Lost more than a Kim

Lost more than a Kim

The last few weeks have been an interesting; I was able to prove to myself that I am a weight loss cardio warrior. On my week off from Wal-Mart, after Kristy’s surgery I wanted to see if I could push my body to its limits. I committed to Damir that I would do 2 hours of cardio plus my session or class each day. So Monday I did the “hill of hell” with Kim, it was awesome we kicked butt on the hill, after the hill, I hit the hamster wheel for 30mins to make it a 2 hour cardio session. Tuesday I arrived at alive around 2 and did a 2 hour hamster wheel session, took a small break and did an hour training session with Damir. Wednesday was day my body hit the wall. After pushing hard with 2 hours of cardio on the hamster wheel, I thought I was going to be kickboxing for 30mins and holding pads for 30mins. That did not happen went full tilt for the hour with Damir holding pads for me. It was brutal I came home and just fell asleep. Thursday went the same as Tuesday, so as Friday came around I was a puddle. But it was worth it, as I dropped 5 pounds to bring my total to 140 pounds down.

In the last week I have had a few of changes in my life, the atmosphere at work has made a complete change. It is must more tense. My nutritional coach has changed to my friend Kim, which has changed my food and when I eat completely. My cardio after my session was cut out, so Kim could make sure we were doing the food correctly. So Damir changed Ryan and I sessions this week to a much more cardio focused session. Tuesday’s session was intense, he pushed hard but nothing to crazy. Thursday was a totally different story, it was insane!! We started with 110 burpees and 110 rope slams, this was hard. I just kept focused and pushed through! After that we moved onto 110 Ball slams and 110 Ball walls tosses. This was like the calm before the storm, so I was able to blow through that pretty quick. We ended with what I think is called plank rows 110 of them.... but I could be wrong, and 110 judo stand ups again could be wrong about the name as well. The rows were not as hard they were in the past. But the judo stand ups, this was very hard. In the past I have only been able to do ten. Now Damir want 110, I did not think I could do that many, but I got into a rhythm and was able to do it. It was an awesome session.

After my 2 hours of cardio on Friday I weighted in. I stepped on the scale and it stop on 374 lbs. That was a 6 pound loss for the week! I was 146 lbs down!! I have lost more than what Kim weighs; I lost more than a Kim!! It was an awesome week!!!

The Rollercoaster

The Rollercoaster

This week was like being on a rollercoaster, lots of ups and a few downs and it felt like I was going 100 miles an hour and I did something I never thought would ever do. I learned a lot this week, a lot about my body, my endurance, my diet, and my wife.

My wife

Let’s start with Kristy first, most of you know Kristy went into the hospital to have surgery to receive a lap band on Friday. Kristy called it a gift, now I must say before she began this journey to receive the lap band I would agree it with her it is a gift. That is far, very far from the truth. I think a gift is given to you, this was not a gift. It was a lot of very hard work; it started with classes and end with what I can only call the toughest, most restrictive diet I have ever seen. Now I knew wife was a strong woman, hell she lives with me, but I never thought she was that strong! She tackled that diet head on, when she first told me about the diet I wish I could say I knew she would do as well as she did, but I know there is no way I could have done it. As she did the diet for the 3 weeks I thought for sure she would have to cut out or at least cut back her Personal Training. No she kept going, no those are not the right words, and she did amazing! Training, Kickboxing, the bike, yoga, she pushed hard. The day before her surgery she was RUNNING STAIRS in her training session, after 3 weeks of only 900 calories, she ran the stairs. The day of her surgery she went into Alive for her training session at 7am. Yeah I would say she worked really hard for that so called Gift. I am so proud of her!! What she did is amazing!!

My Body and my diet

As always Damir kicked my ass this week, my workouts were not as routine this week as I like. I missed Monday with a migraine, so I start off way out of my normal routine. Tuesday Damir had Ryan and I do a circuit of weight training, it was a good session, however I would have to say only I could find a way to get one of my boys caught between a box step and a 16kg kettle bell. So let’s say the rest of the session I may have been walking funny. Wednesday I did kickboxing boot camp, it was a great class, and Lisa was there, so it was nice to have one of my regular partners to workout with. During boot camp I was called out a little, when we were doing mountain climbers Damir yelled “ if you are doing this to try and lose weight you need to be going faster” was not sure it was directed at me, but during the next set it was confirmed, as I started to do them he yelled Again but this time he made it clear who he was talk to “ come on Brian we went through this last time... move faster.....Thank you” Thursday I was late for my session as I had to work a little later and I missed my bus. When I did finally get it was the kind of workout I love weights and cardio. After my session I walked on the treadmill for an hour. Friday I went in a 7am with Kristy and I did the running program Damir made me on the hamster wheel.

Thursday was also weighed in day, I was sure that in the last two weeks I lost a good amount of weight. I knew this week was not awesome but last week was very, very good, it was a high cardio week. So I stepped on the scale and I did not lose anything, in fact I gained one pound. I was a little upset, I could not figure out what I did wrong. Holly, Kristy and Kim tried to calm me down, but I was not in a place to listen. On Friday I got off the hamster wheel and I grabbed the scale, Ben and Kristy were talking and Ben said something about the scale to me as I grabbed it, I not sure what it was but it calmed me down about my gain and as I walked to the locker room to shower and weigh myself again, it made me feel that if I weigh the same I must own that weight and look at my food and exercise log and figure out where I made an error. Yes the scale stopped right on 385, so I need to own that gain. When I got home after Kristy surgery, I looked at my log and I think I may have found my error. I will give my log to holly on Monday to confirm what I am thinking is my error.

