanted to walk away from my world as I know it and start again far far away... yes once again Outer Mongolia has been calling my name...
I literally fell into a hole and twisted my ankle and spent the afternoon trying not to hobble through my PT sessions... only to wake two days later to a closed up weeping eye and the feeling of having a trailer load of sand stuck under my eyelid... this made me forget about the ankle but resulted in having to make a quick visit to my ex doctor... since I couldn't drive to my new doc... to find I had somehow contracted conjunctivitis and could not wear my contact lenses for two weeks... okay so 2 days later I am wearing them again... ahhmmm I never was good at following instructions... The interesting thing about the doctors visit was I ended up with the doctor who had advised me to "Eat Air for a week" to stop from getting fat... so how hard was it for me to not bring this up when the Doc decided to remind me that he had treated me once about 3 years ago but that I hadn't been back since.... I just smiled and told him I knew that.... see I can hold my tongue... sometimes... although all the way home I snarled all the answers I wanted to give him.... which can not be repeated, mostly because I refuse to let that sort of poison lurk around me.
I have been to the INBA QLD Titles and yesterday the NABBA QLD Titles... loved both shows although I have to admit that after an hour and a half of sports models at the INBA I was starting to wonder why I was even bothering to attend... sorry to all those that I offend but I go to a body building show to see muscle not to see who can afford the best breast augmentation... So we watched the start of the NABBA show and loved every minute of it and left before the sports model and WFF section... Now I am not saying that the sports models don't put work into looking the way they do, I think they work just as hard and diet just as long as the other competitors... its just not my thing... BUT I would like to praise the women because at least they put some effort into how they present themselves.. really the men are ridiculously casual and sloppy.. can someone please take the time to make them learn how to stand and pose... please!
Next week we are off to the IFBB show... can't wait to see the local competitors and I'm really excited to see Kai Greene!! ... droool...
All these shows are creating a craving for the stage in me... I am presently cutting up mostly just to look good for summer, but more importantly to present a professional appearance as a Personal Trainer.... how can I expect my clients to watch their nutrition, exercise there hearts out and work towards their goals if I don't do it myself! I struggle when I see personal trainers who are obviously out of condition and flabby... walk the walk people if you are going to talk the talk...
So cutting up for me involves pre-comp nutrition, a change in training focus and extra cardio... If I expect my clients to work I must work harder! My training now consists of an hour of weights and an hour of cardio in the middle of every day... the only time I can fit it in... so although I crave to compete again I have no idea how i could do it logistically... for me to fit in a hour of cardio on an empty stomach in the morning before work would mean I would be doing cardio at 2.30am!!! then again at night after work... hell that's 8.30pm... ummmm seems to be a hell of a challenge... still heaps of time till the next round of comps for me to work on a plan and make a decision about if I do want to go there again at... shit by then I will be 52... arghhhhhhhhhhh
Apart from the shows there have been Josfus Nofus's 7th birthday and Miss Lily's 4th birthday... Love them to bits and still have trouble fitting them in as much as I would really like to...
I am now so used to the 4am starts that I can no longer sleep past 4.30am... sigh! I have had a lot of sleepless nights as well mainly due to the sandstorms and the uncertainty they create and this is also starting to get me down... tried lots of different things to help but nothing works for more than a couple of nights... of course the Furkids think that 4am is the time I should get up every day now so they get a bit panicky when i don't... this doesn't help on a Sunday morning when I could actually sleep in... except that I am also awake at 4am anyway... sigh...
So that's a quick update... hmmmm seems all a bit boring really... although the sandstorms have been interesting to watch they are also boringly tiresome and I wish stability would arrive soon... then I would no longer be sightless or sleepless but I will always be dreaming.....
I literally fell into a hole and twisted my ankle and spent the afternoon trying not to hobble through my PT sessions... only to wake two days later to a closed up weeping eye and the feeling of having a trailer load of sand stuck under my eyelid... this made me forget about the ankle but resulted in having to make a quick visit to my ex doctor... since I couldn't drive to my new doc... to find I had somehow contracted conjunctivitis and could not wear my contact lenses for two weeks... okay so 2 days later I am wearing them again... ahhmmm I never was good at following instructions... The interesting thing about the doctors visit was I ended up with the doctor who had advised me to "Eat Air for a week" to stop from getting fat... so how hard was it for me to not bring this up when the Doc decided to remind me that he had treated me once about 3 years ago but that I hadn't been back since.... I just smiled and told him I knew that.... see I can hold my tongue... sometimes... although all the way home I snarled all the answers I wanted to give him.... which can not be repeated, mostly because I refuse to let that sort of poison lurk around me.
I have been to the INBA QLD Titles and yesterday the NABBA QLD Titles... loved both shows although I have to admit that after an hour and a half of sports models at the INBA I was starting to wonder why I was even bothering to attend... sorry to all those that I offend but I go to a body building show to see muscle not to see who can afford the best breast augmentation... So we watched the start of the NABBA show and loved every minute of it and left before the sports model and WFF section... Now I am not saying that the sports models don't put work into looking the way they do, I think they work just as hard and diet just as long as the other competitors... its just not my thing... BUT I would like to praise the women because at least they put some effort into how they present themselves.. really the men are ridiculously casual and sloppy.. can someone please take the time to make them learn how to stand and pose... please!
Next week we are off to the IFBB show... can't wait to see the local competitors and I'm really excited to see Kai Greene!! ... droool...
All these shows are creating a craving for the stage in me... I am presently cutting up mostly just to look good for summer, but more importantly to present a professional appearance as a Personal Trainer.... how can I expect my clients to watch their nutrition, exercise there hearts out and work towards their goals if I don't do it myself! I struggle when I see personal trainers who are obviously out of condition and flabby... walk the walk people if you are going to talk the talk...
So cutting up for me involves pre-comp nutrition, a change in training focus and extra cardio... If I expect my clients to work I must work harder! My training now consists of an hour of weights and an hour of cardio in the middle of every day... the only time I can fit it in... so although I crave to compete again I have no idea how i could do it logistically... for me to fit in a hour of cardio on an empty stomach in the morning before work would mean I would be doing cardio at 2.30am!!! then again at night after work... hell that's 8.30pm... ummmm seems to be a hell of a challenge... still heaps of time till the next round of comps for me to work on a plan and make a decision about if I do want to go there again at... shit by then I will be 52... arghhhhhhhhhhh
Apart from the shows there have been Josfus Nofus's 7th birthday and Miss Lily's 4th birthday... Love them to bits and still have trouble fitting them in as much as I would really like to...
I am now so used to the 4am starts that I can no longer sleep past 4.30am... sigh! I have had a lot of sleepless nights as well mainly due to the sandstorms and the uncertainty they create and this is also starting to get me down... tried lots of different things to help but nothing works for more than a couple of nights... of course the Furkids think that 4am is the time I should get up every day now so they get a bit panicky when i don't... this doesn't help on a Sunday morning when I could actually sleep in... except that I am also awake at 4am anyway... sigh...
So that's a quick update... hmmmm seems all a bit boring really... although the sandstorms have been interesting to watch they are also boringly tiresome and I wish stability would arrive soon... then I would no longer be sightless or sleepless but I will always be dreaming.....
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
Slap me with a wet fish!
You would think I would have it all sussed by now wouldn't you... Come on not only am I officially Senior but if maturity hasn't found me by now it never will.... But Nooooooooo... everyday is a learning curve which I luckily really enjoy!
So even though I have been playing this fun game called bodybuilding since January 2008 it has only been this last week where I have been slapped in the face with a wet fish and realised that I love structure!
If you subscribe to DISC profiling I am an "I/S" personality which can be an awkward thing... this is because an "I" is all about spotlights, innovation, ummm well really it boils down to LOOK AT ME while I dance and follow shiny things from one spot to another like a cat chasing a torch beam.... BUT the "S" is all about being sensitive, caring, loyal and putting everyone else first... this can be hard to do when you are dancing in the spotlight screaming me, me, me... It is also hard to dance when you are worried about everyone else but you....
Neither of these have any sort of leaning towards being structured and limited and locked into anything stable....
Then this week after going back into a very structured nutrition and exercise plan, being measured weekly and counting heart rates and calories burned, my life has suddenly become exactly what I love!
Soooo after one week of structure I have removed 3kgs of fluid from my body, 16.6mils over 8 sites have disappeared into soggy drops of sweat... go figure... structure rocks!
What I love is that I now realise it is harder for me to live in an unstructured way, having to decide what I should or should not have for lunch, making constant choices on "best foods". My training has become concentrated and focused now that I am again training according to a strict regime counting reps, sets, weights... ahhh bliss....
Of course I do all of the rep counting and weight pushing while listening to dance music... or should I say music that I can imagine using for a routine on stage...... even though I said I wouldn't ever again... its hard when suddenly the perfect routine music hits your ears and you are someone who just MUST dance in a spotlight.....
This weekend is the INBA QLD Titles, then the NABBA, then the IFBB shows are coming round and I already have tickets to all three.... this will give me my fix of the smell of show tan... or will it just cause more cravings..... hehehehehe
So even though I have been playing this fun game called bodybuilding since January 2008 it has only been this last week where I have been slapped in the face with a wet fish and realised that I love structure!
If you subscribe to DISC profiling I am an "I/S" personality which can be an awkward thing... this is because an "I" is all about spotlights, innovation, ummm well really it boils down to LOOK AT ME while I dance and follow shiny things from one spot to another like a cat chasing a torch beam.... BUT the "S" is all about being sensitive, caring, loyal and putting everyone else first... this can be hard to do when you are dancing in the spotlight screaming me, me, me... It is also hard to dance when you are worried about everyone else but you....
Neither of these have any sort of leaning towards being structured and limited and locked into anything stable....
Then this week after going back into a very structured nutrition and exercise plan, being measured weekly and counting heart rates and calories burned, my life has suddenly become exactly what I love!
Soooo after one week of structure I have removed 3kgs of fluid from my body, 16.6mils over 8 sites have disappeared into soggy drops of sweat... go figure... structure rocks!
What I love is that I now realise it is harder for me to live in an unstructured way, having to decide what I should or should not have for lunch, making constant choices on "best foods". My training has become concentrated and focused now that I am again training according to a strict regime counting reps, sets, weights... ahhh bliss....
