Ronda: TGIF!

Like Kerri, I was so sore after working with the new toys. Muscles that haven’t hurt since we started were screaming at me. I had a long weekend get-away planned after one of our torture work-out sessions and for 2 days I couldn’t walk. I shuffled. My calf muscles felt like they were going to rip off my legs.  Holding in the tears as I got on and off the plane was difficult. The good news is that I got over it in a few days. The bad news is that we’re doing new stuff and that only means that new muscles are going to be waking up.

Angela had us use the kettle bells quite a bit today. I don’t remember what one of the exercises is called (do you, Kerri?) but we sort of toss a kettle bell from hand to hand under our legs. The first 15 seconds is fine, but we do it for a minute. That doesn’t sound like such a long time, but it’s an eternity for me. 

The misery bands are also tough. They are like great big, thick rubber bands that we put on our ankles – then walk sideways. It’s not a far walk, but it feels like we’re walking for miles with those on. It's one of those exercises that I actually know is working as I’m doing it. I can almost feel the fat melting off my hips. I chant to myself constantly... "no pain, no gain."

All is well and going fine – growing stronger every day!   

Kerri: New toys

We learned something this week. When Angela gets new toys, we are in big trouble.

Over the weekend, the fine folks at Adamson's had a special guest speaker who came in and got them all fired up about all these cool new training techniques, and they got a bunch of cool new workout toys.

Holy cats.

Before Wednesday's class, I was getting a little bit discouraged, because I felt like we were hitting a plateau. Although it feels like we've been working really hard during our sessions, we had been recovering much more quickly from workouts - which feels like a very good thing - but naturally, we all want to see huge and overwhelming results, RIGHT NOW. Apparently I spoke about 45 minutes too soon, because today I am more sore than I have been since our first week. Apparently shaking up that workout routine does a number on an unsuspecting exerciser!

New tools include Ropes of Death (I think she has a different name for them), which are these long ropes (maybe 8 or 10 feet or so?) that are attached to a heavy weight, and our job is to shake them around for one minute. Easy peasy, right? Um, no. Those suckers are heavy!! My arms felt like spaghetti afterwards. Then we did these crazy kettle-bell swings that my back and hamstrings are remembering very well today. They also have a new thing called a "slosh pipe," which is a tube (maybe three inches in diameter) that is halfway filled with water, and we do lunges while holding it, or we do pushups with it. The water makes it really awkward, and that adds a new dimension to maintaining our balance. I do like that one. :-)

Feeling the burn today, without a doubt. And that's a good thing, right? (Right??) I'm now a firm believer that changing up the routine makes a big difference.

In other news... I saw James the other day for the first time in a month or so, and wow - he is seeing some fantastic results! Is it easier for men, or is he just working harder than the rest of us? Seems like my husband can take off weight just by thinking about it for a week... not even CLOSE for me. What say ye, trainers? Is it tougher for women to get those pounds off?