there being a time to suck it up and work hard (when the movement is comfortable then i do feel safe to work the weights hard and am grateful for people egging me on)
but there is also a time for me to realize that the above will only get me injured.
and there is a different kind of sucking it up you gotta do to do endless repetitions of plate loaded front squats or squat stretches or whatever.
and i haven’t quite found myself yet… and other people… make it harder for me to find myself. need to work on this. then have a plan for me (whichever is what is needed). then stick to the plan no matter what other people think of me.
i am grateful that the guy who used to coach me a bit in aussie had a very fine eye for things like my lumbar arch. he wouldn’t let me get away with losing it. realize now that that saved me many an injury. now… i need to take responsibility for that. other people care most about weights moved (which i do respect)… but injury… dammit…
ah man alexus…you are a thinker! which not a lot of people are. I think you use your best attribute–your logic and mind–to make you a better person in all the areas of your life- oly included.
everyone goes overboard sometimes! just shows passion in my mind which FARRRRR from logical! kinda a pointless post from me but i basically want to say you have nothing to prove to anyone but you and from MY view you’re doing a great job.
i’m such a gym whore that i managed to get myself a free 7 day trial at a local gym starting today. feel a little bad about it… part of the same chain as the last one i managed to get 2 weeks free from… but different location, of course.
um. it was actually a really nice gym. the trainers are friendly and a fair chunk of the not very many people there were doing non-stupid things with them. there was a slightly overweight chick doing pushups with i think they are called blast straps? handles you dangle from the squat rack. high setting but i was impressed. i don’t think i could do that. my stabilizers wouldn’t cope.
i think…
i think i need 2 gym memberships. keep oly lifting gym for oly lifting (1-3 times per week train with the guys and do what coach says). then do my own mobility stuff at this gym. they have a version of bodybalance, too. i’m suspecting that my not getting to do that anymore might be partly responsible for my current immobility / injury.
if i quit smoking i can do it.
that is the kicker. i can’t really afford to smoke anyway. i mean really. it is like $50 here for a 50g of tobacco (and i smoke a pack of that per week). i can’t afford to smoke and eat. still looking for work and don’t get very much at all from the dole… the gym is much cheaper than that. though i guess i’ll have to chat to my new flatmate since the quitting of smoking will turn me into a right bitch (i know that from experience). damn nicotine gum is still in the process of being shipped… oh wells…
looks like… i’m gonna have to do it.
damn them with their totally persuasive free trials!!!
ooh. i pretty much quit gluten 2 weeks ago. had 1 pizza with gluten base since then but aside from that gluten free. my skin is so much clearer!! i’d like to say i’m not as bloated but i’m pretty full with orange almond cake at the moment (yum!! will need to make it with artificial sweetener though, i guess because full of sugar). can’t believe it.
heh. sorry i’m so verbose… i agree pics are cool. i mostly got vids for you, you know. though i was quite happy with myself in the chinning vid, too. my upper body is coming along yay!
[quote]alexus wrote:
heh. sorry i’m so verbose… i agree pics are cool. i mostly got vids for you, you know. though i was quite happy with myself in the chinning vid, too. my upper body is coming along yay! [/quote]
Oh I actually really like reading plus you write very well! I just… well sometimes a pic/vid is so awesome I get carried away LOL.
And that vid o your bawdy… well… awesome is an understatement
When I quit smoking it made me crazy so I filled my agitated brain with being obsessed with training and I pushed through the hard part. I don’t know if that will help you or not because I’m not sure all our brains work the same but that was the best way for me to get through it.
It was tough but I feel like I used my mental grief to my benefit. On the one hand it was really shitty to go through but on the other hand it get me off my ass
seems like you know the thing to do on the numerous situations you have going on… just have to trust your choices…embrace them 100%…and get them the fuck done.
[quote]alexus wrote:
…they have a version of bodybalance, too.
if i quit smoking i can do it.
…pretty much quit gluten 2 weeks ago.
[/quote]
About time you quit smoking. You should get one of those electronic smoking things to help you. You can also get medication to help you. If you go for the medication, make sure you use it properly. You will probably need to taper off your dosages.
I tried out “bodybalance” the other day (Im trying anything to help with my flexibility). It was pretty cool, might try and do it once a week on my rest day. Only thing was that the class consisted of me plus 20 girls. You should of seen the smile on my face when we had to do the “starfish”.
Quitting gluten is brave. I tried that for about a week, but I just got too hungry, so now I just try and minimise my gluten. Do you need me to post over any vegemite for you?
Nice, lex! Way to be solutions oriented. My kinda gal!
I’m totally with you on the dual memberships. Its a must for me. The Oly gym is bare bones and I don’t want to travel everyday 1.5 hours just to workout. Its worth the extra dough for me.
