Saturday, August 16, 2014

Rugby Playoffs

Although I started my new internship this week, I still have my summer internship going on. The 2 men's teams had their quarter-final game against TMR today. They were playing at 1:30 and 3 at CEGEP St-Laurent. I was scared that since it was raining there would be a few more injuries but I was very lucky. There were a few strains and sprains and a foot being stepped on! The day went by very quickly. Both teams lost so my rugby season is done :( It was a great summer working with them. Both the men's and women's teams are awesome and great to work with. Now that it's over, all my attention will be shifting over to football.
I didn't have the chance to go to the gym again today. I was exhausted and soaked when I got home. I stuck to my diet today at least so it made me feel a lot better. I'm really going to need to find the time to train and meal prep if I want to continue to lose weight and prep for my competition. It's tough but I need to keep my goals in mind! 

Friday, August 15, 2014

First Day of Camp

Busy, busy day today. It was the first day of football camp. They had 2 practices during the day. I was there at 8 am for pre-practice taping and stretching. There are 130 guys training so it can be very hectic at time. The morning went well and there weren't too many injuries, just a few bumps and bruising. The team participated in the ALS ice bucket challenge. It was fun too watch and I'm happy I didn't have to get dumped in ice water! 
The athletes had lunch afterwards. I didn't bring any food with me because I didn't have time to prepare anything. Lunch was pasta and salad. It's not the best option for me but I made it work. I had more salad and only a tiny bit of pasta. Between practices is also the time we have to treat people. I did a lot of massages, fascia releases, and stretches. They had meetings afterwards so it was an hour of quiet. Before I knew it they were all back to get taped for their second practice. The afternoon went by quickly. After practice, I had to do some more stretching and hand out a lot of ice bags. It was a long day but it was fun. Everyone's really nice. The challenge will be trying to learn everyone's name. There's 140 of them! This will basically be my schedule for the next 2 weeks. It's going to be very hectic!

Thursday, August 14, 2014

VMX-Burpee Challenge

These last few days have been really hectic as football camp is starting. I’m working with the football team at Concordia for my clinical internship this fall. It’s been a lot of fun so far but also a lot of work. I was at school for 7:30 this morning for football testing. I was out all day for camp and I had to cover rugby practice tonight as I’m still finishing up my summer internship. I made it to the gym for 9 as I had a session planned with my trainer. 
After warming up on the rowing machine, I did a couple sets on the chest fly machine. I moved on to some quick ab exercises involving in and outs, bicycle, reverse bicycle, and reverse ab crunches. I moved on to sprints on the spin bike. I had to a 30 second sprint while standing and then do 20 kettle bell swings, 3 times as fast as possible. Oh boy my legs were sore!
I did some assisted pull-ups and dips. I had to lower the weight a little bit on the assisted pull-up machine because my biceps were really sore from yesterday. I was a little disappointed in myself but I still did it. 
vmx
I did my VMX-burpee challenge again. I started with 10 m, 1 burpee and made my way up to 100m and 10 burpees. It was a lot easier than last time. I don’t know if it’s because I’m stronger or I knew what to expect this time but it wasn’t as tough. I even challenged myself to do the last 100m in under a minute. I managed 1:10. Not too bad! 

burpee1burpee2
I ended with some more ab exercises and some stretching. I’m feeling tired and I can’t wait to go straight to bed. I get to repeat this whole process all over again tomorrow! 

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Jumps of Doom

I feel like I’m always repeating myself when I say I had another great work out session but it’s true. I always feel really good after I work out with my trainer. We did some more circuits during our session today. I started with 3 sets of hamstring curl on the machine. Then I did 20 burpees but when I jumped up, I had to jump into a chin up position and slowly lower myself. I’ve decided to make it a challenge to see who can get me to do a full pull up first. It’s tough!
I moved onto a large circuit involving 20 box jumps, 20 walking lunges, 50 squats and 30 side to side jumps. I had to repeat it twice. I started off the circuit by warming up by doing suicides 3x. This circuit wasn’t so bad but with the higher number of reps, it took me a while to complete each exercise. 
I ended with some exercises on the VMX. I took time to foam roll and stretch at the end. I’m feeling great and definitely going to sleep like a baby tonight! 

