Gym Episode 22/02: “Every rep counts”

I went through Monday’s lunchtime gym session with Damion Daniel thinking “be careful what you wish for Ms Yamfoot” :?. I’d told him on the weekend that I wanted to do more exercises for the butt. That meant squats and lunges were included.

My knees are getting accustomed to these exercises and I’ve actually not been bothered by them so much, since stepping up my quantity of exercise.

I had to abandon the 10lb dumbells the Trainer had given me to use while doing the lunges. A few times too, I was about to topple over. Ever watchful, he was there to ensure that didn’t happen. Mek mi tell yuh……my thighs certainly felt the burn!

The key to maximizing that move is to keep upright and also get your knee touching the floor when you go down, and drive up using your glutes. I’d watched him last week executing those in perfect form so I knew what it looked like. Heart was willing but thighs and butt were weak. I kept reminding him that I had to go back to work, when I tried to pause during a set. “Every rep counts,” he said, followed by some encouragement. 

To finish up, did 10 minutes of the elliptical. It gets easier each day.

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Gym Episode 17/02: Making me self sufficient

One of the great things about having a Trainer is that he sets out all the weights and benches, as well as does the settings on the machines. Wednesday was an almost full body work out consisting of…

Shoulder press
Bicep curls
Lat pull downs
Bench press
Leg extension and
Abductor/adductor

To start, did 10 minutes cardio. In and between, there was more cardio. 10 minutes again, about a 3 mins sprint on the spinning bike followed by more at the end. The Trainer said to so 5 easy minutes. I did 10. Wohoo.

During my sets, he stayed close as usual to ensure I was safe. Last week though, he would spot me earlier in the reps. Not today. So I am being made to be self sufficient so I can push through on my own. There is an issue I have with a muscle running from my neck to my traps which makes the shoulder presses difficult sometimes. When he saw me struggling, he switched to lower weights so I could finish the set. Had to ice it when I got home. (Yes…that’s Christmas lights you’re looking at….I’m keeping them on all year).

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#Gym Episode 16/02: A walk in the park

Eating food is so easy. But getting rid of the effects of overeating is no walk in the park. A park is where some of my workout took place on Tuesday in my quest to burn fat and arrive at 50 with less of me.

A planned session with the Trainer had to be cancelled due to his last minute committments. I was trying to weasel out of the work out. He was not having it and instructed me to do cardio. I didn’t feel like. My leg was burning. I had work to go home and do. The excuses came fast and furious. Try as I might….no luck. I didn’t want to defy him and in turn disappoint myself. I had to act as my own motivator. I suggested that I could go to the park and he said yes.

Off I skipped, avoiding the vagrant by KFC. Stopped beside the coconut man to stretch on a nearby wall. “Mind yuh push down the wall,” he quipped. Doh worry…ah not dat strong…..yet.

Walked two laps, then jogged one, then back to walking half a lap then did some sprints like I was Usain Bolt. 😁:)😂☺

That was 30 minutes and I had worked up a nice sweat. See?
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Gym Episode 13/02: Two #exercise sessions in one day

Pilates class is a fixture on my Saturday schedule. It is gentle on my body so it was no problem to schedule a session with the trainer before the class. The gym was late in opening so I made hay in the meantime. How?

Set the stopwatch, walked down the road to this playing field and jogged around it once. The grass is kind to one’s knees.

Walked back up to the gym and it was still locked. Imagine they kept the PM waiting too! I continued walking and by the time I turned back, the person came.

Went straight into the morning’s exercises:-
Incline press, shoulder press, bicep curl, leg press and lunges. I tolerated the shoulder press much better than Tuesday.
In between, there was elliptical sprinting and on the bicycle with varying intensity.
I gotta give cyclists who ride up steep hills their props!

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#Gym episode 12/02: Why stop?

I was late for my session today because of work meetings which ran late. It meant that the trainer had less time to spend with me. The routine today was:-

10 mins elliptical (I increased the resistance every minute)
Ab exercises (3 on the machines and 3 on the floor)
In between the ab exercises, there was sprinting on the bike for about 3 mins)

The trainer had to leave me during the last set on the last machine and gave instructions that I should finish up with 15 mins on the elliptical. I thought “why stop there?” So this is what I decided to do.

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After all, this is a challenge, isn’t it! If my leg muscles were not in need of repair, I would have done more.

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#Gym Episode 9/02: I will survive #weighttraining

Day 1 done and dusted….

Full body workout with Damion Daniel. Quads, hamstring, chest, shoulder, biceps, lats, deltoids. Nope. I am not a novice. I know my muscles. I also know which of them have issues. A lot!!!!! Hopefully as they get stronger and I eat better, the niggles will disappear. Must look after my cervical spine too.

As I was struggling with finishing some of the reps while Damion was gently encouraging me (i.e. not the way Jillian Michaels does it), I asked myself, what is the value of hiring a trainer?

I got the answer when, after he switched up the order of some of the upper body exercises, mi…..couldn’t……repeat…..one…..which……I normally……breeze……through! And mind you, the weights were not heavy. There is also that accountability factor. Trusting me to motivate me clearly hasn’t worked out so well the older I have got.

I guess that’s why he looks like this….

Champion Bodybuilder, Damion Daniel

…..and me like this 😁😂😯;)😮😦😨

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RIP #JohnnyKemp (Nostalgia Nassau Post)

Just read online that Johnny Kemp died in Jamaica. Immediately, my mind flashed back to my days living in the Bahamas. I was there when the song “Just Got Paid” came out. We used to go to a club called Club Waterloo and the house band played the song often (and I liked the drummer :)). It was also on heavy rotation on the radio stations.

I’ve posted before how hearing certain songs takes me back…..way back. “Just Got Paid” took me back to 1988, in a great club on East Bay Street with friends who I am still friends with today. All these years I never knew he was Bahamian. So that explains why it was played so often.

RIP Johnny Kemp. It’s Friday night.

 

Chicken….little

I’ve been off meat, including chicken, since 2005. I ate only fish and other seafood. That decision was fueled by concerns over what the flesh of the pig, goat, cow and chicken might be doing to my health. Later, it was because I felt sorry for the animals. Mind you, when we were kids, we used to go to a pig farm and inevitably, pigs would be killed while we were there. Their throat would be cut, all the blood would come rushing out, then they’d pour hot water on the dying animals so the hair would come off easily. And before 2005, pork was my favourite meat. Go figure.

Whether it’s coincidental or not, I’ve had muscular issues from around 2005. Could there be a connection, I wondered? I’d read a few stories about vegetarians who returned to meat, because of the negative effects on their health. B-12 deficiency was usually one of the issues. It made me contemplate whether these injuries to my muscles were as a result of not enough animal protein. The pro-vegetarians would say “hog wash!” 🙂 Continue reading

Ten Commandments Of Physiotherapy

As a physiotherapy patient on and off for the last seven years, I found this article interesting.

For #1, I am gradually shifting to this way of thinking since a different method was tried on an injury and it yielded success.

Number # 4 I am totally in agreement with. Fortunately, I have had a good connection with most of my therapists (England, Grenada, Jamaica).