Back on the box

My first ever experience of cross fit today and it was a great one. If you haven't caught up, I've entered a fitchick challenge at the fitness expo next weekend. I entered it on a whim and then found out what it is I have to do ... oh dear.

To get an idea of what the competition might look like check out  this video.  Like I said ... oh dear.

It has been decided that I will do two training sessions a day. One focussing on technique, the other on strength and conditioning.

The cross fit gym is more like an industrial wasteland than any gym I'm used to. The equipment is simple: wooden boxes, barbells, huge looking weights and pull up bars. As I made my way to my trainer I had to step over the bodies scattered across the floor. Absolutely 100% spent after their workout. this is not the kind of thing you see after an aerobics class. These people, mostly ultrafit looking men could not move for at least five minutes.

This morning I learned the techniques of cross fit including the box jump, the deadlift, the clean and press and the pull up. This morning I realised how far I have to go

I did however make a major break through.

The box jump (jumping up onto a 20 inch box) was probably what I feared most from cross fit. I knew it was psychological, that I had the strength and agility, all I needed was the mind set. So, how surprised was I when I did it, first up, with pretty much the correct technique.

Now all I need is to master the same mindset to achieve my first cross fit pull up!

Holy crap: The fit chick challenge

Sometimes your life changes. Sometimes you're not prepared. Sometimes that change can be like a slap across the face with a cold hard stone.

I happen to believe in karma, I know it's not logical and there are a thousand examples out there of wrongs that are never avenged, but I just do. And when a sock across the face with a a cold hard stone comes, I try not to let it knock me out.

Because change is an enormous opportunity. It's freeing. It allows you choose options that would otherwise have been unavailable to you. But a slap across the face with a wet stone is also going to render your judgement and decision-making somewhat impaired for some days ... or weeks.

Which leads me to this. In a moment of madness induced by the spirit of grabbing every opportunity I have signed up for the fit chick challenge to be held at the Fitness Expo in Darling Harbour in two (GULP) weeks. http://www.shapemagazine.com.au/FitChickChallenge/tabid/1843/Default.aspx. In the fit chick challenge just 30 chicks battle it out in a series of exercise-offs that include box jumps, pull ups and deadlifts.

And why not? I'm fit, I thought, and a chick. What could go wrong?  Except of course that I've never performed a deadlift, rarely do a pull up, and my idea of a box jump is up to and including boxes 10cm high. On top of this I will be competing against 29 other women who practically live these moves.

So, over the next two weeks I'm going to blog my attempts to develop these skills, in preparation for the fit chick competition. I've engaged the help of professionals and prepared to give t everything it takes.

Wish me luck. I'm about to see just how far I can push my body in two weeks.

Eat more: do less

So the husband has a weight loss secret. He thinks he can make himself a pile of cash by advertising it for a $1 on the internet, and when people send him their dollar he'll tell them this... eat less:move more.

But now, contrary to advice you may have read previously in blogs such as (and including) this one, I'm going to tell you that the opposite is working for me at the moment. Do less: Eat more.

I know, it's doing my head in too, but it is definitely changing the shape of my body.

I haven't been kind to my body. I've put it through hours at the gym. I haven't fed it enough, and when I have I've fed it up on 'fat free' this and 'artificial' that. The result. The moment I slow down for a second, or increase my calories just a bit my body is so grateful, it stockpiles fat.

You see, my body thinks it's perfectly healthy, it's only me that thinks it needs a bit of reform.

So, I've upped my intake from 1200 to 1700. And I've decreased my exercise to weight training 5  days a week and the occasional bike ride, indoor climb or circuit. Now, far from the 500 calories a day I used to expend in exercise, I'm guessing I'm doing more like 250 -300.

Don't get me wrong. I don't eat 1700 calories of whatever I like. I eat a balance of vegetables, protein and carbohydrates. I've dumped refined carbs and limited anything that is overly processed. I include more fats in my diet than I ever have before. I eat full fat yoghurt.

And, for the first time in ever so long I'm not always hungry.

I'm not saying this is for everyone, but I am saying that maximising the calorie deficit is not always the way to reach your goals.

It's been a long 12 months of discovery for me. I'm guessing that without the journey I wouldn't have necessarily reached the destination, but boy, some good advice early on could have saved me a lot of time and energy.

Does it get any easier?

A new season of Michelle Bridges 12WBT is about to begin and I'm going back for my third and final round. Already I've had a number of people ask 'Does it get any easier?'.

The truth is, it does and it doesn't.

