Plyometrics

1 early morning (5:50 am)
1 personal training session
1 million lunges
1 million core exercises
2 exaggerations
133 pounds

Plyometrics (also known as "plyos") is a type of exercise training designed to produce fast, powerful movements, and improve the functions of the nervous system, generally for the purpose of improving performance in sports. Plyometric movements, in which a muscle is loaded and then contracted in rapid sequence, use the strength, elasticity and innervation of muscle and surrounding tissues to jump higher, run faster, throw farther, or hit harder, depending on the desired training goal. (Wikipedia)

Today I met Dan, my personal trainer for the next 5 weeks. Dan introduced me to plyometrics. I finally understand what those adjustable cords tied to the wall of the gym were for! There are other methods of plyos, like jumping up on boxes and using resistance bands which we may get into. Stay tuned.

Basically, anything new will kick your ass. In a good way. It hasn't been 24 hours, and I'm already sore. Tomorrow will be interesting.

I learned a few new things about exercise and about my own abilities. First, my legs are pretty strong but I need to work on my hamstrings, which are one of the most under worked area of the legs for most people. Dan showed me the correct form for lifting weights to target hamstrings. I'd done these similar weights for years, but incorrectly. To to them correctly, you actually get to stick your butt out. I've always had this idea in my head that you shouldn't stick your booty out, but I was wrong. There is some booty-sticking-outing that supports your back and legs. Second, I learned that after years of doing core exercises at least once a week, that I still have some work to do. Again, form is very important. Lastly, unless you are body building, there is no reason to spend a day on legs, a day on arms, a day on shoulders, etc. I'm going to learn some new full-body moves that can work my entire body.

Today, I also realized my worst fear. I need some nutrition help. Although Koleen said I didn't have a weight problem, I would like to lose a couple of pounds or at least a couple pounds of fat. Dan suggested I meet with the club lifestyle coach, so I made an appointment with her next week. Argh. My worst fear is that she's going to tell me exactly what I don't want to hear: I need to count calories, I eat too much cheese, I drink too much wine.

Changing habits is not just losing weight or getting into better shape. This is the #1 mistake of those I'm-going-to-lose-weight-for-my-wedding diets. Sure, you might look fantastic in wedding photos, but it will come back unless you are willing to change FOREVER. That's the part about nutrition that I'm not sure about. I'm going to have to give up massive cheese consumption - FOREVER? OMG.

This next week, I will incorporate as much plyos into my routine as possible and practice what I learned today. I will also eat massive amounts of cheese until someone tells me not to. :)