Frustrations in the Weight Room

For all of my friends out there in the fitness industry, I'm sure you share my frustration on this topic.

When I arrived at the community center gym today after my run, I found a man and his son there.  The man was instructing his son (probably in the age range of 11-14 years old) on how to do all sorts of exercises that his dad was doing.  Unfortunately, they were totally incorrect, unorganized, and inappropriate for the son's age or fitness level.  The most frustrating part is that the man would yell at his son if he didn't have the strength to do an exercise.  I wanted to scream at him to MODIFY IT!  At one point, the man's friend walked into the gym and the man waved and said "I'm personal training today.  Personal Trainer in the house!"  At this point I'm fuming and what I want to say is, "Hmmm, do you hold a national certification?  Do you have a four year degree in this field?  Did you have your son fill out the proper paperwork and risk stratify him in order to design a proper individualized program for him?"  But instead, I shook me head and remained quiet.  This is where I struggle.  

I have corrected people in a gym before on their own workouts, but this was an overbearing father and his son.  I wasn't looking forward to an argument with the man on what he was doing with his own son, but I did not want the kid getting hurt.  Finally I said, "I think that weight is too heavy," when he was attempting a tricep pushdown with his back bent all out of whack.  The son actually looked at his dad and said "Yea, it's a little heavy dad."  The dad didn't say much to me, but he did lower the weight.  They left soon after, but I can't help but think of all of the things I could have said to correct the postures the son was in and I was angry at myself for not saying them.

I know this is a constant struggle for me as a fitness professional.  I am sure many others in this field deal with this all the time as well.  What does one do in this situation?  Do we step in and say, "Look, I'm qualified to do this job and let me give you some advice" or do we just let people keep on doing things incorrectly?  It is particularly frustrating as a woman.  At times I do step in and tell people what I see but many times it is the big beefy guys who are doing things all wrong and they look at me like I'm crazy.  But then at least I tried to help.

If you were at the gym and you were working out and someone came up and corrected you, would you be okay with it?  Personally I think I would if it were a qualified individual but at the same time, you don't always know the background of the person performing incorrect exercises.  

It's also hard to get a good focused workout in when you are always trying to help other people.  When do you step back and separate yourself in order to enjoy your own stress-relief time at the gym?  And is that ever an appropriate thing to do when the bodies, postures, and potentially lives of people could be in danger?

My advice to anyone who is a beginner with exercise would be to do your homework and get advice from a professional if possible.  Even if it is just a tutorial on how to use specific machines from the consultant working at the time, it is better than putting yourself in a position for potential injury. 

Thanks for reading my frustrations.  Enjoy your holiday and be safe everyone!

Ahhhh, Christmas Vacation

Michael and I arrived in Houston this afternoon to visit with his grandma and the rest of the Steinbacher clan.

Elaine (mother-in-law) and uncle Mike picked us up at the airport and we went straight to the grocery!  (At this point I was starving from the morning flight and lack of a good breakfast)  We came back and chatted for a bit, had a snack, and then uncle Mike and I ran to the gym/club located in Marianne's neighborhood for a workout followed by a run back.

These past few days we were at home with my parents to celebrate an early Christmas since we will be here in TX for the 25th.  While there I was able to get to Anytime Fitness for my workouts and I even took my mom and sister in a couple of times.  I also cooked dinner with my mom a few times.  Here's a little sample of an early dinner meal we had:

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts, chopped into 2-inch cubes
1 lb red potatoes, chopped into fourths
1/2 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/3 cup basil, chopped
8 cherry tomatoes
Red bell pepper (sliced or chopped)
2 garlic gloves, thinly sliced
1.5 TBSP Olive Oil
1 tsp rosemary
Ground pepper

Bake in oven at 400 degrees in greased (with spray) baking dish. Add chicken, potatoes, tomatoes, vegetables, basil, garlic, and olive oil. Sprinkle with rosemary. Add pepper if desired.  Bake for about 45 minutes until tender.

(we used dry spices instead of fresh and it still turned out delicious)

Pretty healthy and delicious. 

Sticking to a meal plan and exercise regimen can be tough when on a vacation.  I learned at the airport (while I was salivating over the Coldstone I wished I could eat) that I probably should have planned a little better and eaten a good filling breakfast before the trip.  Thank goodness Elaine had a protein bar when she picked us up.  Anyway, we've been on "vacation" for 5 days now and so far I have been avoiding many of the temptations that come my way and sticking to the workout plan.  I've decided that since I'm far from competition and on an "off-season" diet, on Christmas I am going to allow myself a treat and finally have a drink or a snack with the family.  (What should I choose?!  Glass of wine, cocktail, oreo ball?!) 