Of course I do all of the rep counting and weight pushing while listening to dance music... or should I say music that I can imagine using for a routine on stage...... even though I said I wouldn't ever again... its hard when suddenly the perfect routine music hits your ears and you are someone who just MUST dance in a spotlight.....
This weekend is the INBA QLD Titles, then the NABBA, then the IFBB shows are coming round and I already have tickets to all three.... this will give me my fix of the smell of show tan... or will it just cause more cravings..... hehehehehe
Monday, 12 September 2011
How important is it... really....
Deciding to reach for a goal is an important decision... Goals need to be clear and literally picture perfect...
You must paint yourself a picture in your mind of exactly what your goal will look like... if you can add a specific date for this goal it is even better... You must paint this picture with colours not some vague black and white-blurry-maybe-it-could- change- shape picture... It needs to be bright and clear and exact....
The thing I am finding is that those who can do this... who can more than just imagine their goal, but actually smell, taste, feel and see how they will be on the day that their goal is reached, are the ones that succeed...
They are not swayed by passing temptations... they do not care if it's Saturday and everyone else is going out drinking... the focused ones offer to be the designated driver and sip their water or maybe their diet lemonade enjoying the night with friends, keeping their friends safe and at the same time not wasting one day on the road to their goal...
They do not make a big song and dance about being on a tight plan... they do not find reasons to not make it to the gym... they do not whinge and feel deprived... No these goal setters feel special and excited that every day is another day closer to reaching that exact picture they have painted...
Yes life does get in the way of these focused ones... yes they do trip and fall off the slowly moving wagon... but they certainly don't lay on the ground next to the wagon giving up on their goals.. they admit the obstacle exists, they take the time to see why it happened and where the road around the hole in their road is... cause there IS always a way around... no matter how wide or deep the hole may seem.
Sometimes it may take a while to find this way around, but they have this picture in their head and they pull it out and shine a big light on it and they know how much this picture really means to them so they climb and scramble using tooth and nail to get around the hole... cause it is worth it to reach the point where they are standing in the picture...
I am not a social kill joy... I do enjoy a drink out with friends... I do love a get together... I don't expect anyone to become a hermit to reach a goal... unless, of course, it is to become a hermit...
hehehehehe
What I can't understand are the ones that paint the picture on a Monday and then decide on the Friday that even though they really do want to reach that place and time, that really they are not important enough to deserve their goal... what is more important is giving into the pressure to be "normal", that it is too hard to stand and say "No! This really matters to me! I deserve to reach for a dream and get it, I am worth it!" so they cave into the expected and then on the next Monday they repeat the whole process and when the special date arrives they moan that they tried so hard but that they never can get to where they want to be....
How important is your goal.... Are you worth it... Of course you are, everyone is... but only you can make that decision... to put yourself first... it's not selfish, in fact in some cases giving up is far more selfish... like if you decide your health goal can wait ...what happens to the people who love you and need you to be fit and healthy...
SO paint the picture... find the date... focus and have a ball reaching it! Don't let it become a vague picture that no one gets to see and enjoy... paint the picture then show it to the world!
You must paint yourself a picture in your mind of exactly what your goal will look like... if you can add a specific date for this goal it is even better... You must paint this picture with colours not some vague black and white-blurry-maybe-it-could- change- shape picture... It needs to be bright and clear and exact....
The thing I am finding is that those who can do this... who can more than just imagine their goal, but actually smell, taste, feel and see how they will be on the day that their goal is reached, are the ones that succeed...
They are not swayed by passing temptations... they do not care if it's Saturday and everyone else is going out drinking... the focused ones offer to be the designated driver and sip their water or maybe their diet lemonade enjoying the night with friends, keeping their friends safe and at the same time not wasting one day on the road to their goal...
They do not make a big song and dance about being on a tight plan... they do not find reasons to not make it to the gym... they do not whinge and feel deprived... No these goal setters feel special and excited that every day is another day closer to reaching that exact picture they have painted...
Yes life does get in the way of these focused ones... yes they do trip and fall off the slowly moving wagon... but they certainly don't lay on the ground next to the wagon giving up on their goals.. they admit the obstacle exists, they take the time to see why it happened and where the road around the hole in their road is... cause there IS always a way around... no matter how wide or deep the hole may seem.
Sometimes it may take a while to find this way around, but they have this picture in their head and they pull it out and shine a big light on it and they know how much this picture really means to them so they climb and scramble using tooth and nail to get around the hole... cause it is worth it to reach the point where they are standing in the picture...
I am not a social kill joy... I do enjoy a drink out with friends... I do love a get together... I don't expect anyone to become a hermit to reach a goal... unless, of course, it is to become a hermit...
hehehehehe
What I can't understand are the ones that paint the picture on a Monday and then decide on the Friday that even though they really do want to reach that place and time, that really they are not important enough to deserve their goal... what is more important is giving into the pressure to be "normal", that it is too hard to stand and say "No! This really matters to me! I deserve to reach for a dream and get it, I am worth it!" so they cave into the expected and then on the next Monday they repeat the whole process and when the special date arrives they moan that they tried so hard but that they never can get to where they want to be....
How important is your goal.... Are you worth it... Of course you are, everyone is... but only you can make that decision... to put yourself first... it's not selfish, in fact in some cases giving up is far more selfish... like if you decide your health goal can wait ...what happens to the people who love you and need you to be fit and healthy...
SO paint the picture... find the date... focus and have a ball reaching it! Don't let it become a vague picture that no one gets to see and enjoy... paint the picture then show it to the world!
Friday, 9 September 2011
Starting at the finish line...
I have never been very good at conforming... so in my usual unconforming way today... which in my part of the world is Friday... I am starting a whole new chapter of focus....
I have spent a fair few months concentrating on establishing myself as a personal trainer... this has taken me on new and wonderful journeys... I LOVE that everyone is different and has a story... everyone!
I have also been doing extra stuff in another role that has bought about some great... well I like to think they are great... changes where I work... a couple of my suggestions and ideas have taken form grown wings and are about to take off...
One is a huge benefit for the gym members and I am really proud of this... but these extra ideas, hours, tasks, and chapters have caused a bit of a burn out for me and I am now at the point where I want to get back to my original road and focus on training people, learning more about health and different fitness avenues and growing as a personal trainer... add some group fitness... and...for me a VERY important task... get back into My Training!
Although I have religiously trained everyday my training has been a bit haphazard especially since my shoulder injury. Now that my shoulder is almost back to full strength thanks to an amazing Physio and lots of dry needling, which I do... hmmmm enjoy isn't the right word... ummm appreciate! That's the word Appreciate!
So now I am back to working to a plan, today I start a fresh new start.. at the end of a week... I refuse to wait till Monday like most people do! The day of the week is not important... starting the journey when it should be started is!
I believe as a Personal Trainer I must walk the walk and talk the talk... I have spent the last few months gaining a pretty decent amount of muscle even with a half arsed made up on the day training plan and now is the time to remove the protective covering on a little too much gooo that I have managed to gather over my muscle and reveal what I have worked hard to grown... I refuse to be a PT who tells everyone else to focus but has no time to focus on themselves.... I will set the example... If I expect my busy clients to find time to look after themselves I must also do just that and with a true goal....
So I am starting at the end.. of a week... the end of a building phase... but the start of a whole new journey.... as always, with everything in my life, when it's time things fall into place.... and my gut tells me it IS time...
I have spent a fair few months concentrating on establishing myself as a personal trainer... this has taken me on new and wonderful journeys... I LOVE that everyone is different and has a story... everyone!
I have also been doing extra stuff in another role that has bought about some great... well I like to think they are great... changes where I work... a couple of my suggestions and ideas have taken form grown wings and are about to take off...
One is a huge benefit for the gym members and I am really proud of this... but these extra ideas, hours, tasks, and chapters have caused a bit of a burn out for me and I am now at the point where I want to get back to my original road and focus on training people, learning more about health and different fitness avenues and growing as a personal trainer... add some group fitness... and...for me a VERY important task... get back into My Training!
Although I have religiously trained everyday my training has been a bit haphazard especially since my shoulder injury. Now that my shoulder is almost back to full strength thanks to an amazing Physio and lots of dry needling, which I do... hmmmm enjoy isn't the right word... ummm appreciate! That's the word Appreciate!
So now I am back to working to a plan, today I start a fresh new start.. at the end of a week... I refuse to wait till Monday like most people do! The day of the week is not important... starting the journey when it should be started is!
I believe as a Personal Trainer I must walk the walk and talk the talk... I have spent the last few months gaining a pretty decent amount of muscle even with a half arsed made up on the day training plan and now is the time to remove the protective covering on a little too much gooo that I have managed to gather over my muscle and reveal what I have worked hard to grown... I refuse to be a PT who tells everyone else to focus but has no time to focus on themselves.... I will set the example... If I expect my busy clients to find time to look after themselves I must also do just that and with a true goal....
So I am starting at the end.. of a week... the end of a building phase... but the start of a whole new journey.... as always, with everything in my life, when it's time things fall into place.... and my gut tells me it IS time...
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
T.E.A.M.......
T....otally behind you and full of helpful ideas, suggestions and plans
E....xcept when the time comes to implement the ideas, suggestions and plans
A....nd suddenly everyone is busy on that day
M....aybe this is why I'm jaded when it comes to team events, because its a lot like volunteering
V....ery politically correct thing to do
O....n everyones list to do when they have "spare" time
L....ets all say we will be there giving our time until the week of the event
U....sually accompanied by helpful ideas, suggestions and plans
N....ice to offer to do but nicer to be busy on that day
T....hen suddenly its the thought that counts
E....ven though thinking about helping is not helping at all
E....specially when it is all about helping the team
R....ather disappointing when you realise
I.....n reality no one does actually care
N....ot unless they are paid to care
G....uess its up to me then.
E....xcept when the time comes to implement the ideas, suggestions and plans
A....nd suddenly everyone is busy on that day
M....aybe this is why I'm jaded when it comes to team events, because its a lot like volunteering
V....ery politically correct thing to do
O....n everyones list to do when they have "spare" time
L....ets all say we will be there giving our time until the week of the event
U....sually accompanied by helpful ideas, suggestions and plans
N....ice to offer to do but nicer to be busy on that day
T....hen suddenly its the thought that counts
E....ven though thinking about helping is not helping at all
E....specially when it is all about helping the team
R....ather disappointing when you realise
I.....n reality no one does actually care
N....ot unless they are paid to care
G....uess its up to me then.