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Cardio Day

I had “homework” to do from my trainer today. I started with a 30 minute run. I managed to run over 5k during that time. Thankfully, I didn’t get caught in the rain. It looked like it was going to pour any second. It was the perfect temperature to go out running as there was a nice breeze.
I headed to the gym for the rest of the work out. I climbed the stair master for 20 minutes. I was drenched in sweat by the end. My legs were getting tired too. It’s really a love hate relationship with that machine. It’s great because I sweat a lot and it really feels like I’m working out and it’s bad because it’s so exhausting. I then did a short circuit involving kettle bell swings, jump rope, and kettle bell squats for 3 rounds. I ended my work out with the 360 challenge on the VMX rope machine. 
toned up
I felt great after my work out. It’s so rewarding! My diet was on point today too so I can’t wait to see how my body feels tomorrow! 
Post work out snack!

Monday, August 11, 2014

Sweat It Out

I had another killer work out. I was sweating so much and my face was all red. I feel really good having accomplished it.
I started with a 5 minute warm up on the stair master. The first circuit involved 12 hack jump squats, 8 ball slams, 20 bench jumps, and 12 box jumps, for a total of 3 rounds as fast as possible. It was tough. The hardest things were the bench jumps and the box jumps. My un-coordinated self kept hitting the bench and the box jumps took a lot of energy out of me.
I moved on to a super set of rows and lat pull down. I then did 20 single arm rows on a machine and superset it with a 45 second sprint on the VMX. My arms were dead. I moved on to the rowing machine. I had to row 200m as fast as possible and then do 10 burpees, for 3 rounds. I made this circuit worst for myself by pouting about these 2 exercises. I don’t like doing them but I had no choice. I should of just done them without complaining and it would’ve been over a lot faster. 
rowing
I moved on Arnold Presses to catch my breath. It wasn’t long before I started sweating again as I did a Tabata work out on the spin bike. I had to sprint for 10 seconds standing, and sit for 5 seconds for 8 rounds. I didn’t mind this so much and I actually did a lot better than the last time I did it. I ended my session with some stretching! It was a great work out as I did stuff I wouldn’t normally do on my own. My trainer pushed me more than I would myself and I feel great after sweating it out!

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Outdoor Training

I met with my trainer at 12 today. One word to describe the session: intense. I was challenged from the beginning of my work out as I had to row 500m in under 2 minutes. I did a couple of exercises on the machines: wide grip chest press, lat pull down, and under hand grip lat pull down to start the work out. Then, the real challenge came. On the VMX (the rope machine), I had to start by pulling 10 m and then do 1 burpee. I did it again but pulled for 20m and then did 2 burpees. I had to do it until I pulled for 100m and did 10 burpees. It was tough. By the end of it, I pulled the rope for 550m and I did 55 burpees. It was tough on my arms but it seemed more like a mental challenge. I didn’t know how I would be able to pull the rope for longer or complete more burpees after each round. I even thought to myself at one point, why am I doing this? I could be at home relaxing and eating whatever I want. I pushed the negative thoughts aside and completed it! 
We brought the training outside as it was a beautiful day today. I had to start with suicides. I had to go and come back 4 times and repeat it 3 times, no break. Afterwards, I did a side shuffle across the lawn while my trainer yelled drop on occasion and I had to do a burpee. Once I got to the other side, I back pedalled to the beginning. Lastly, I had to do a bear crawl to the fence and backwards all the way to the start. The bear crawls were a challenge but I managed to get through it. We ended the session with a quick ab circuit. 
As I was getting ready to leave, I realized why I push myself through work outs like this. It’s for the amazing feeling you get at the end of a work out, a moment of pure bliss! I knew I killed it and I felt a sense of accomplishment after what I did. It makes me feel like I can do anything! I’m going to try to remember that feeling the next time I doubt myself. That feeling kept me on track all day and it’s going to help me do it all over again tomorrow!