Back to Class! (Well, sort of...)

So this has been an amazing week for me... I was able to finally teach Turbo Kick AND PiYo.  What a blast!!  I have to admit, I was a bit distracted by trying to keep my body in a lower impact mode and refrain from jumping and/or pivoting on my left foot.  It made me so ditzy about memorizing my choreography (which is usually not a problem!) as well as feeling really worried that I was still able to cue and demonstrate an effective class.  

Side note:  Have I mentioned how spaz-tastic I can be?  It was apparent that I was a bit distracted during my first week back:  on Tuesday I couldn't get my music to work (thank you old music from Best of Volume 4) and today I lost my gym bag!!  (Which, by the way, has been found by the lovely girls in the daycare).

Now... I'll just be continuing to ease into these 2 formats and keep crossing my fingers for an August return to Hip Hop Hustle. 

So, what to do tomorrow?  Weights and stationary bike, I presume.  How about you?!

AND:  If you live in Boise/Meridian, please come join me at Idaho Athletic Club:  Silverstone and Black Eagle locations.  We have a ball and burn TONS of calories!

P.S. Please join my on my Fan Page!  I need more fans.  :) 

Ride or Die

Over this past month, I've been spending a lot of time on the stationary bike (upright, not recumbent) and I've actually been SWEATING!  Yay for sweat!!

Today, I went to my first spin class in 5 months.  I haven't been allowed to go to spin until now because I'm still supposed to be cautionary on weight bearing activity.  When I ride the stationary bike on my own, I keep it at a very modest resistance and just go as fast as I can for 30 minutes.  My physical therapist, Jana, allowed me to spin today IF I promised to not stand, jump, hover or ride with a heavy resistance.  I have to admit, it's hard to be in a spin class and not really participate, but I stayed true to my "rules" and I kept it moderate and fast.  At first I was sitting in class wondering why I didn't just go ride the stationary bike by myself.  I wasn't too crazy about the music that was being played, and I was a little annoyed that I couldn't do all of the interval training the instructor was cueing.   However, I stuck with it and really had a great workout.  I decided that the benefit of attending a spin class for now is really for the motivation of staying on the bike longer than 30 minutes.  Even though when I ride alone, I can listen to my own bangin' tunes, I enjoyed the camaraderie of the class today.

Side note:  Speaking of bangin' tunes, I want to talk about music for a minute.  When I exercise, music is SO crucial to me.  I have to have songs that inspire me to work harder, move faster, or slow down when it's time to cool down. 

I thoroughly enjoyed driving up to Spokane, WA this past weekend with my husband.  We took our kiddos to my folks', and took a road trip up to visit my brother at Gonzaga.  Matthew was home for two weeks, then had to go back to summer school ON his 21st birthday.  We wanted to head up and brighten up his weekend.  Had SUCH a blast with the coolest brother ever!  We talked about music for much of the time as Aaron and I had just spend 6.5 hours surfing Satellite radio and reminiscing as each song came on.  We spent a lot of time on Shade 45 and Hip Hop Nation as I read the history of rap music from Wikipedia to Aaron (omigosh...did I just admit that? AND P.S. what did we do before smart phones)?  We switched the channel to Backspin (old school hip hop) and listened to the artists who helped form the genre of rap.  It was so fun!!  We also enjoyed listening to 90s on 9 and Lithium so we could relive our high school and college days.  And, of course, had to listen to Octane... my FAVORITE...  I love hard rock.  Other fav stations:  Faction, Alt Nation and Classic Vinyl (had to hear some Zeppelin!!)

Man, that was quite a digression!  I am going to work on my next entry as a "favorite play list" writeup.

I haven't been swimming too much lately -it's because I'd rather cycle.  What can I say?  I'm addicted to SWEAT!  Plus it's less of a hassle:  I can go as soon as the gym daycare opens instead of waiting until 10am.  And it's so much easier to get ready for the day afterwards!  However, I'm so glad that I was forced into swimming.  Now that I am reacquainted with the pool and have defined my goals while swimming, I can see myself working it into my regimen. 

Alright folks, signing off.  Remember, if you are injured, it is NOT an excuse to stop exercising!  There is always something you can find that you are able to do.  Trust me...

Still motivated...but just barely...

So folks, I have been battling a sore throat, and other cold symptoms, for the past 5 days and it's getting progressively worse.  Today I skipped physical therapy in lieu of a trip to a nearby walk-in clinic.  I didn't want to hack and cough all over my therapist and her staff.  I just felt that wasn't appropriate.  I know, I'm very thoughtful.  Thanks for noticing.