Sunday, 4 September 2011
A push up or just left hanging....
One thing I know is the difference that good support can make to a persons whole life....
I'm not just talking about push up bra's here... although god love them where would we be without them... just hanging.. some lower than we would like to admit... just being natural... just showing the world that perky isn't actually available all of your life...
No I'm talking about the support we need to make reaching our goal a thing that can happen without us having to feel like we are trying to achieve a 100 metre dash through neck high slime...
Support is the thing that people who truly love you give you without even realising they are doing it.
Its the Mum who gets up at some "stupid o'clock" time in the middle of winter to make sure that their child is ready and at the pool because said child has decided that they want to swim in the Olympics in some huge amount of time in the future.... only to have darling child announce after 5 years of dedication that swimming now sucks and they have really always wanted to ride for Australia and that the bike they need is onnnnnly $5,000......
Its the partner who stops eating their favorite chocolate bar because they know it drives their husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend insane while they are on their competition diet.... they never mention it, they never say they have done it... they just do it... for love...
Support can be the difference... It doesn't guarantee that the person with all the support will be the winner, the best, the greatest... but it sure as hell makes their journey one hell of a lot easier even if they don't, in some cases, realise they are being supported. Yes sometimes the support crew can be so damn fabulous at their job that the supported one doesn't even realise that they are being held up and carried over the slime..... so they never realise they should say a huge heart felt thank you.
With the next round of Queensland bodybuilding competitions only a few weeks away now is probably a really good time for the competitors to look around, pay attention, step away from the ever present mirror and appreciate anyone who is there holding their hand, changing their eating habits, rearranging their lives.... so that the competitor can train, eat, sleep, gain, loose and breath competition...
Of course the other side of the coin is the ones that receive zero support... this I find disgusting and beyond frustrating! To see people actively changing aspects of their lives to reach goals, better themselves, make a difference or just to reach a healthier place who have none or very little support from people who are supposed to love them astounds me. I'm not talking sports people, I'm just talking about your average person-in-the-street who decides that they need to get healthy to be alive next year.
How can people who are your life partners, your loved ones... how can they mock you for wanting to improve, be happy or get well... why would they not encourage you to be the best you can be... why would they insist on sabotaging your efforts by suddenly deciding that giving you a huge packet of chocolate biscuits is just what you need since you have been on a diet for... wow a whole week!
How can parents mock or undermine their own children. Are they so sucked into the mire of self pity that they can not wish the best for their children, to hope that their children may achieve something they themselves can only dream about... That these children go on to achieve some amazing results alone and unsupported shows how fabulous humans are, how we all have the strength to go beyond our limits...
I just hope that if you know of anyone who is striving to be better, reaching out for a goal, aiming higher than everyone else, to be their best, that you think like a push up bra... give them lift, give them a platform to rise up on... be the one to stop and lend a hand, be the support that keeps them perky... who knows your one act of support may be the difference between a life lived in joy and health or one spent grasping for help and drowning in the slime....
I'm not just talking about push up bra's here... although god love them where would we be without them... just hanging.. some lower than we would like to admit... just being natural... just showing the world that perky isn't actually available all of your life...
No I'm talking about the support we need to make reaching our goal a thing that can happen without us having to feel like we are trying to achieve a 100 metre dash through neck high slime...
Support is the thing that people who truly love you give you without even realising they are doing it.
Its the Mum who gets up at some "stupid o'clock" time in the middle of winter to make sure that their child is ready and at the pool because said child has decided that they want to swim in the Olympics in some huge amount of time in the future.... only to have darling child announce after 5 years of dedication that swimming now sucks and they have really always wanted to ride for Australia and that the bike they need is onnnnnly $5,000......
Its the partner who stops eating their favorite chocolate bar because they know it drives their husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend insane while they are on their competition diet.... they never mention it, they never say they have done it... they just do it... for love...
Support can be the difference... It doesn't guarantee that the person with all the support will be the winner, the best, the greatest... but it sure as hell makes their journey one hell of a lot easier even if they don't, in some cases, realise they are being supported. Yes sometimes the support crew can be so damn fabulous at their job that the supported one doesn't even realise that they are being held up and carried over the slime..... so they never realise they should say a huge heart felt thank you.
With the next round of Queensland bodybuilding competitions only a few weeks away now is probably a really good time for the competitors to look around, pay attention, step away from the ever present mirror and appreciate anyone who is there holding their hand, changing their eating habits, rearranging their lives.... so that the competitor can train, eat, sleep, gain, loose and breath competition...
Of course the other side of the coin is the ones that receive zero support... this I find disgusting and beyond frustrating! To see people actively changing aspects of their lives to reach goals, better themselves, make a difference or just to reach a healthier place who have none or very little support from people who are supposed to love them astounds me. I'm not talking sports people, I'm just talking about your average person-in-the-street who decides that they need to get healthy to be alive next year.
How can people who are your life partners, your loved ones... how can they mock you for wanting to improve, be happy or get well... why would they not encourage you to be the best you can be... why would they insist on sabotaging your efforts by suddenly deciding that giving you a huge packet of chocolate biscuits is just what you need since you have been on a diet for... wow a whole week!
How can parents mock or undermine their own children. Are they so sucked into the mire of self pity that they can not wish the best for their children, to hope that their children may achieve something they themselves can only dream about... That these children go on to achieve some amazing results alone and unsupported shows how fabulous humans are, how we all have the strength to go beyond our limits...
I just hope that if you know of anyone who is striving to be better, reaching out for a goal, aiming higher than everyone else, to be their best, that you think like a push up bra... give them lift, give them a platform to rise up on... be the one to stop and lend a hand, be the support that keeps them perky... who knows your one act of support may be the difference between a life lived in joy and health or one spent grasping for help and drowning in the slime....
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Peer Pressure
There is a lot of media hype these days about the pressure for people to be thin, fit, toned, perfect...
But what about the Other peer pressure... you know the one... yes you do.. if you are into fitness and health you would have almost definitely come across the Other peer pressure...
"Why don't you eat biscuits???"
"Are you really stillllll worried about your body??"
"why do YOuuuuuu need to go to the gym, aren't you skinny enougfffffff "
"you are no fun now that you don't drink like a fish anymore"
"why can't you sit on the sofa with me and watch TV instead of training tonight"
Yes the Other peer pressure... which it seems is acceptable.. the one where you are made to feel weird or wrong because you chose to be healthy and fit.
What I find really interesting is that the person who bought this up in a conversation today is 72 years old. This wonderful person who can walk for 30 minutes on a incline of 4, with running sprints of 5 mins amongst the incline work, lift pretty decent sized weights with excellent form and eats a healthy not strict, diet was hassled while attending a seniors meeting!
What annoyed the bejesus out of me was that she was told she was thin enough and at her age really was being a bit silly trying to keep fit!! She was told this.. apparently.. by a woman who requires a walking frame due to her obesity...
This fit healthy amazing woman who, I imagine, will never be a burden on society due to health issues, told me she was a little upset that she was obviously being talked about and that it hurt her to think that her "friends" thought she was being silly trying to stay so fit and healthy.... she did tell them she wasn't coming to the gym to be skinny... she was coming to be healthy.. but they didn't believe her.
SEVENTY TWO... when does it stop!!! peer pressure to be unhealthy and to squueze into some oversized baggy mould of obesity and incapacitation... Is this really what our society wants for us...
I still have comments on my lifestyle choices... words are thrown at me like... hard to stick to, tough to live on, you are a bitch... ohhh hang on that last one is usually half way through a PT session... hehehehe
Maybe its time for the media to look at the reasons why the fit and healthy are hassled... instead of the pressure to be fit and healthy..
I told this wonderful lady that I thought the the person making the comments was doing so to convince themselves that they were not the one who should take a long hard look at their life... to be proud of what she can do, what she has done, and who she inspires... me for one... hell I am going to have to work on my cardio now if I hope to run as far and fast as she does when I am 72!
But what about the Other peer pressure... you know the one... yes you do.. if you are into fitness and health you would have almost definitely come across the Other peer pressure...
"Why don't you eat biscuits???"
"Are you really stillllll worried about your body??"
"why do YOuuuuuu need to go to the gym, aren't you skinny enougfffffff "
"you are no fun now that you don't drink like a fish anymore"
"why can't you sit on the sofa with me and watch TV instead of training tonight"
Yes the Other peer pressure... which it seems is acceptable.. the one where you are made to feel weird or wrong because you chose to be healthy and fit.
What I find really interesting is that the person who bought this up in a conversation today is 72 years old. This wonderful person who can walk for 30 minutes on a incline of 4, with running sprints of 5 mins amongst the incline work, lift pretty decent sized weights with excellent form and eats a healthy not strict, diet was hassled while attending a seniors meeting!
What annoyed the bejesus out of me was that she was told she was thin enough and at her age really was being a bit silly trying to keep fit!! She was told this.. apparently.. by a woman who requires a walking frame due to her obesity...
This fit healthy amazing woman who, I imagine, will never be a burden on society due to health issues, told me she was a little upset that she was obviously being talked about and that it hurt her to think that her "friends" thought she was being silly trying to stay so fit and healthy.... she did tell them she wasn't coming to the gym to be skinny... she was coming to be healthy.. but they didn't believe her.
SEVENTY TWO... when does it stop!!! peer pressure to be unhealthy and to squueze into some oversized baggy mould of obesity and incapacitation... Is this really what our society wants for us...
I still have comments on my lifestyle choices... words are thrown at me like... hard to stick to, tough to live on, you are a bitch... ohhh hang on that last one is usually half way through a PT session... hehehehe
Maybe its time for the media to look at the reasons why the fit and healthy are hassled... instead of the pressure to be fit and healthy..
I told this wonderful lady that I thought the the person making the comments was doing so to convince themselves that they were not the one who should take a long hard look at their life... to be proud of what she can do, what she has done, and who she inspires... me for one... hell I am going to have to work on my cardio now if I hope to run as far and fast as she does when I am 72!
Monday, 22 August 2011
Support, goals, keto blah blah blah
Its been ages.... friggin ages... I know.. I know...
Lots of reasons, mostly it has just been me getting my schedule organised enough to have time to blog.. this has taken a lot longer than I thought it would, but I think I ALMOST have my world organised into an untangled mess of times, jobs, nutrition and sleep... ALMOST...