Sometimes it is good to give yourself a cheat snack in order to not only trick your metabolism, but also to reward yourself for the hard work you've been putting in!  It is great to have something to look forward to and for many people, it can make you work all the harder for it.  Just make sure you aren't stuck in that "all-or-nothing" mentality.  Get right back into that healthy regimine after that one snack and stick to it!

If I don't post again by Christmas, have a merry Christmas and God bless!

This past week has been just awesome.  

I have been keeping up with my 5 days/week lifting routine and really starting to enjoy cycling (indoors).  Plus, these past two days have been great having a lifting partner.  Having someone to exercise with can make the process much more enjoyable and it will hold you accountable and keep you working hard.  

I'll be traveling home to see my family tomorrow and then it will be off to Texas to visit the Steinbacher clan.  I am feeling SO blessed to have such AMAZING support from both sides of my family during this process.  

My mother and sister have agreed to come with me to the local Anytime Fitness in my hometown where I'll be meeting with some of the staff there (I've been contacting them to have a look at the place for awhile, we don't have many gyms in my home town), getting a tour, and getting to use the facility for a few days. My mom has agreed to take me to the grocery store immediately when I get home tomorrow in order to stock up on all the essentials for my clean eating plan (I eat every 3 hours).

Not only has my family shown support and encouragement, my in-laws have been just awesome with moving their entire schedule around just to support my eating and exercise habits before this competition (including changing their spring break plans!!)

I am very blessed to have such a wonderful family.

My motivation is high and I am feeling good!  If anyone from home would like to join me at the gym over the next few days, I'd be happy to have someone to lift with!  I believe your first workout is free at Anytime Fitness as well.  :)

After coming home today from an awesome workout, I made a very tasty shake:

1 to 1.5 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 tablespoon natural peanut butter (only ingredient is peanuts! - all PB is NOT created equally, check labels!)

1 banana
Optional scoop of vanilla whey powder (if you use it)

Very simple, very good.

It's almost the weekend!  Get out and MOVE today!!!  God Bless!

So there's this competition...

Nervous...afraid...okay, terrified...

Yep, I'm feeling all of these.  But I'm also feeling excited.  I have decided to do something I have always wanted to do but never thought I would have the discipline.  

On April 14th, I will be competing in a Figure competition.  I'm on my third week of consistent training and clean eating and I've never felt better.  Throughout this process I will be scouring the world wide web in order to find delicious and clean recipes to enjoy and I'll try out my Iron Chef skills and start creating my own concoctions, I'm sure.  I'll post a few on here every once in awhile for those of you who would like to find some healthy and delicious recipes!

This blog will not only be a collection of physical activity resources and things that I personally find exciting and would like to share, but it will also serve as a spot for my venting during this next 18 weeks of training as well as any secrets of competing that I happen to come across for anyone who is interested in doing a competition at some point.  

Okay, enough sitting behind a computer.  Everyone enjoy your Monday!  It's a new week which means new beginnings!  Try something new this week.  I dare you.

=)

Look, I started a blog!

Finally!  I've started a blog.  The difficulty now is knowing where to begin my story.  Let's start with how I first got into this thing called "Exercise."  

In High School I was not on any sports teams and I didn't have a ton of friends.  I did, however, enjoy music.  I had always been in choir and started to become interested in Show Choir.   The only down side for me was that this involved a ton of dancing and intense practices each week.  At this point in my life I was extremely out of shape.  Fast food was my best friend and I also took part in some terrible habits without thinking of the effects on my body.  

I realized around junior year that I could not continue being two different people.  I had to choose an unhealthy lifestyle or make a change so I could continue doing something I loved.  So, I chose change.

I completely changed my eating habits.  No more fast food - NONE!  I also quit a terrible habit that I had been doing for many of my teenage years - smoking.  I went from a pack a day to quitting cold turkey and I have never looked back.  To replace the addiction, I began running, well... gradually.  I didn't know much about exercise but I did know that I wanted to be in the front row when I performed in the show choir during my senior year.  And I wanted to be able to breathe well enough while moving that I could actually sing.  I didn't want to smell like an ashtray anymore and I wanted to make it through a musical number and feel energized instead of exhausted.  

I turned to God during this time and I am so thankful for the strength He provided for me to reach my goals.  On the left is a photo of me at some point during my Sophomore year of High School.  On the right is a photo of me during my Senior year of High School.  The difference is not just somewhere around 45 pounds.  It is so, so much more.

This was the beginning of my journey.  This is where I decided to go to school to be "a personal trainer."  Five years later I can say I am not just a "personal trainer."  There is absolutely no reason to stop there.  I want to change lives and stop disease and disability.  I want to help people function and enjoy things they never could.  I want to change the community, the state, the US, the world.  Why not?  Anything is possible.  :)