So Much For Spot Reduction

The phrase that I repeated most often today was Oh my God.

((('Drea Stands Up))) Oh my God.

Imagine a subtle moan if you will.

((('Drea Goes Down The Stairs)))

Oh my God.

Kate delivered a butt-kicking of epic proportions yesterday. My glutes and thighs are maximally sore.

The only option for exercise today was something water-related or nothing at all.

I went to The Heights and the lap lanes were busy so I headed to the lazy river where this guy was swimming against the current. LOL, I tried but I couldn't even walk against the current. Brownie point for him.

I watched from the lazy river and noticed when a lane opened up then made my move. I quickly found out that my glutes and thighs were not the only thing sore. I did ten laps and got back in the lazy river. Change is good, right?

After the lazy river, I got in a very warm hot tub. Nirvana, I tell you and probably just what my sore muscles needed.

This morning, as usual, I got on the scale and sulked (a little) afterwards.

When I looked at myself in the mirror at work, I noticed that my pants were a little baggy. I had on a more form-fitting top so that probably drew my attention to the pants.

The scale is not moving but I definitely have more room in my size 14 pants. It's ironic. Out of all the places that I would like to lose weight, my behind is not one of them. So much for spot reduction.

Dot, Period, The End

My cousin Chiquita is fond of saying: dot, period, the end. She does not like hemming and hawing and is pretty decisive. I was thinking about Chiquita on the way home.

I'm exhausted. Dot, period, the end.

I went to Kate's class, my Tuesday usual.

I'm exhausting myself with all of this yelling, she said. Then, I told Joy that I'm mean when I get tired. Thanks Joy for not sharing that piece of information with your classmates.

You know how people snort when they really find something amusing? Well, Kate has this sinister saucy laugh and she was doing that tonight. I think she knows when she's delivering a good butt-kicking.

I think the cardio stints were longer because we didn't do anything different --same ol' high knees, fast feet, jumping jacks, lunges, squats, engaging of the abs etc. but I wanted to splay out on the floor (about 15 minutes into class) and take a nap.

It was a technical knockout, y'all, and my pace for the rest of this afternoon is going to be on par with Teddy Pendergrass' Love TKO -- s.l.o.w.



P.S. I stood my thick self (in a sea of petiteness) smack dab in front of the glass door to the classroom since it was the only spot left in class when I squeaked in at 4:59 p.m. I'm becoming less self-conscious and I'm going to count that as a non-scale victory.

Two Step Platforms Are Better Than One

Okay, so I saw this tweet from Bob Harper this morning. Do I really need a lot of incentive to do crazy things? Negative.

How is it that I got up before 8:00 a.m. and still managed to be late for a 10:30 a.m. Step class?

I guess that I do like to get up gently which is why I have a moonbeam clock which flashes light to wake you up.

I went back to Stacey's class which I really enjoy love. Only, I don't get to go often since her classes are at 10:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

Stacey is calm and friendly and she has easy steps but you still get a good workout. In fact, she might want to consider naming her class Step For Dummies. Stacey did something today that I've never seen before. She used two step platforms. Platform one was Home and the one to the right was Away. We left just enough space between Home and Away to do jumping jacks. I absolutely loved the stomp move that she incorporated and I don't think that I was the only one. Stacey also had me chuckling with her curl and repeat command since it sounded like we were in a salon.

I also liked that Stacey invited questions and feedback. One class member told her of hip discomfort when she steps and Stacey asked her if she wanted to stretch. First class...

When I finished with Step class, I made a pit stop at home, grabbed a Clif Kid bar and headed to Upper Limits to climb a few routes. Remember what Trainer Bob said now.

I didn't have a belay partner so I used the auto-belays and, because I suddenly got a little freaked out by being up 30 feet up with no person on the ground to lower me, I climbed down every route. All that to say, I'm beat and my hand calluses are tender from back-to-back rock climbing stints.

The moral of this story: take what Trainer Bob has to say with a grain of salt.

It's The Falling That I Don't Like

It's been exactly seven days since I stepped into Upper Limits. Finally, my jones was fulfilled -- for now.