My Endurance

Saturday morning I went to Alive and did Damir kickboxing class, now some of you may be thinking what the hell, Kristy is in the hospital and you went kickboxing instead of going to sit with her. Well if you know my wife you will understand, she wanted my ass at that class. In fact her last words before I left the hospital Friday night were”you better be at kickboxing in the morning”. Now I can say it was the best class I have done in a long time, not because Damir had awesome combos, which he did, not because it was a very full class, which it was. It was because my stress was all gone, and the drills in between combo seemed easier ,I did burpees with ease, the mountain climbers I was moving my legs so fast, Damir did not need to call me out, Damir even through in one of my favourites, the inch worm. It rocked!! After kickboxing I rested for 30mins and after that I did Ben Awesome boot camp, when you do Ben’s boot camp you never know what crazy thing he is going to put in there. Once he had us lift the steps we were using for step up over our heads and squat, like Rocky did with the giant pole in Rocky 4! Sometimes he will put in kickboxing as a treat! It is not all just step up step down; however there seems to be a lot of steps. This week we did some kickboxing in the class and that was very cool. Ash was my partner, and he is awesome, he works very hard. Ben’s class goes so fast, and the great thing is I have a better range of motion so I am able to do most of things in his class without modifying a lot. The best thing is that my endurance is there were I can do two classes on a Saturday morning.

Bring It On!! Again

Bring it on again

Tonight’s training session was very insane, as I was getting ready for my session Damir ask “What do you boys want to do tonight?” Before my training partner could answer I got a great big smile on my face and said “the Treadmill workout we did last week” Damir looked at me with a very surprised look as I am sure he thought I was going to say Kickboxing..... I always say kickboxing. I am not sure but I think he said “really or maybe seriously” it is possible he did not say either of those things, it may have just been what his look was saying it. So I piped up “Really....BRING IT ON” he replied “oh am going to bring it!!”

Now if remember from my “rules to surviving personal training” post, rule number 10 was never say “Bring it on” to your trainer, so I have just broke that rule. There are consequents to breaking that rule. I have done it in the past, but I am now in much better shape then i was the last time i said that. So this session was insane!

I decide that I would start on the treadmill as I was thinking that last Tuesday’s session the hard part of the set was the treadmill. I will get that over with first. So I jumped on the treadmill and I started to jog. On the treadmill beside me was Diane, she has not been at alive for a while so she has not seen me run yet. I was almost done my first set on the treadmill and I felt this poke in shoulder, I jumped off and Diane Said “oh my you are running on the treadmill now, that is awesome” I said “Thanks” and finished up on the treadmill. So I was done with the treadmill and I started up the hallway to the back of the gym, and Damir was at the end of the hallway with the Lebert buddy system in his hand and wrapped it around me and said “Sprint down the hallway.” I ran as fast and as hard as I could down the hallway, it was the fastest I think I have ever gone up that hallway pulling him. We went down and back, when I came back I stop to catch my breath, Damir Said “lay down on the bench” I said “one sec let me catch my breathe” he Said “no break, lay down” I got on the bench and handed me 2 45 pound dumbbells to do the chest press. I banged them off and stood up and he popped the Lebert buddy system around me and said sprint. I paused to catch my breath and he yelled “Go Brian” I ran again as hard as I could up and down the hallway. Now normally in Damir’s sessions you don’t do the something more than twice in a row, so I gave it my all think that was the last time I will be sprinting up the hallway. I was wrong!

As I workout I go through several stages, Stage 1 my heart is pumping I am start to sweat and the pain starts, usually in my legs. Stage 2, my heart is pounding in the front and in the back of my head, the pain has disappeared, and I am high as a kite. This is my favourite stage! Stage 3 I vomit, I have been here more than a few times, so I can usually swallow it. Now before tonight I have never gone past stage three, normally after I vomit I slip back into stage 2. But tonight I went through stages 1, 2, and 3 in the first 10mins. So as I got on the treadmill for the second set, a new stage appeared. After jogging for about 4mins I started to get a stitch in my right side, I have not really felt this before so I stepped of the treadmill to catch my breath, as I did that Damir appeared and ask what was wrong, I told him and he said “what speed were you going when you got the stitch” I said “3.2” he put the treadmill back to 3.2 and said “get back on and finish” I got back on and finished. I got off the treadmill and found Damir at the front. As I walked up front Damir Said “ ok Rest” He must have just told Kim that I experienced my first Stitch, Because she piped up and said “Wait he gets to just rest when he has a stitch” and Damir Said “no, you’re Right, Brian walk up and down the hallway with your hands on your head.”

As I walked up and down the hallway with my hands on my head I was think well at least we are not doing sprints. I was so wrong about that it!! So unbelievably wrong!! As I came back up the hallway with my hands on my head I think it was the third time, Damir was standing at the end of the hallway with that Dam Lebert buddy system in his hand.

He wrapped it around me and said “Run” I ran up and down the hallway as hard as I could, which brings us to another new stage. Stage 5, Now I think Kim calls this stage “in the zone” but for me it more like seeing red, I can’t feel any pain, I am feeling very, very, high and I don’t really remember much at this stage. What I do remember is after that set I saw Kristy coming up the hallway and I stopped and put my arm around her and said “ I Love You” she look at me with her OK puzzled look on her face. That is when I added “I just wanted you to know that in case I don’t survive this session” after that which I am sure was the half way point of the session. I don’t remember much, But Kristy has told me I was yelling a bit and so was Damir!

What I have learned from this is that I love that kind of session where Damir pushes me way past my Limits, oh and I learned Again don’t say BRING IT ON!! Unless I am ready for a real ass kicking!!