I have somehow managed to have a roster that means 4am wake ups three, sometimes four, days a week. I now think of 5am as a sleep in... 6am is amazing! My biggest problems are convincing the furkids that every day is not a 4am wake up... and convincing my body that when I go to bed at 9pm I do not want to or need to be awake at midnight! This is now a set pattern, if i go to sleep at 8.30pm I am wide awake at 11.30pm. If I go to sleep at 9pm midnight arrives and I am wandering into the kitchen for my nightly 12.14am drink of water... I then toss and turn, if i bother to go back to bed at all, until 4 or 5 depending on when my "wake up" time for the day is.
The upside to this, and yes there is ALWAYS an upside, is that I use these hours to plan devious ways to PT my clients into soggy sweating whimpering messes in half an hour hehehehehehe
The rest of my roster is a finish at around 11.30am with a start back for the evening sessions at between 3.30 and 4pm finishing for the day at around 7.30-8pm. The break in the middle of the day is supposed to be for a workout, some cardio, housework, study and working on my nutrition course and then if I am extremely insanely lucky a Nana nap... that's the theory.. great theory... never happens.. lol.
Anyway the timing of my life is a work in progress. Working these weird hours has resulted in a good number of clients and at this point that is my focus, results for my clients. So I suck it up, sleep most of Sunday and love what I am doing.
My biggest rock at the moment in my road of life is not having a set goal.... no competition looming.... which has left me a little lost... I have now found a new goal... a trip back to NZ in January... but its not really the same... anyway I am working on chipping away at this particular rock and know that soon it will crack and my focus will shine through its cracks...
I have been trying out the Keto diet now for around 6 weeks... in true fashion it has worked awesomely for Hubby... muscle gain fat loss loving it... for me... hmmm in true fashion.. muscle gain not so much of the fat loss... love the diet, for the first time in my life I do not crave sugar... FIRST time EVER in my life... but every week I say I am giving it up... then stick at it for another week... the scales are going up by the calipers say the fat is going down... but it is not very dramatic so I am left praying that the calipers aren't playing games and that i am actually growing muscle and not just heading back to "Big". "Big" is scary... sorry understatement.. to e BIG is fucking terrifying...
In my new role of PT I have discovered two interesting facts... I believe mirrors and scales were invented by men for men... when a man stands on the scales and the numbers go up he immediately thinks "MUSCLE" when a woman steps on the scales and they go up it is immediately assumed to be "FAT".. actually its is almost always assumed to be "FAT ARSE"... When a man looks in t he mirror he only sees his amazing bits... a woman only sees her worse bits... see "FAT ARSE" above...
This is just an observation... which I must leave you to ponder as it is now time for my evening shift...
Shit look at the time.. didn't juggle this very well today..
Lots of reasons, mostly it has just been me getting my schedule organised enough to have time to blog.. this has taken a lot longer than I thought it would, but I think I ALMOST have my world organised into an untangled mess of times, jobs, nutrition and sleep... ALMOST...
I have somehow managed to have a roster that means 4am wake ups three, sometimes four, days a week. I now think of 5am as a sleep in... 6am is amazing! My biggest problems are convincing the furkids that every day is not a 4am wake up... and convincing my body that when I go to bed at 9pm I do not want to or need to be awake at midnight! This is now a set pattern, if i go to sleep at 8.30pm I am wide awake at 11.30pm. If I go to sleep at 9pm midnight arrives and I am wandering into the kitchen for my nightly 12.14am drink of water... I then toss and turn, if i bother to go back to bed at all, until 4 or 5 depending on when my "wake up" time for the day is.
The upside to this, and yes there is ALWAYS an upside, is that I use these hours to plan devious ways to PT my clients into soggy sweating whimpering messes in half an hour hehehehehehe
The rest of my roster is a finish at around 11.30am with a start back for the evening sessions at between 3.30 and 4pm finishing for the day at around 7.30-8pm. The break in the middle of the day is supposed to be for a workout, some cardio, housework, study and working on my nutrition course and then if I am extremely insanely lucky a Nana nap... that's the theory.. great theory... never happens.. lol.
Anyway the timing of my life is a work in progress. Working these weird hours has resulted in a good number of clients and at this point that is my focus, results for my clients. So I suck it up, sleep most of Sunday and love what I am doing.
My biggest rock at the moment in my road of life is not having a set goal.... no competition looming.... which has left me a little lost... I have now found a new goal... a trip back to NZ in January... but its not really the same... anyway I am working on chipping away at this particular rock and know that soon it will crack and my focus will shine through its cracks...
I have been trying out the Keto diet now for around 6 weeks... in true fashion it has worked awesomely for Hubby... muscle gain fat loss loving it... for me... hmmm in true fashion.. muscle gain not so much of the fat loss... love the diet, for the first time in my life I do not crave sugar... FIRST time EVER in my life... but every week I say I am giving it up... then stick at it for another week... the scales are going up by the calipers say the fat is going down... but it is not very dramatic so I am left praying that the calipers aren't playing games and that i am actually growing muscle and not just heading back to "Big". "Big" is scary... sorry understatement.. to e BIG is fucking terrifying...
In my new role of PT I have discovered two interesting facts... I believe mirrors and scales were invented by men for men... when a man stands on the scales and the numbers go up he immediately thinks "MUSCLE" when a woman steps on the scales and they go up it is immediately assumed to be "FAT".. actually its is almost always assumed to be "FAT ARSE"... When a man looks in t he mirror he only sees his amazing bits... a woman only sees her worse bits... see "FAT ARSE" above...
This is just an observation... which I must leave you to ponder as it is now time for my evening shift...
Shit look at the time.. didn't juggle this very well today..
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
a view of the world...
No one can have the exact same view as you...
Even if they are standing right beside you, or even sitting in your lap... their view will be different, ever so slightly but still different, because if they were to place their head in the same position as yours.... well then you would have to move your head and your view would change...
Views are also formed from experience, so when two people stand side by side looking at almost the same view how they perceive that view will be clouded by their own perceptions....
No one else has lived your exact life, stumbled over the rocks that you have, climbed out of the holes like you have... but that's not to say that their rocks aren't just as big and sharp or that their holes aren't just as deep or even deeper than yours...
Everyone suffers from the perception problem.... so I am not smiling... no I am not grumpy, bitchy, unhappy... I am just NOT smiling! So I can't stand and chat... no I am not angry with you I just have to be somewhere else, with someone else.. who is probably thinking I am late because I am grumpy, bitchy, unhappy... sigh!
Projecting your life on to other people is something that I think Personal Trainers must be very careful not to do.. Just because your client is late doesn't mean they are not focused or enthusiastic about their session. Maybe they did get up on time to make it to the session and their cat decided that 2 minutes before they are due to leave is the optimum time to cough up last nights sardines onto the $1,000 rug. Maybe they noticed their sons favorite goldfish is suddenly swimming backstroke... Its called life and every ones life is different, not better, not worse just different.
This is what I am loving about personal training! I had a client this morning say to me "being a PT is more than just making people sweat isn't it, you have to be a bit of a counselor too??" I was more than happy to say Yes!!! I love that my clients are feeling comfortable enough to tell me why they were late, or why they are struggling with their nutrition, or that doing a certain exercise makes them fart!!! I hope that sharing my view of my world may help them in some small way with their view of their world and the rocks that may be on their path at the moment. I am not a qualified counselor and don't pretend to be one, I just hope that sharing the history I do may be a little help with someone else's perception of their problems.
I am currently working hard to generate more clients.... for two reasons... hell I'm not some sort of saint, a girls got to eat and feed the fur kids and to do this I need clients.... and to reach out and help as many people as I can... I think this drive to reach more people can be perceived as selfish, money hungry, unteamly.... hey I'm not stopping anyone else from generating more clients... if they want to do the work, spend the time talking, handing out fliers, contacting the world, spreading the word.. hell I will back them 1000% If one more person finds a fit and healthy lifestyle because of it... well shit that's another ripple in the pond that may just end up saving someones life.
But then this is just my view of the world... and no one... no matter how I try, or they try, will see it exactly the same way... thankfully!
Even if they are standing right beside you, or even sitting in your lap... their view will be different, ever so slightly but still different, because if they were to place their head in the same position as yours.... well then you would have to move your head and your view would change...
Views are also formed from experience, so when two people stand side by side looking at almost the same view how they perceive that view will be clouded by their own perceptions....
No one else has lived your exact life, stumbled over the rocks that you have, climbed out of the holes like you have... but that's not to say that their rocks aren't just as big and sharp or that their holes aren't just as deep or even deeper than yours...
Everyone suffers from the perception problem.... so I am not smiling... no I am not grumpy, bitchy, unhappy... I am just NOT smiling! So I can't stand and chat... no I am not angry with you I just have to be somewhere else, with someone else.. who is probably thinking I am late because I am grumpy, bitchy, unhappy... sigh!
Projecting your life on to other people is something that I think Personal Trainers must be very careful not to do.. Just because your client is late doesn't mean they are not focused or enthusiastic about their session. Maybe they did get up on time to make it to the session and their cat decided that 2 minutes before they are due to leave is the optimum time to cough up last nights sardines onto the $1,000 rug. Maybe they noticed their sons favorite goldfish is suddenly swimming backstroke... Its called life and every ones life is different, not better, not worse just different.
This is what I am loving about personal training! I had a client this morning say to me "being a PT is more than just making people sweat isn't it, you have to be a bit of a counselor too??" I was more than happy to say Yes!!! I love that my clients are feeling comfortable enough to tell me why they were late, or why they are struggling with their nutrition, or that doing a certain exercise makes them fart!!! I hope that sharing my view of my world may help them in some small way with their view of their world and the rocks that may be on their path at the moment. I am not a qualified counselor and don't pretend to be one, I just hope that sharing the history I do may be a little help with someone else's perception of their problems.
I am currently working hard to generate more clients.... for two reasons... hell I'm not some sort of saint, a girls got to eat and feed the fur kids and to do this I need clients.... and to reach out and help as many people as I can... I think this drive to reach more people can be perceived as selfish, money hungry, unteamly.... hey I'm not stopping anyone else from generating more clients... if they want to do the work, spend the time talking, handing out fliers, contacting the world, spreading the word.. hell I will back them 1000% If one more person finds a fit and healthy lifestyle because of it... well shit that's another ripple in the pond that may just end up saving someones life.