I'm SO hopeful that my antibiotics clear this thing up so I can go to the gym tomorrow.  I am so looking forward to riding the hideously awful stationary bike!!

The good news is that over the past two weeks, I've been able to attend my sub's Turbo Kick class.  I have kept it very low impact (no jumping...boring! ...but better than nothing) and so far so good.  There's a little bit of achiness in the left foot, but that's because the intrinsic muscles are waking up after being "babied" for the past several months.  I have to admit, the "achiness" is kind of bothersome...

I hope to be able to go this Thursday again and I'm gearing up for a June return to my classes!  Well, at least Turbo and PiYo.  Those, I believe, I can modify over the next month as I ease my way back into the regular regimine.

Side note:  I did not appreciate being weighed today at the walk-in clinic.  That was unnecessary and I did not dress appropriately - clearly my tennis shoes, hoodie and glasses added at LEAST 5 lbs.  The nerve! 

I'm still keeping my eye on the prize, but I can tell you this:  I'm SO tired of boring, mediocre workouts.  HOWEVER, I'm still motivated enough to do what my therapist and doctor tell me because one thing is for sure: I hope to NEVER go through this nonsense again.

I'm out - off to go cough myself into oblivion and sneeze some more...  Enjoy your evening!

Trying to Stay True...

I am trying SO hard to follow the rules and not push too hard, but I AM GETTING FRUSTRATED again.  Just knowing that my injury is healed is making it VERY hard to hold back on my workouts.  I understand that I'm supposed to ease back into everything, but I was THIS close to going spinning this morning.  Instead, I put on some killer music and hit the bike for 33 minutes and pushed through at 110 RPM the entire time.  I was sweating and it felt GREAT!  I then took it to the treadmill... I haven't done the treadmill yet and I was not released to do it yet, but my endorphins were on FIRE.  My brain was still in control and I only stayed on there for about 7 minutes - the length of two phenomenal songs.  I even did a 1 minute jog because I feel that I just have to try.  I guess we will see later today or tomorrow what the outcome will be...

Can you tell by all of the caps lock that I'm fired up?????  I'm very, very close to going to my sub's Turbo Kick class tomorrow.  My brain is telling me to go swimming, but my body is telling me to try TK.  I think I'll wait to see how I feel when I wake up tomorrow.  If the foot is sore, I guess I'll know I need to pull back a bit.

I had a fantastic weekend up in Moscow, ID visiting my former college buds.  It was just what the doctor ordered.  Now, for the doctor to order up some Turbo Kick... that is what will REALLY get me fired up! 

Hamming it up on my former bed on the sleeping porch at dear ol' Delta G...

I HEART My Physical Therapist!!

Last week I started physical therapy and I just LOVE Jana.  I know she is going to help me rehabilitate and get back to the level of exercise that I'm used to.  I woke up this morning feeling so rejuvenated!  I had a fun girls' night with a new group of friends (I also HEART sushi!), and was looking forward to my therapy session. 

I was cautiously optimistic to hope that I could return to teaching my classes by May, HOWEVER, Jana believes it will be more like June (growling to myself...).  Here's how she explained it:  even though the machine is now fixed (aka, my injury is healed), it is still not working properly.  In other words, during my healing, my left foot, ankle and calf atrophied and now I must work on restabilization and balance.  I still have soreness and pain, but that's because those muscles are all "waking up" and have to be strengthened.

I LOVE that she has given me clear parameters to my gym workouts: 
-recumbent bike for no longer than 30 minutes and no higher than a 4 (to which I keep my RPMs above 100 and have been getting a great sweat!) - and only every other day
-Swimming no more than 2x a week - 75% breaststroke and 25% freestyle (due to the tendonitis that flared up in my right shoulder)
-Weights: only performing lifts that keep my elbows close to my body (bicep curls, alternating bicep curls, hammer curls, tricep kickbacks). 
-Continuing with leg lifts, strengthening the hips, outer and inner thighs, and adding in clamshells to strengthen the glute muscles that assit in your stride.

Another thing I've been working on is being conscientious of my stride because I've been walking on the outsides of both feet while favoring the injury site.  I've been trying to thinking about it:  make contact with your heel, roll slightly out on the outsides of your feet and finish by pushing off the ball of your big toe. 

Next week I believe I'll begin using the regular bike.  Jana doesn't actually like the recumbants as well because she says they put a strain on your quads and hamstrings and a false sense of stabilization in your back.  I'll be looking forward to transitioning away from them!  (And I'm DYING to get the "go ahead" to attend spin class!)

