Hey ladies, time for me to journal up. I’m pretty new to EF and have enjoyed learning from the Women’s Fitness Forum – I guess it’s my turn to share. I’ll start here and continue to add my workouts as I change them (and any other “ah ha” moments I have!). Competing isn’t right for me currently but could be in the future. I tend to take things to the obsessive state and can’t “afford” to do that right now. Perhaps when I’m more settled (40’s sound great!). I have danced my entire life and lifting was against the grain. Although it seems to me chest presses would be right up our ally. I remember having to wrap my breasts for performances! I certainly wouldn’t have to do that now!
The closest thing I got to a lift was a RepReebok class I taught at night back in 2002. I trained clients on the side and I knew what lifting was all about but never really got into it consistently myself. I thought I looked just fine and felt even better. I was more about teaching people to live healthy lifestyles that worked for them. I wasn’t concerned about how much they could lift. Now as a wellness coach and business owner I see the benefits of consistently working on strength and the changes it makes to your body. I became sadistic about lifting about this time last year and completely changed my body composition. I’m the same size but have more lean muscle mass and less body fat. I went hard and heavy – got my squats up to 220lbs and deadlifts to 135lbs. A huge improvement to my little 45lb bar I used to work with. I gained 18 pounds in 4 months +/-.
Now that I think back about it lifting became my dance. I moved back to my little ole hometown and their isn’t a huge arts community so I haven’t been dancing at all. That is when it started. In the past 3 years I have had more than my share of huge life events (most compounded in the past year). Moved to a impoverished country to adopt a little boy, my husband had an affair, divorced, moved again, changed careers, started a new relationship, mom went into a nursing home with Alzheimer’s, had surgery to remove cancerous cells from my cervix (with no insurance), and started a business. Lifting was my sanctuary and continues to be.
Now that I’ve written a book I’ll share my stats in the next post. I simply hope by sharing my past it will help someone’s future.
The closest thing I got to a lift was a RepReebok class I taught at night back in 2002. I trained clients on the side and I knew what lifting was all about but never really got into it consistently myself. I thought I looked just fine and felt even better. I was more about teaching people to live healthy lifestyles that worked for them. I wasn’t concerned about how much they could lift. Now as a wellness coach and business owner I see the benefits of consistently working on strength and the changes it makes to your body. I became sadistic about lifting about this time last year and completely changed my body composition. I’m the same size but have more lean muscle mass and less body fat. I went hard and heavy – got my squats up to 220lbs and deadlifts to 135lbs. A huge improvement to my little 45lb bar I used to work with. I gained 18 pounds in 4 months +/-.
Now that I think back about it lifting became my dance. I moved back to my little ole hometown and their isn’t a huge arts community so I haven’t been dancing at all. That is when it started. In the past 3 years I have had more than my share of huge life events (most compounded in the past year). Moved to a impoverished country to adopt a little boy, my husband had an affair, divorced, moved again, changed careers, started a new relationship, mom went into a nursing home with Alzheimer’s, had surgery to remove cancerous cells from my cervix (with no insurance), and started a business. Lifting was my sanctuary and continues to be.
Now that I’ve written a book I’ll share my stats in the next post. I simply hope by sharing my past it will help someone’s future.