But then this is just my view of the world... and no one... no matter how I try, or they try, will see it exactly the same way... thankfully!
Monday, 13 June 2011
The impatience of being me!
So life as a Personal Trainer is now in full swing.... well almost, I still have a couple of shifts of reception duties which I suffer not that silently through... I mean after 35 years of administration, office, reception, customer service, management, admin, blah blah blah I am really really really.... yes really over admin... realllllly...
I still love to meet and greet, I do enjoy helping and attending, smiling and listening is fabulous, telephoning and communicating is fun, but paperwork although terribly essential is as boring as day old bat shit. Over 35 years I have seen more forms, files, and systems than a pirate has had parrot shit on his shoulder and no matter how the names are changed or the forms are fluffed they all boil down to alphabeticimised, numericalised, formulated pieces of paper.
The thing that gets me is that although every DISC test I have taken proves I am definitely a very high "I" and "S" personalty... which means I love the spotlight... once I have convinced myself that I am not being selfish wanting to be in the spotlight and that the spotlight is not scary... Yes even though being an "I" makes me follow shiny things endlessly like a cat chasing a torch beam... I am still very organised, precise and like all my ducks arses to be in a line.... So although I don't enjoy the paperwork.... if there is any paperwork... it must be done correctly and it must be done right!
Now this paperwork encroachment makes me Impatient, I want to be a PT, I now AM a PT, but to get to be the best PT I can be I do require an amount of paper based work. Of course while working on the paperwork I know I am working towards my goals but the paperwork is causing copious amount of paper that now requires working.
I'm just glad that, according to all the experts, we now live in a paperless society cause if we didn't... well I would hate to think of the amount of paperwork that a papered society would create if this is the amount of paperwork that a paperless society uses! gasp!
Apart from my paperwork predicaments I also have so many plans and dreams that I really do spend far too much time planning and dreaming. Actually I spend a lot of time planning which plan to start first. Due to the way I have already planned to grow I need to have feedback on my plans before I can action them. Waiting for answers to my questions on my next big steps is the thing that is driving me insane. I want to do things NOW, I want to action things NOW, I can not handle being told "I will find out and let you know" and then be left waiting for a week for an answer. A week is not NOW, in my bubble a week is a long time... a very long time...If you can't give me an let me talk to the person that can!
I have never been patient. I do not have the patience to be patient. When someone asks me for something I do it then, now, right away. I would rather work through the night and get something done than have it lurking next to me... waiting to be attended to... arghhhh I can't stand that. Maybe this is what I am being taught at the moment...patience.... hmmm I do not have the patience for this lesson. Come on let me know now!!! Is this the lesson or not???
Anyway apart from the waiting for answers everything else is fabulous. I now have 12 clients, with two new ones signing up last week. I love the fact that they are all different ages and both males and females. I love watching the progression in their fitness, confidence and health. I feel like a proud mum watching the younger ones succeed at an exercise that was beyond their reach a couple of weeks ago. I have a Superstar client at the moment and every time I watch them in the gym whether they are training with me or by themselves it gives me the warm fuzzies seeing them blossom. Hell this is an awesome lifestyle, its not a job in any way shape or form... well maybe except for the forms that are needed.. sigh.
I am also writing a lot of gym programs, this is exciting and fun too. Finding just the right combination of exercises to achieve what clients want and yet to still make them interesting and fun, something that can be hard to do when the client has been training for over 30 years and asks for something "fresh".
The of course there is the whole food thing.... I love the food thing... I am still amazed by what some people think they can eat and still lose fat... nope a large bowl of ice cream every night isn't one of them... ummmm nope neither is the large bag of sour snakes... yes I know you are exercising... no you really aren't burning 1200 calories after 15 minutes on the treadmill... no really you don't need Gatorade to replenish your body after 10 minutes on the recumbent bike.... water, yes water!! there's a thought, you could have water! I am not mocking them at all, I find it kind of a shame that our education system teaches students about the Outer Mongolian Plateau but not what is in a bottle of coke or a box of sugar filled cereal.
I am back into my Advanced Certificate in Nutrition and should have that finished in the next couple of months. The there are a couple of instructors courses I really want to do to help with training people with serious health issues.... ahhhhh now just to get it all done!!
I also love that the learning never stops!!! Yay! I hope this never stops!!! Yay!!! Never!!!
And taking of never stopping, I had better get back to my next project.... or the paperwork will pile up and I will once again be alphabetimising till the cows come home...
I still love to meet and greet, I do enjoy helping and attending, smiling and listening is fabulous, telephoning and communicating is fun, but paperwork although terribly essential is as boring as day old bat shit. Over 35 years I have seen more forms, files, and systems than a pirate has had parrot shit on his shoulder and no matter how the names are changed or the forms are fluffed they all boil down to alphabeticimised, numericalised, formulated pieces of paper.
The thing that gets me is that although every DISC test I have taken proves I am definitely a very high "I" and "S" personalty... which means I love the spotlight... once I have convinced myself that I am not being selfish wanting to be in the spotlight and that the spotlight is not scary... Yes even though being an "I" makes me follow shiny things endlessly like a cat chasing a torch beam... I am still very organised, precise and like all my ducks arses to be in a line.... So although I don't enjoy the paperwork.... if there is any paperwork... it must be done correctly and it must be done right!
Now this paperwork encroachment makes me Impatient, I want to be a PT, I now AM a PT, but to get to be the best PT I can be I do require an amount of paper based work. Of course while working on the paperwork I know I am working towards my goals but the paperwork is causing copious amount of paper that now requires working.
I'm just glad that, according to all the experts, we now live in a paperless society cause if we didn't... well I would hate to think of the amount of paperwork that a papered society would create if this is the amount of paperwork that a paperless society uses! gasp!
Apart from my paperwork predicaments I also have so many plans and dreams that I really do spend far too much time planning and dreaming. Actually I spend a lot of time planning which plan to start first. Due to the way I have already planned to grow I need to have feedback on my plans before I can action them. Waiting for answers to my questions on my next big steps is the thing that is driving me insane. I want to do things NOW, I want to action things NOW, I can not handle being told "I will find out and let you know" and then be left waiting for a week for an answer. A week is not NOW, in my bubble a week is a long time... a very long time...If you can't give me an let me talk to the person that can!
I have never been patient. I do not have the patience to be patient. When someone asks me for something I do it then, now, right away. I would rather work through the night and get something done than have it lurking next to me... waiting to be attended to... arghhhh I can't stand that. Maybe this is what I am being taught at the moment...patience.... hmmm I do not have the patience for this lesson. Come on let me know now!!! Is this the lesson or not???
Anyway apart from the waiting for answers everything else is fabulous. I now have 12 clients, with two new ones signing up last week. I love the fact that they are all different ages and both males and females. I love watching the progression in their fitness, confidence and health. I feel like a proud mum watching the younger ones succeed at an exercise that was beyond their reach a couple of weeks ago. I have a Superstar client at the moment and every time I watch them in the gym whether they are training with me or by themselves it gives me the warm fuzzies seeing them blossom. Hell this is an awesome lifestyle, its not a job in any way shape or form... well maybe except for the forms that are needed.. sigh.
I am also writing a lot of gym programs, this is exciting and fun too. Finding just the right combination of exercises to achieve what clients want and yet to still make them interesting and fun, something that can be hard to do when the client has been training for over 30 years and asks for something "fresh".
The of course there is the whole food thing.... I love the food thing... I am still amazed by what some people think they can eat and still lose fat... nope a large bowl of ice cream every night isn't one of them... ummmm nope neither is the large bag of sour snakes... yes I know you are exercising... no you really aren't burning 1200 calories after 15 minutes on the treadmill... no really you don't need Gatorade to replenish your body after 10 minutes on the recumbent bike.... water, yes water!! there's a thought, you could have water! I am not mocking them at all, I find it kind of a shame that our education system teaches students about the Outer Mongolian Plateau but not what is in a bottle of coke or a box of sugar filled cereal.
I am back into my Advanced Certificate in Nutrition and should have that finished in the next couple of months. The there are a couple of instructors courses I really want to do to help with training people with serious health issues.... ahhhhh now just to get it all done!!
I also love that the learning never stops!!! Yay! I hope this never stops!!! Yay!!! Never!!!
And taking of never stopping, I had better get back to my next project.... or the paperwork will pile up and I will once again be alphabetimising till the cows come home...
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
T.T.S.... welcome back to the real world....
IT IS OVER! DONE! FINISHED! COMPLETED!
I am now a qualified Personal Trainer with my Certificate III, Certificate IV and Master Trainers Certificate, the last qualification was the one I was really stressing about as it is not a "given", you really have to earn it and I will openly admit that I had days when I felt like a silly old-lady-try=hard and did not know if I would achieve my goal.
I also had a goal of taking out the campus women's bench press record, to do this I had to beat a 83% of body weight lift. It was touch and go and took me two attempts but I finished with a 85% of body weight lift! This was 6 weeks of training put to the test - yay!
So now I am back to reality with T.T.S. back in my life... That's Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays lol
The last 16 weeks has taught me far more than just the knowledge it takes to be a PT. It has taught me that I can still surprise myself with what I can achieve, both mentally and physically. Honestly..... beep tests at 50 years old... what was I thinking lol. If you told me that I would love doing an exercise program called 300's a couple of years ago I would have laughed till I cried. Now I am so happy that I will have the time to put them into my weekly exercise plan.
I have also found "Ride", a version of spin... it is my new "something shiny" although, today, just having to sit upon my sit upon, after doing 4 sessions in the last 5 days, the shininess is not that bright.... ummm just a question for all of those out there that do spin or ride as a regular "thing"... ummmm.. does it stop hurting??? or do you get calluses on your fooofooo eventually like you do on your hands from lifting weights??? just asking.... I don't need graphic personal details... just asking that's all...
I am already totally loving working with clients, just writing gym programs and seeing people happy with making themselves fit and healthy is a buzz that I don't know how to describe. The few Personal Training sessions I have already done are just beyond words! The trust that people place in you, the goals you can help them reach, the changes you can make... Shit this is an amazing opportunity to alter my little corner of the world and hope that the ripples out from here bring health and happiness to so many more.
I couldn't have done it without the support of Hubby of course, the infamous and ever evil Julie Duck, the rest of my family who I am pretty sure have now forgotten what I even look like - something that I plan to change very quickly, Fitness Matters and the awesomely inspiring Kylie...
