RKC and IBD: 30 Days to Test

Training Day – July 27, 2012

Fridays have become the busiest day of the week for me. I teach a 6am and 6pm outdoor bootcamp class. In between I meet with 2 new clients for their first training sessions, drove 45 minutes to my training class, drove back to my gym for a 30 minute training session, and then over to teach another outdoor class at 4pm. In between all this I stopped at Whole Foods twice to pick up enough rations to keep me fed and energized.

The main focus of my energy today was directed at the noon group training session at Ambition Athletics. I have really come to enjoy my training here for 2 main reasons

  • It’s a lot of fun
  • I’m getting stronger

There are no treadmills to warm up on. There is no towel service. However, there are training tools like kettlebells, ropes, grip attachments, bands, rings, and bars that will challenge anyone. The kettlebells are arranged in a large corner of the gym – separated by a wide opening from one room to the other. On one side are the lighter bells – 24kgs and below. On the other are the heavier bells – 28kg up to 48kg. When I first started training there I spent too much time on the lighter side of that opening. Now I make sure to be on the heavier (stronger) side almost exclusively.

Today’s workout was another solid full body program.

  • Push ups – 3 sets x 5/6 reps (weighted vest added, done from rings)
  • Double KB Single Leg Deadlifts – 3 sets x 6/leg (2 32kg bells)
  • 1/2 Kneeling hip flexor stretch
  • Rest
  • Chins – 3 sets x 5 (4 chains criss-crossed across chest)
  • Goblet Squat – 3 sets x 6-8 reps (44kg)
  • Side Planks – 3 sets x 15 seconds/side
  • Single Arm Swings – 2 sets x 10/10 (32kg, 40kg)

I felt really good during today’s workout. Nothing felt like it was going to destroy me. It was definitely challenging but I left the gym feeling better than when I showed up.

That has been a constant and surprisingly unexpected benefit of this training. Every time I leave the gym – no matter the intensity of the workout or how I felt at the beginning – I feel better! I leave knowing that I just won a small victory over the last hour of the day. It may seem trivial to some but to others – maybe those with IBD that understand the potential of living minute to minute and hour to hour – it means something. I do not leave the gym with a medal after a tough workout. I leave with something that may last even longer…the earned and geniune sense of accomplishment. I leave knowing that I can still win battles, that I can still take control over my body and mold it into something strong and useful and sometimes that means everything

~With Strength and Nutrition

 

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