And I’ve totally done the “trial memberships” tactic! hee hee When I travel on business I do trial memberships in cities all over the place. What’s worse is I concoct all sorts of crazy back stories. Like that I just moved from NYC and I’m working at the local Uni as a bio-chemsist. I’m like a gym grifter! Whatever. I feel like its my karmic right to do this, for some reason…ha!
And yes! Quit that smoking!! I’m sure that’s also helped clear your skin up! You need oxygen in your system for recovery. Just remember that!
Alexus: It wasn’t entirely clear to me, are you joining a second gym to hide out from your OLY coach so you can do what you want? If you feel like you are being pushed too hard and too quickly you should speak up. A good coaching relationship relies so heavily on trust. YOu have to build that relationship if you want it to work.
nadia - it isn’t him, it is me. he leaves me alone when i tell him i’m injured. doesn’t tell me to lift anything, doesn’t tell me to put more weight on the bar. but when the other people are training i can’t leave myself alone. i don’t want them to think i’m a slacker… i don’t want to think i’m a slacker… it is my own fault, really.
i’ve been thinking it is kinda like how people say not to study / work in your bedroom. if the spaces meld you will never get a good nights sleep. i think gyms might be a bit like that for me. i kinda did get 2 gyms in aussie. the heavy weights room and the more commercial gym space. i wouldn’t let myself go into the heavy weights room when i was injured or the oly bar would start to call to me… i would do my prehab / rehab stuff in the commercial space to make sure i left the barbells alone.
masch - glad to discover i’m not the only gym whore!! yes to clearer skin, smelling better, and healing faster. yes also to improved work capacity and conditioning!
birdie - we have vegemite, too, but thanks for the offer. not sure what i’d put it on these days since the whole gluten free thing… i did centergy today (basically bodybalance). dammit!!! that shit was HARD!!! dammit i’ve got all immobile and muscle bound or something lolz. so… important that i do keep up that class at least once a week. it seems to help me far more than i’d appreciated.
deja - thanks! i keep saying i’ll try and be less verbose… but that never seems to work out for me. guess this place is important in helping me process stuff. thanks for reading / skimming. helps me feel a lot less alone in this world!!
minimal - i’ll try hard not to bitch, but bitch i probably will!!
nimain - thanks. turned out getting barred (only because they were going to charge me money i can’t afford since they couldn’t do a membership term less than 3 months and there is only 2 weeks to go on the year) was the best thing. now i’ve discovered my new place
cal - yeah. i’m hoping i can avoid gaining fat with quitting since i’ll definatly up my cardio / conditioning. basically from nothing at all to whatever angries i can channel. the beach is too shelly for barefoot. sharp shells. pebbly, too. of course my vibrams lasted all of about 30 seconds before they got sand in them (dammit i should have got the KSO’s). but they weren’t uncomfortable with sand in them, surprisingly enough. i think i’ll need to wear the vibrams for swimming, too. because of the shells. i’ll also need a wetsuit at some point because even when the weather is beautiful the sea is cold.
debra - that was how i got through my 3 months quit, too. channelled most of the angries into cardio and weights. i need something conditioning like that i can measure my progress on… not quite sure what. there is a kettlebell (actually 2x8kg and 1x20kg). maybe i’ll figure some swinging complexes. need to get the knack of how to twist my arm for cleans / snatches.
balance. kicked my ass.
foam rolling / eva ball. kicked my ass.
mostly just stuffing around… the stuff i used to do but haven’t in a while.
figured something with my hindu squats. if i’m fast i can jump then tuck my legs up then land in a hindu squat.
then i got a mental breakthrough… jumped up onto a box as usual but landed on the box in a hindu squat!!! hahaha!!! brilliant.
until i eventually miss and can back on my butt, of course.
kettlebell complexes… they have 2 bells at 8kg… trying to get the hang of how you roll your wrist but not really getting it. did a bunch of sets of 20 swings and 10 overhead swings. i wish they had a 16kg… mostly because i read somewhere that women should typically start with that one… guess i can use the two little bells…
when i got my free pass the dude was talking to me a bit about PT packages blah blah blah. i kinda wanted to get to know the people a little before i think about that, though. but the idea was rehab exercises for my feet. anyway, today the guy who does the injury rehab stuff came up to me and asked why i was doing pylo jumps. he said that the impact will be counter-productive for the goal of my stretching out my feet. he mentioned something about bosu balls and he lost me for a bit… but… um… it kinda makes sense. of my experience even. i guess the idea is for me to do a training cycle or something to really focus on stretching the feet out. and only then working on dynamic / pylo movement with the new flexibility. sigh. he might be onto something.
so… um… does unstable surface bosu ball training always suck?? or um, could it be useful for my rehab??
i mean, obviously i’m still struggling to keep my balance on a stable surface, but once i’ve got the hang of that?
clearly i won’t be doing that shit at oly gym
not because they would laugh at me…
or maybe they would a little.
but because i’d never really do it there…
Alexus: I don’t know if bosu ball training would be useful for your rehab. You could ask one of the rehab people at elitefts for their opinion or even Harry.