The next step for me???
Well I am already doing what was always my dream job, I have been blessed to be working with a group of passionate people who make this job even better than I ever imagined. My role at Fitness Matters is growing and changing so fast that some days I just stand and literally gasp in joy, other days, like today I am caught doing the hamster dance in the middle of the reception area lol.
I will soon have a web site that helps others who can not come and see me on Bribie, I am planning to eventually start up groups at Fitness Matters for older gyminees, and there are also plans to work with community members who suffer more severe health issues than just your average over weight problems. Tobe able to help the community on a whole is my challenge to myself. These will all take time, but I know I will achieve my goals.
I will also still be training, pushing weights that an old lady "should not push", I will not walk briskly round the block now that I am over 50 as my ex-Doctor suggested, I will not let myself or anyone else doubt my ability to do anything... I hope I can also help others learn that they should never doubt themselves either!
You can spend a lot of your life wondering "why". You can plan and scheme and feel stepped on and defeated. I know cause I have. But I now definitely believe that everything you go through is for a reason, it is to bring you to the one point where you can chose who you want to create. Make sure that when you are asked the question you don't miss it.... Jump, leap, grab the opportunity with both hands and you WILL land where you were meant to be...
The blogging is back folks.... be afraid... be very afraid...
P.s... There was no diet jelly eaten in the making of this blog... yet...
I am now a qualified Personal Trainer with my Certificate III, Certificate IV and Master Trainers Certificate, the last qualification was the one I was really stressing about as it is not a "given", you really have to earn it and I will openly admit that I had days when I felt like a silly old-lady-try=hard and did not know if I would achieve my goal.
I also had a goal of taking out the campus women's bench press record, to do this I had to beat a 83% of body weight lift. It was touch and go and took me two attempts but I finished with a 85% of body weight lift! This was 6 weeks of training put to the test - yay!
So now I am back to reality with T.T.S. back in my life... That's Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays lol
The last 16 weeks has taught me far more than just the knowledge it takes to be a PT. It has taught me that I can still surprise myself with what I can achieve, both mentally and physically. Honestly..... beep tests at 50 years old... what was I thinking lol. If you told me that I would love doing an exercise program called 300's a couple of years ago I would have laughed till I cried. Now I am so happy that I will have the time to put them into my weekly exercise plan.
I have also found "Ride", a version of spin... it is my new "something shiny" although, today, just having to sit upon my sit upon, after doing 4 sessions in the last 5 days, the shininess is not that bright.... ummm just a question for all of those out there that do spin or ride as a regular "thing"... ummmm.. does it stop hurting??? or do you get calluses on your fooofooo eventually like you do on your hands from lifting weights??? just asking.... I don't need graphic personal details... just asking that's all...
I am already totally loving working with clients, just writing gym programs and seeing people happy with making themselves fit and healthy is a buzz that I don't know how to describe. The few Personal Training sessions I have already done are just beyond words! The trust that people place in you, the goals you can help them reach, the changes you can make... Shit this is an amazing opportunity to alter my little corner of the world and hope that the ripples out from here bring health and happiness to so many more.
I couldn't have done it without the support of Hubby of course, the infamous and ever evil Julie Duck, the rest of my family who I am pretty sure have now forgotten what I even look like - something that I plan to change very quickly, Fitness Matters and the awesomely inspiring Kylie...
The next step for me???
Well I am already doing what was always my dream job, I have been blessed to be working with a group of passionate people who make this job even better than I ever imagined. My role at Fitness Matters is growing and changing so fast that some days I just stand and literally gasp in joy, other days, like today I am caught doing the hamster dance in the middle of the reception area lol.
I will soon have a web site that helps others who can not come and see me on Bribie, I am planning to eventually start up groups at Fitness Matters for older gyminees, and there are also plans to work with community members who suffer more severe health issues than just your average over weight problems. Tobe able to help the community on a whole is my challenge to myself. These will all take time, but I know I will achieve my goals.
I will also still be training, pushing weights that an old lady "should not push", I will not walk briskly round the block now that I am over 50 as my ex-Doctor suggested, I will not let myself or anyone else doubt my ability to do anything... I hope I can also help others learn that they should never doubt themselves either!
You can spend a lot of your life wondering "why". You can plan and scheme and feel stepped on and defeated. I know cause I have. But I now definitely believe that everything you go through is for a reason, it is to bring you to the one point where you can chose who you want to create. Make sure that when you are asked the question you don't miss it.... Jump, leap, grab the opportunity with both hands and you WILL land where you were meant to be...
The blogging is back folks.... be afraid... be very afraid...
P.s... There was no diet jelly eaten in the making of this blog... yet...
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
The end!!!
I know my Blog has been totally neglected for ages and ages and ages...
So has a lot of the rest of my life
BUT!!!
In just 3 more Sundays I will finished my PT Course!!!!!!!
That means in 3 more Sundays I will have Tuesday nights, Thursday nights and ALLLLLLLLLLLL of Sunday back in my life........
It also means that in 3 more Sundays I will be a 51 year old Personal Trainer.................
Took me a while but I am now living my dream....
So don't give up on yours.... you probably have more time that I did to get where you want to be...
Who says age is an excuse..... I have said it before and I will say it again...
AGE IS NOT AN EXCUSE - IT IS A REASON!
THREE MORE SUNDAYS!!!!
Thursday, 28 April 2011
ABCD - will you take part?
Oh and the beautiful photo in the blog is of the gorgeous BOB.... sigh...
Maybe you would like to join in with this.....
A Bloggers Centerline Day, or ABCD, will take place on Sunday 1st May 2011.
The plan is to inspire as many bloggers as possible to go outside and take a photograph of themselves on this day, wherever they are in the world. The photo can be creative, arty, contain more than one person, be in any type of location and can contain anything else you like. It must however contain the centerline of a road and at least part of you, the blogger.
There are 5 rules....
Rule 1 - the picture must be taken on 1st May 2011.
Rule 2 - the picture must be of yourself, and you must be a person that publishes a blog. You can include whatever else you like in the picture, including other people if you wish.
Rule 3 - the picture must include the centerline of a road.
Rule 4 – you should publish the picture on your blog on 1st May 2011, along with a few words about the picture and why you chose that location or pose.
Rule 5 - when you have posted the picture on your own blog, put a comment on http://garysusatour.blogspot.com/2011/04/abcd-will-you-take-part.html and include in that comment the address of your own blog post containing your own picture.
Gary France will then pick his favourite photos and publish these as being the winners. There will be a prize of $100 awarded to the overall single winner, as chosen by Gary.
In order to get this event known as widely as possible, please copy and paste this posting onto your own blog, including the title. Please do that today!
As a reminder to yourself to take the photo and post it, put an entry into your diary for 1st May 2011.
Let’s see if we can get as many people to join in as possible.
Monday, 25 April 2011
18 days in a Coconut Sized Nutshell...
In the last 18 days since I last blogged I have....
Attended the Australian Institute of Fitness 6 times and passed my Certificate III in Fitness, so I am now a qualified Gym Instructor and can write a program and take a new Gyminee through it. I am now also allowed to take Group Fitness classes.
Had Clark arrive from NZ... get a job.. get back into the gym.. slice open his finger..go to hospital and need 5 stitches.. be really frustrated that it happened after only 2.5 days of work... buy a car.. get settled and go back to work...today is his first Anzac day out of the NZ Army and he was up at 3.30am to cook the Anzac breakfast at the RSL....
Celebrated Amanda's 29th Birthday! eeekk my baby girl is 29!! had a ball dancing with her... had my heart sing watching my kids that night.. back together laughing and having a ball... its a fabulous feeling..
Had a wonderful day at the beach with my kids and grandkids... made sandcastles with Miss Lily... played in the water with Mr Jofus.. learnt not to throw buckets of water at 6'4" tall 100kg son unless you really want to go swimming fully clothed.... laughed a lot!
Went to the movies and saw Fast and Furious 5.... walked behind my kids and thought to myself how grown up and amazing they both were... how lucky I was... then Manda side-swiped Clark and pushed him at a pole... and they were 8 and 9 year olds again playing up at the movies lol.. which was just as great to see...
During the 6 classes at the AIF I learnt about taking circuit classes and totally loved that..... I also did a 300 workout as part of the course and I am now head over heels in love with that particular workout.... If it wasn't so damned hard I would do it daily as my training... but I still love my heavy weights and honestly the 300 wipes me out so it is a treat I save for once.... okay maybe twice... a week...
For those who don't know and want to.... the 300 is supposedly the workout that the actors from the movie "300" did to look like Spartan soldiers, whether it is or not I really don't care, I just love the way it turns me into a soggy sweaty puffing mess... you are supposed to do the whole workout within 20 mins... you do each exercise in as many sets as it takes but you can't move on to the next exercise until you have finished the complete set....
This is the workout if you are a 6' tall 90kg man... (I have adjusted it for a 5'8" 67kg 50 year old woman...)
25 Chin Ups... (I do assisted chins)
50 Deadlifts with 60kg (40kg for me)
50 Push ups (I finish up on my knees)
50 Box Jumps 2foot high box (I use a Reebok Step extended up to about 1'3" - haven't really measured it)
50 Floor wipes 60kg above head (20kg above head)
50 Clean and Press 15kg DB 25 each arm. (6kg DB - although about to go to 7kg)
25 Chin ups (assisted)
My first time was 45 mins... although there was the must have Toilet-Stop-Before-Box-Jumps in there which would account for a couple of minutes... my second attempt I managed to get through it in 40 mins.. still with the TSBBJ but I took the 2 minutes used for that out of the time.. Its a fabulous workout as you are just competing against your own time and once.... yes I do plan to be able to do it in 20 minutes... I reach the 20 minute point I will increase my weights...
I celebrated Easter with Chocolate Hot Cross buns... I begged for them then honesty after having 2 I was happy to hand them out to the Grandkids and Amanda and Clark... nice for a treat but just not me any more.. I avoided the basket of chocolate eggs on the desk in front of me at work all day on Saturday... there was a time when having them there would have driven me crazy but now they have no appeal at all...
Its Anzac day today and it always makes me tearful... but after seeing this... well there are no words to express how grateful I am to have such a wonderful family.... here is Joseph getting ready to march in the Anzac Parade wearing his Uncle Clarks medals.....