Here are my thoughts on returning to teaching:  June is looking good for teaching Turbo Kick at a low impact intensity level (no jumping); it will probably be closer to July before going back to Hip Hop Hustle, as that class is difficult to modify.  I also have high hopes to return to PiYo in the next couple of weeks.

I've been feeling so hopeful and energetic ever since learning that my foot has healed.  I'm going to start the Three Day Shakeology Cleanse next week and boost my metabolism even more.

Here's to a great week, everyone!  Keep your chin up and remember this:  SOMETHING is better than nothing.  Find the workout that you can squeeze into your day/week and make it a habit!  I would LOVE to be your coach, so please contact me if you have questions!

I WILL be back to Turbo Kick...VERY soon!  ;)

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

Guess which girl has a healed stress injury?  THIS girl!  Guess which girl gets to stop wearing her rigid carbon insole?  THIS girl!!!!  That's right, the MRI shows that my injury is HEALED, PEOPLE!!!!  So that means no more tennis shoes in my house all day every day.  It also means that I'm not ready for high heels yet.  But I'm hoping to find some cute flats with a good arch that can suppress my urge to throw my tennis shoes out the nearest window.

So why, pray tell, does my foot still hurt?  According to the doctor, my foot is de-conditioned and I need to undergo physical therapy to SLOWLY return it to normal activity.  Translation:  I probably should not pop in my Turbo Kick DVD tomorrow and start learning the current round.  HOWEVER, I have my first appointment with the physical therapist (one who specializes in getting athletes back to their sport of choice) and I'm anxious to get on her program.  I'll be slowly, incrementally, gaining strength and getting back to Turbo.

Awwwwww  Yeahhhhhhh.... that's what I'm talking about!!!!  (Doing a happy dance, albeit it's more of a "hopping in a circle on my right foot" dance).

Bring on the Physical Therapy:  this Tuesday at 10:45am (not that I'm counting down the minutes or anything).

What was your workout today and how is your nutrition?

So...  I have worked out every day this week and feeling really great.  I've been hitting it hard on the weights and my legs, so now my body's totally sore.  Today's workout consisted of a great swim.  40 laps in 35 minutes.  I'm sure I'm not breaking any records, but I guess it's a good pace for me because it's consistently my time.  Also, I only swim once or twice a week.  It's pretty hard for me to get to the pool and the times you can lap swim are scattered, so I don't go as often as I'd like.  But I'm trying to make the hand bike hip (come on - you see how cool I look on it and you know you want to try!) and using that and the recumbent bike as part of my cardio routine.  side note:  YES - it's true!  You can burn 22 calories in 10 minutes on the hand bike!!!  Isn't that inticing!??  LOL  I seriously don't know how it's only 22 calories because it really does feel like more of an exertion that THAT!  But oh well.  It gets my body warm and ready to lift.

Now to the next subject...I've said it before and I'll say it again... Nutrition and what you put in your pie hole constitutes for 80% of your efforts.  In other words, if you workout every day of your life, but eat like crap, you're never going to lose weight and/or change your body.

I have to say, this is a big reason how I've stayed in "somewhat" good shape during this LOOOOOONG drawn out injury ordeal.  Like I've said in past posts, I did put on some weight due to depressed and emotional eating at times, but I'm over it now and I'm back on track.  A lot of my nutrition depends on my health shake for which I preach about all of the time (probably driving most of my friends mad), but I'm so passionate about the impact on health that this one little shake makes.  For more information on it, click here.

Make sure you're eating whole grain carbs (DON'T YOU DARE cut out carbs.  That the WORST health trend I've ever seen. Very unhealthy and it will derail your efforts), plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and getting lots of protein.  Try to stay away from processed foods if you can, but as with everything... MODERATION is the key.  You don't have to cut out processed foods altogether (hey... I'm not!), but try not to eat them daily or rely on them for the bulk of your nutrition.  I'm talking about frozen meals and basically most things in the pantry.

I guess I'll get off my soap box now.  Just wanted to lecture today, I suppose!!

I'm gearing up for my 2nd MRI tonight and a follow up with my doctor tomorrow.  I can't wait to see how my foot is healing and to hear when he thinks I may return to Turbo.  Plus, the thought of laying in the MRI machine sounds dreamy.  Am I crazy?  Some time to myself, laying down prone, with no one needing anything from me?  Sorry, it sounds lovely to me.

Peace out!