Yes, 5am starts get easier. Yes, as you see the benefits (losing weight, growing muscle, getting faster) your enthusiasm for health and fitness grows. In this sense it does get easier. But easy is not what we're after here because, if you want to continually improve (lose weight, get fitter, get faster, jump higher) you need to move out of your comfort zone and this requires dedication persistence and above-all, courage.

Over the years people have said 'but it's easy for you because ...'  but I want to put this out there - it's not easy. It's tiring, it's boring and it is so hard. But this is only because I've deliberately made it so by setting new goals.

For me, the hardest thing has been allowing myself to compete (half-marathons and triathlons) when I know I'm not going to win, in fact there are times when I come in last. Times when people who've trained less than me have beat me. But by doing so I've been able to move on both physically and emotionally. I've learned not to compare myself with others, but to measure and celebrate my own achievements. I've learned that the safe place where you know you can win, is not the place you grow and improve.

I can't tell you how hard this has been. Seeing people packed up and going home when I am still finishing my race is hard, in fact it is heart breaking. The temptation to compare myself to others rather than look at my own achievements is persistent. Training for hours knowing that my improvements are going to be modest is the pits. But the lessons I've learned and continue to learn are priceless.

For a muscle to grow and develop, we first need to injure it. By lifting heavier weights, or more reps we create tiny tears in our muscles, but it is in the recovery from those tears that our muscles grow stronger.

Our heart is a muscle too.

So does it get easier? Only if you let it.

A tri-ing sport

So the months of muscles are sadly over and the triathlon training has begun, and, wow, is it time consuming. The problem is I'm not training for one sport, I'm training for three. I've read that in triathlon training you're supposed to concentrate on your weakness, but what happens when you analyse your times and work out that every aspect of your triathlon (swim, run, cycle and transition) are your weakness.

Triathlon training should be periodised across a year, with a foundation, preparation and competition phase.  I, however, have chosen to start my training right in the middle of the season.

So, I'm concentrating on technique and strength and hoping that these (rather than fitness training) will help me improve my times. So, what does a week's triathlon training look like.

Monday- Easy swimming technique practice followed by "Brick" session (extended spin class and treadmill run)

Tuesday morning - Weights
Tuesday afternoon-  swimming stroke correction

Wednesday -  1.5 km ocean swim with the Manly Bold and Beautiful crew from Manly to Shelly and back again. (This can be followed by a run to Queenscliff beach and back)

Thursday - Weights

Friday Morning - yoga
Friday evening- Manly dualthlon - Shelly beach swim and run to Queeenscliff and back.

Saturday morning 32 km bike ride with the Bay Bug group around Homebush Bay
Saturday afternoon - Indoor climbing (this is not part of the training, but I just can't give it up!)

Sunday - rest or light yoga and meditation

All this and I am doing the shortest competition distance triathlon, a sprint distance of 750m swim, 20km ride and 5km run. Can you imagine how someone who does a iron man triathlon (3.8 km swim, 180 km ride and a marathon) must train.

Months of Muscle: Losing and Winning

So, you know about the month of muscle but what what you may not know is, at the end of it all there is a prize, with a trophy.

When I was a kid my sister had trophies, and medals. I'm guessing if i saw them now they would be small plasticky things. They are probably also a lot smaller than I remember ***, but boy I used to spend time staring at those trophies ... and wishing.

So the thought of winning that prize kept me motivated, and, like the other awesome people who did the program with me, I thought I was in with a chance.

Sadly, it was not to be **** and last night, at the finale party I started to get a little down. And then someone did something special. The winner of the last round pulled plastic medals out of her purse and hung one around each of our necks. In an instant I was reminded that we were all winners. I didn't take that medal off all night and at the end of the night I hung it with my triathlon, half marathon and city to surf medals as a reminder of just how far the month of muscles has brought me.

But the medal reminded me of much more. It reminded me that my original goal was to wear my bikini to finale night and whilst I had technically worn my bikini (I threw an orange see-through dress over the top) I hadn't really fulfilled my goal. So I whisked my dress off and danced, hands above head in bikini and high heels.

And suddenly ... I was the winner ...


*** I've found that as I've aged things have become smaller. The big pineapple and the big banana in particular.

**** You should see the abs on the fantastic guy that did win ...

Months of Muscle: The results

So, what does three months of struggle and strategic application of fake tan get you:

• 55 push-ups on toes in one minute
• Wall squat for five minutes and 20 seconds
• 5 chins ups
• 120kg leg press
• Almost 1 minute off my 1km sprint time trial
• 2.4 kg of new muscle
• 500gm less of fat

And this ...

Now bring on the triathlon season ...