We will not forget the ANZAC forces and what they gave for us...
Attended the Australian Institute of Fitness 6 times and passed my Certificate III in Fitness, so I am now a qualified Gym Instructor and can write a program and take a new Gyminee through it. I am now also allowed to take Group Fitness classes.
Had Clark arrive from NZ... get a job.. get back into the gym.. slice open his finger..go to hospital and need 5 stitches.. be really frustrated that it happened after only 2.5 days of work... buy a car.. get settled and go back to work...today is his first Anzac day out of the NZ Army and he was up at 3.30am to cook the Anzac breakfast at the RSL....
Celebrated Amanda's 29th Birthday! eeekk my baby girl is 29!! had a ball dancing with her... had my heart sing watching my kids that night.. back together laughing and having a ball... its a fabulous feeling..
Had a wonderful day at the beach with my kids and grandkids... made sandcastles with Miss Lily... played in the water with Mr Jofus.. learnt not to throw buckets of water at 6'4" tall 100kg son unless you really want to go swimming fully clothed.... laughed a lot!
Went to the movies and saw Fast and Furious 5.... walked behind my kids and thought to myself how grown up and amazing they both were... how lucky I was... then Manda side-swiped Clark and pushed him at a pole... and they were 8 and 9 year olds again playing up at the movies lol.. which was just as great to see...
During the 6 classes at the AIF I learnt about taking circuit classes and totally loved that..... I also did a 300 workout as part of the course and I am now head over heels in love with that particular workout.... If it wasn't so damned hard I would do it daily as my training... but I still love my heavy weights and honestly the 300 wipes me out so it is a treat I save for once.... okay maybe twice... a week...
For those who don't know and want to.... the 300 is supposedly the workout that the actors from the movie "300" did to look like Spartan soldiers, whether it is or not I really don't care, I just love the way it turns me into a soggy sweaty puffing mess... you are supposed to do the whole workout within 20 mins... you do each exercise in as many sets as it takes but you can't move on to the next exercise until you have finished the complete set....
This is the workout if you are a 6' tall 90kg man... (I have adjusted it for a 5'8" 67kg 50 year old woman...)
25 Chin Ups... (I do assisted chins)
50 Deadlifts with 60kg (40kg for me)
50 Push ups (I finish up on my knees)
50 Box Jumps 2foot high box (I use a Reebok Step extended up to about 1'3" - haven't really measured it)
50 Floor wipes 60kg above head (20kg above head)
50 Clean and Press 15kg DB 25 each arm. (6kg DB - although about to go to 7kg)
25 Chin ups (assisted)
My first time was 45 mins... although there was the must have Toilet-Stop-Before-Box-Jumps in there which would account for a couple of minutes... my second attempt I managed to get through it in 40 mins.. still with the TSBBJ but I took the 2 minutes used for that out of the time.. Its a fabulous workout as you are just competing against your own time and once.... yes I do plan to be able to do it in 20 minutes... I reach the 20 minute point I will increase my weights...
I celebrated Easter with Chocolate Hot Cross buns... I begged for them then honesty after having 2 I was happy to hand them out to the Grandkids and Amanda and Clark... nice for a treat but just not me any more.. I avoided the basket of chocolate eggs on the desk in front of me at work all day on Saturday... there was a time when having them there would have driven me crazy but now they have no appeal at all...
Its Anzac day today and it always makes me tearful... but after seeing this... well there are no words to express how grateful I am to have such a wonderful family.... here is Joseph getting ready to march in the Anzac Parade wearing his Uncle Clarks medals.....
Thursday, 7 April 2011
Praise.........
Instruction does much, but encouragement does everything. - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
It costs you nothing. It uses, maybe, 20 seconds of your day. It can be world changing. Everyone should do it every day even if it is just once. If we all did this world would be an amazing place....
Praise. How hard is it....
I was lucky enough to be able to do this three times this morning... It has changed my day and I like to think it has done the same for the people I was talking to. It took no effort since everything I said was true. I didn't have to plan or scheme, it just happened.
Now I will admit that I am a sealed unit when it comes to training time... I am in the gym to train, it is not a social event for me, if I want to chat with someone I have a coffee with them I don't sit on a training bench in the gym and rabbit on for 15 minutes at a time about life in general. People who do this, in my humble opinion, are the ones that also complain that the gym is not making a difference to them.... hmmmmpf wonder why.. My training attitude has even prompted another gym nut, Lisa, to get me a singlet that says.... "Don't be intimidated by these muscles, I'm really a sweet girl, Well unless you interrupt me during my SET!"
But although I am a sealed unit I am also happy to spot or assist anyone who asks me... as long as I am not sitting with the weights above my head in the middle of a shoulder press... which, as ridiculous as it sounds, has happened.... my response was not pretty...
So today even though I was training and not on duty in the gym, when I was asked to spot someone with Dumbbell Chest Press for 6 reps with 27.5kgs I was happy to help. When the bloke managed to squeeze out 9 reps not 6 I was enthusiast in my praise. This person has worked hard to get up to the weight he is now lifting, to be there to see him go beyond his goal was fabulous. To me the best part was that after my praise he quietly said to me... "So if I tried for 30kgs next time I come in will you help me"
While it is easy to praise obvious accomplishments it is just as easy to praise something that you may see as ordinary. It may even seem that way to the person who is achieving it. But by praising them on it, it may make them notice that although they aren't the best and biggest in some things, they are amazing in other ways.
Hello my name is Cathy and I am not a stretcher.... stretching has opened a whole new world to me since I have started my PT course... I am still very much a learner and I am as supple as a wooden beam because of it... So today when I saw two brand new gym members.... one of which is in her 70's stretching down and touching their toes... well I told them straight away how jealous I was of their ability to do that... which I am, since I have never, not even as a kid, been able to do it....
The smiles on their faces was fabulous, here I was lifting weights that seem ridiculously heavy to them and I was jealous of their ability... their enthusiasm for their session changed completely and so did mine... I finished my session with stretches..... which I would normally manage to forget....
I didn't give out either lots of praise for any reason other than it was due... I did not go into the gym today with the goal of praising others, but doing it has changed my day for the better and I hope it has done the same for the people I spoke to. So maybe today, you could look up and notice what others are achieving and take a deep breath and make yourself feel amazing... and change the world...
It costs you nothing. It uses, maybe, 20 seconds of your day. It can be world changing. Everyone should do it every day even if it is just once. If we all did this world would be an amazing place....
Praise. How hard is it....
I was lucky enough to be able to do this three times this morning... It has changed my day and I like to think it has done the same for the people I was talking to. It took no effort since everything I said was true. I didn't have to plan or scheme, it just happened.
Now I will admit that I am a sealed unit when it comes to training time... I am in the gym to train, it is not a social event for me, if I want to chat with someone I have a coffee with them I don't sit on a training bench in the gym and rabbit on for 15 minutes at a time about life in general. People who do this, in my humble opinion, are the ones that also complain that the gym is not making a difference to them.... hmmmmpf wonder why.. My training attitude has even prompted another gym nut, Lisa, to get me a singlet that says.... "Don't be intimidated by these muscles, I'm really a sweet girl, Well unless you interrupt me during my SET!"
But although I am a sealed unit I am also happy to spot or assist anyone who asks me... as long as I am not sitting with the weights above my head in the middle of a shoulder press... which, as ridiculous as it sounds, has happened.... my response was not pretty...
So today even though I was training and not on duty in the gym, when I was asked to spot someone with Dumbbell Chest Press for 6 reps with 27.5kgs I was happy to help. When the bloke managed to squeeze out 9 reps not 6 I was enthusiast in my praise. This person has worked hard to get up to the weight he is now lifting, to be there to see him go beyond his goal was fabulous. To me the best part was that after my praise he quietly said to me... "So if I tried for 30kgs next time I come in will you help me"
While it is easy to praise obvious accomplishments it is just as easy to praise something that you may see as ordinary. It may even seem that way to the person who is achieving it. But by praising them on it, it may make them notice that although they aren't the best and biggest in some things, they are amazing in other ways.
Hello my name is Cathy and I am not a stretcher.... stretching has opened a whole new world to me since I have started my PT course... I am still very much a learner and I am as supple as a wooden beam because of it... So today when I saw two brand new gym members.... one of which is in her 70's stretching down and touching their toes... well I told them straight away how jealous I was of their ability to do that... which I am, since I have never, not even as a kid, been able to do it....
The smiles on their faces was fabulous, here I was lifting weights that seem ridiculously heavy to them and I was jealous of their ability... their enthusiasm for their session changed completely and so did mine... I finished my session with stretches..... which I would normally manage to forget....
I didn't give out either lots of praise for any reason other than it was due... I did not go into the gym today with the goal of praising others, but doing it has changed my day for the better and I hope it has done the same for the people I spoke to. So maybe today, you could look up and notice what others are achieving and take a deep breath and make yourself feel amazing... and change the world...
Friday, 1 April 2011
That first step......
Whether it is a new exercise program, a new house, a new love, a new job, or a new food... that first step to trying something new can sometimes seem a thousand feet high........
And it doesn't matter if you feel like you are trying to step Up or Down.... that first step is always a big deal...
What If......... you don't make it, you fall down instead of stepping down, you trip up instead of climbing, you land on your face in front of friends, family or a crowd of strangers...
That first leap of faith in yourself is one big mother of a jump...
Sometimes you are ambling along on what you think is your life path and the step is just suddenly thrust upon you. You are left breathless, gasping at the sudden change, gobsmacked that no choices were prepared for you, no discussions, no toing and froing, no lying awake and wondering....
The step is just there... in your life.. and you are halfway up or down before you even have the chance to decide if the time is right.
It can be a terrifying experience, huge doubts and fears leap around you waving pom poms and chanting all those words of failure that people have tossed at you since before you can remember... what it, be careful, wait and see, be responsible....
But... actually there is no But... The thing is you WILL handle it... you will find yourself on the other side of the doubt and wondering why you ever consider this a worry... Of course you have never done this before, so why do you automatically think you can't if you have never done it before! Why don't you atuomatically think you Can!
And once you have tried, once you have "done it" well now you know you can! Does it matter what it was you tried?? No! Does it matter that you tried it? Yes! Does it matter if, on your very first attempt, you weren't the best in the word at it? No! Ohhh hell what if,on your very first attempt, you WERE the best in the world!!! If you don't try it how will you ever know..........
