Personal Health Intiative Training

Posts tagged ‘strengthtraining’

Murphy’s Law

3rd day in and I’m hanging tough! I still have plenty of energy but cravings come every now and then. My strategies to combat the sugar cravings include drinking tea, chewing gum, and drinking water. After about 2 weeks, they get better and the body adjusts. The human body adapts very well to many environments and you can control much more than you think you can. I always get offered food when I can’t have it. Lol…it seems to be inevitable. I think the universe is testing me to make sure I am committed to my goal. Yesterday I came home to a sweet potato pie sitting on the stove, today I was offered a chocolate cupcake, and I even won Staff of the Month at work! Guess what the reward was? A free meal!!! Go figure! Just when I can’t have it, the goodies rear their ugly heads. Thankfully this is my 4th prep so I have A LOT of self-control.

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You know the old Murphy’s law rule. If anything can go wrong it will. Now I am not saying that anything is going wrong, but whenever you are faced with a challenge, you will have to withstand obstacles. These obstacles are not going to be ordinary. If you are reaching for an extraordinary goal, you will face extraordinary obstacles. I was asked today if I could just eat the frosting off of the cupcake…just a little! Of course I declined, and eating frosting is certainly such a simple thing to people who do not compete. However; for me, it makes a huge difference. Little things become big things and one taste of sweet can turn into a whole bunch of sweets! I will stick with my tea and gum for now. But I did request a whole cake to be made for me to eat on March 24th! And yes, I might eat the whole thing. 🙂

If being a natural bodybuilder was an easy task then I am sure more people would do it. But, it is not easy, it is a lifestyle that requires discipline and commitment for a specific amount of time. As with any goal, the good news is that if you just stick with it, fight through the obstacles and continue to find strategies to finish the task, you will be just fine. Being comfortable is not they way to live. You need to get uncomfortable sometimes if you ever want to accomplish great things!

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TRX Class Review!

I have heard many things about TRX or suspension training. I never had the opportunity to try it until today… I am testing out a different gym and TRX is one of the classes offered. The good thing about suspension training is that it does not require a lot of equipment. If you purchase your own straps, you can take them with you anywhere. I recommend finding a gym that offers the class before you purchase them to see if it is something you will enjoy.

TRX

In my opinion, body weight exercises can be much more challenging than using dumbbells or machines. You have to lift your entire body which is a lot if you are 200 or just 100 lbs! Just think about a pull up exercise. It is very difficult because you are lifting your whole body with small muscles in your arms and back. It took me a very long time to do a pull up.

So back to the TRX class. It was tough! My muscles were on fire. It kind of reminded me of a mix between power yoga and strength training. Two straps are hanging from the ceiling. The straps are attached to one another at the top and at the end of each strap is a handle. You can adjust the straps all the way up to your chest and all the way down to your legs. Some of the exercises we did included single leg lunges, planks, crunches, hip thrusters, hamstring curls, bicep curls, tricep dips, and back rows. We did variations on our knees and standing. Let me give you an example:

Plank-Push Up: Place one foot in each handle while you are on your hands. So, your entire body is suspended off the ground. Push down and up like a normal push up. It is much harder than having your feet on the ground!

Hip Thruster: While you are in a supine position, your knees are bent and your heels are in the straps. Your arms can be on the ground or in the air. Thrust your butt and hips up as high as you can. Each time you “thrust” keep your butt off the ground.

Row: Feet are on the ground and you are facing the straps. Grab a handle in each hand and perform a row moving your body up and back.

You can do hundreds of exercises with TRX. If you’re looking for a change, bored, or just need a new challenge, I recommend trying it. Do more than just dumbbells and bars. You become really strong when you do body weight exercises.

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