Remember that 5.8b route, And You're Ready Now?, that I tried to tackle so many times and finally was able to ascend? Well, it's gone now -- a bouldering competition casualty. I was straight up looking forward to ascending that route more smoothly.

Guess that's just a little life lesson about being prepared for change.

I did try a new 5.8 route, A Savage Salvage Project, and it was a tad bit, as indicated, savage. I didn't think that I would be able to make it to the top but I called for a take mid-way and I was able to get up the rest of the route.

I also tried a bouldering route even though I'm not that fond of bouldering since I unexpectedly fell off the wall once. I think it was helpful that I wasn't expecting the fall because I was more relaxed. Plus, the floor is rubbery. Still, I can see how a person could injure themselves. The bottom line is that I probably should not do a whole lot of climbing without a belay system.

While I'm not enthusiastic about bouldering, here's one young lady that loves it. This video is pretty cute.



And, oh yeah, just in case I didn't say it, it's the falling that I don't like when it comes to bouldering.

When Your Grip Strength Is At Its Best

I'm jonesing to go rock climbing today but there's a bouldering competition going on at Upper Limits; so, no dice. My jones will have to wait until tomorrow.

I've been reading Eric Horst's Training for Climbing. A lot of the advice applies across disciplines: strengthen your core, be relaxed, eat properly, get enough sleep etc. Chapter seven, Personal Training Programs, had me chuckling:

As a final note, the belief that physical performance tends to be worse during menstruation is not absolute. While the menstrual cycle's affect on performance varies widely among individuals and from sport to sport, at least one study has shown that grip strength was greater during the actual menstrual phase (Davis 1991).

No doubt, the grip is stronger. I know that I've wanted to put my hands around some necks, instead of holds, during that time.

In the same chapter, there's also a section devoted to special considerations for females and "juniors." Horst mentions teenager Tori Allen, who is already an accomplished, award-winning climber.

Here's a video from a segment that the Discovery Channel did on Allen.



Needless to say, Allen is athletically gifted.

She Was All About The Tough Love

As I was changing clothes in a fast and furious manner, I saw a familiar face, Joy, who said that she takes classes because she operates in that manner:

I need to be told what to do.

I went to Muscle Works, a new class for me but taught by the same Kate that teaches Tuesday's Cardio and Muscle.

Muscle Works:

Time to target muscles and get lean and toned! See and feel the changes in your body!

We warmed up by marching and doing, of course, the grapevine but we didn't do a whole lot of cardio. We did a lot of squats. A whole lot. What's more interesting than a regular squat? A squat with your leg elevated on a step platform.

You all are going to love me tonight.

Sure, Kate wished us a happy Valentine's Day but she didn't mean love in that manner; she was all about the tough love.

My favorite exercise of the night was leg work with the resistance band. We waddled for awhile and I couldn't help but think about March Of The Penguins. Waddling made me smile and you can't beat smiling while working out.

Kate reminded us that, for extra work, we could hold our abs in during most of the exercises. Kate's reminder made me feel like I had homework. She also reminded us to breathe. What is it about holding in ones abs and repeating shoulder presses with heavy weights that makes you want to hold your breath?

It was kinda of weird not doing high impact cardio and I was tempted to jump on a machine after class but I've wanted to do more weight training so, voilà, I got weight training.

As I was leaving, one of my classmates told me that I looked wonderful. It's hard for me to be on the receiving end of a compliment but I'll take it.

The Last Minute That Just Elapsed

Went swimming even though there's snow on the ground and I had an inkling that the water would be cold. I stood in the pool for a few seconds hoping that the water would suddenly warm up but it didn't and I submerged.

I worked on my front crawl swimming and remembered how my teacher used to say that I could breathe as often as I needed which translates, in my mind, as I can breathe anytime I want to. Once I reframe it this way, I'm able to breathe better.

Even though I wish I had learned to swim much earlier, I so enjoy my time in the pool and there's nothing that you can do about the past. You can't even have the last minute back that just elapsed.

It took me an hour to get in 20 laps.

Maybe these FINA-approved suits from Swim Outlet will help me swim better???







My swimming suit is actually getting looser. It's time to make some alterations before a wardrobe malfunction occurs.