So go and try the thing that has been lurking in your thoughts, the dream that you dare to dream but don't dare to tell anyone... Is it a squat with that extra plate on the bar... is it that group fitness class that you think you will look ridiculous in... is it that extra lap of the pool, track or one higher incline on the treadmill, what about that dish you always wanted to cook, the cake to bake, the person you always wanted to say hello to...
Sometimes you don't have a choice... your life changes and wham so does your view of the world... sometimes it is just a matter of choosing to change the view yourself and that can be the scariest of all, having the faith in yourself to be great....
Soooooo do you want to spend your your retirement days looking back and saying "I was going to..." or do you want to spend them saying.... "now, lets see, is there anything at all left for me to do..."
And it doesn't matter if you feel like you are trying to step Up or Down.... that first step is always a big deal...
What If......... you don't make it, you fall down instead of stepping down, you trip up instead of climbing, you land on your face in front of friends, family or a crowd of strangers...
That first leap of faith in yourself is one big mother of a jump...
Sometimes you are ambling along on what you think is your life path and the step is just suddenly thrust upon you. You are left breathless, gasping at the sudden change, gobsmacked that no choices were prepared for you, no discussions, no toing and froing, no lying awake and wondering....
The step is just there... in your life.. and you are halfway up or down before you even have the chance to decide if the time is right.
It can be a terrifying experience, huge doubts and fears leap around you waving pom poms and chanting all those words of failure that people have tossed at you since before you can remember... what it, be careful, wait and see, be responsible....
But... actually there is no But... The thing is you WILL handle it... you will find yourself on the other side of the doubt and wondering why you ever consider this a worry... Of course you have never done this before, so why do you automatically think you can't if you have never done it before! Why don't you atuomatically think you Can!
And once you have tried, once you have "done it" well now you know you can! Does it matter what it was you tried?? No! Does it matter that you tried it? Yes! Does it matter if, on your very first attempt, you weren't the best in the word at it? No! Ohhh hell what if,on your very first attempt, you WERE the best in the world!!! If you don't try it how will you ever know..........
So go and try the thing that has been lurking in your thoughts, the dream that you dare to dream but don't dare to tell anyone... Is it a squat with that extra plate on the bar... is it that group fitness class that you think you will look ridiculous in... is it that extra lap of the pool, track or one higher incline on the treadmill, what about that dish you always wanted to cook, the cake to bake, the person you always wanted to say hello to...
Sometimes you don't have a choice... your life changes and wham so does your view of the world... sometimes it is just a matter of choosing to change the view yourself and that can be the scariest of all, having the faith in yourself to be great....
Soooooo do you want to spend your your retirement days looking back and saying "I was going to..." or do you want to spend them saying.... "now, lets see, is there anything at all left for me to do..."
Monday, 28 March 2011
Are you shitting me??????????????????
Honestly.... really... I actually thought for a moment there that there had finally been a break through.. that the media had finally decided to publish information that may just help dispel the myths and hoodoos that surround the whole eating/starving issue....
How stupid was I!! The fact that the heading of the article was exactly the same subject that the owner of Fitness Matters and I were discussing on Friday... well that made me gasp with joy... ohhh myyy goddd what a coincidence.. here we were discussing how the media was constantly telling people to eat less and how that was just a ridiculous statement and was more than likely causing more people to hold on to if not gain fat and here it was in the Sunday paper... the heading... "Are we eating enough food?"
Yipppeeee I thought.. woohooo.. finally someone is going to stand up and say we should eat more often, we should eat more small healthy meals... we should stop dieting and eat to fuel our bodies so they know they are not dying of starvation and will shed the stored starvation fat..... and with star spangled vision I read the first sentence of the article.......
"The UK says daily calorie recommendations are too low and should be increased."
But then... just when I was engrossed in the information that the UK's suggested daily intake of 2000 calories for women and 2500 for men should be increased by up to16 percent..... while my blurred-with-happy-tears vision was taking this all in... I discovered that this was about an extra 320 calories a day for a woman and 400 a day for a man... excellent I thought, another meal!!!
And just when I thought we would be told that having a wonderful fresh clean meal of... ohhh I don't know... salmon.. tuna... chicken. or even lean read meat.. and a salad with some low GI carbs.. would be equivalent to this.. that skipping that lunch or breakfast in the fear of gaining weight would now be an even more ridiculous thing to do... that fueling our bodies will give us the energy to actually do more exercise .....
No that is not what we are told.. we are told that the approximately 320 calories for women and 400 calories for men is equivalent to....
Wait for it.....
That it is equivalent to.... a Mars bar and a small juice............... What!! A chocolate bar and a sugar filled drink!!!.
Are you shitting me!!!!!!!!!! I thought this was a "report" since this is what it is headed... this "report" that is located inside a pull out section aimed at predominantly women.. a section that represents itself as caring for your health and soul... a MARS BAR!!! and a SMALL JUICE!!! why stop there why not say it means you can have add a couple more vodkas to your Saturday night binge......
I am disappointed again at the misinformation and the continuing promotion of unhealthy food.. they actually almost recommend a brand of chocolate bar for shits sake...
I do admit that the article does go on to mention that adding calories to your daily intake if you are trying to lose weight is not recommended.... But this in itself is a ridiculously broad statement... personally I went from 2 meals a day at 84kgs to 6 meals a day and dropped 30 kgs...did my claories increase.. dam right they did but they were from clean, healthy, food options.
No wonder people are confused over how to become fit and healthy.... how can you believe anything they are told when this sort of article abounds in the media...
So if you were wondering what that noise was at 4.30am this morning... No it wasn't a werewolf that was heading home....it was me getting ready for work and sitting eating my oats and egg whites and howling with disbelief at the article I was reading while I tried to catch up on the Sunday papers...
How stupid was I!! The fact that the heading of the article was exactly the same subject that the owner of Fitness Matters and I were discussing on Friday... well that made me gasp with joy... ohhh myyy goddd what a coincidence.. here we were discussing how the media was constantly telling people to eat less and how that was just a ridiculous statement and was more than likely causing more people to hold on to if not gain fat and here it was in the Sunday paper... the heading... "Are we eating enough food?"
Yipppeeee I thought.. woohooo.. finally someone is going to stand up and say we should eat more often, we should eat more small healthy meals... we should stop dieting and eat to fuel our bodies so they know they are not dying of starvation and will shed the stored starvation fat..... and with star spangled vision I read the first sentence of the article.......
"The UK says daily calorie recommendations are too low and should be increased."
But then... just when I was engrossed in the information that the UK's suggested daily intake of 2000 calories for women and 2500 for men should be increased by up to16 percent..... while my blurred-with-happy-tears vision was taking this all in... I discovered that this was about an extra 320 calories a day for a woman and 400 a day for a man... excellent I thought, another meal!!!
And just when I thought we would be told that having a wonderful fresh clean meal of... ohhh I don't know... salmon.. tuna... chicken. or even lean read meat.. and a salad with some low GI carbs.. would be equivalent to this.. that skipping that lunch or breakfast in the fear of gaining weight would now be an even more ridiculous thing to do... that fueling our bodies will give us the energy to actually do more exercise .....
No that is not what we are told.. we are told that the approximately 320 calories for women and 400 calories for men is equivalent to....
Wait for it.....
That it is equivalent to.... a Mars bar and a small juice............... What!! A chocolate bar and a sugar filled drink!!!.
Are you shitting me!!!!!!!!!! I thought this was a "report" since this is what it is headed... this "report" that is located inside a pull out section aimed at predominantly women.. a section that represents itself as caring for your health and soul... a MARS BAR!!! and a SMALL JUICE!!! why stop there why not say it means you can have add a couple more vodkas to your Saturday night binge......
I am disappointed again at the misinformation and the continuing promotion of unhealthy food.. they actually almost recommend a brand of chocolate bar for shits sake...
I do admit that the article does go on to mention that adding calories to your daily intake if you are trying to lose weight is not recommended.... But this in itself is a ridiculously broad statement... personally I went from 2 meals a day at 84kgs to 6 meals a day and dropped 30 kgs...did my claories increase.. dam right they did but they were from clean, healthy, food options.
No wonder people are confused over how to become fit and healthy.... how can you believe anything they are told when this sort of article abounds in the media...
So if you were wondering what that noise was at 4.30am this morning... No it wasn't a werewolf that was heading home....it was me getting ready for work and sitting eating my oats and egg whites and howling with disbelief at the article I was reading while I tried to catch up on the Sunday papers...
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
I could if it was orange....
Everyone has a reason not to...
Its so much easier not to when you have a reason.....
Especially when it comes to exercise, health and fitness.....
Its too late, too dark, too early, too wet, too hot, too cold, too hard...
I'm too busy, too big, too old, too tired, have too many kids....
I would if I had time, had money, had an ipod, had the right shoes, had a friend/husband/wife/mate to do it with...
I could if it was more fun, less running, more swimming, less pushing, more pulling.... Yes I definitely could do it if it was Orange!
Really??? Are these really a reason not to save your own life by deciding that you are worth every minute you spend ensuring that you are fit and healthy, you can spend money on an insurane policy so that if anything happens to you your family are "taken care of". Shouldn't you spend some time and money looking after yourself so that they may not need to be taken care of any time soon....
There will always be reasons why you can't.... but the reasons why you should will always be far more convincing... and the number one reason is that you are worth every second that you spend loving yourself and treating yourself in the way everyone deserves... with love, kindness, and respect.
Its so much easier not to when you have a reason.....
Especially when it comes to exercise, health and fitness.....
Its too late, too dark, too early, too wet, too hot, too cold, too hard...
I'm too busy, too big, too old, too tired, have too many kids....
I would if I had time, had money, had an ipod, had the right shoes, had a friend/husband/wife/mate to do it with...
I could if it was more fun, less running, more swimming, less pushing, more pulling.... Yes I definitely could do it if it was Orange!
Really??? Are these really a reason not to save your own life by deciding that you are worth every minute you spend ensuring that you are fit and healthy, you can spend money on an insurane policy so that if anything happens to you your family are "taken care of". Shouldn't you spend some time and money looking after yourself so that they may not need to be taken care of any time soon....
There will always be reasons why you can't.... but the reasons why you should will always be far more convincing... and the number one reason is that you are worth every second that you spend loving yourself and treating yourself in the way everyone deserves... with love, kindness, and respect.
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