Happy 50th Birthday President Obama! I'll join you on August 25th

OK, it is a fact, you can't fence time, but you can definitely walk the fence!  Don't come at me with the..."embrace your age" crap either.  I will be turning 50 too, on August 25th.  Writing that down almost makes me gag.  Really?  I still can't believe it.  I had kids late, they(AKA Turbo Twins) just turned 8 years old.  So for me, taking care of myself isn't a matter of vanity or ego.  It is all about wanting to be around and functioning as they go though life.  I stay strong and fit not because I want to brag about doing a 24KG Turkish Get Up.  I am more along the lines of I want to be able to carry that 50 pound four person tube up 4 flights of stairs at Hurricane Harbor so I can ride the Tornado with my twins. (Best water park ride EVER!)  And I want to do it more than one time too!
I also want to be an example of health to my kids.  Exercising correctly, having fun outside, and eating fruits and veggies, I do all of that.  Yes, I will eat my birthday cake.  But in moderation.
So President Obama,  Happy 50th Birthday!   I really hope you did stop smoking, I hope you learn to swing a Kettlebell (I will teach you if you want), and I hope you listen to your wife and eat more fruits and veggies.
I will keep walking that fence, the dance to age well.  Putting one foot in front of the other, staying in balance, and keeping my eye on the future.  I have so much to live for.

I don't want to be a menopausal marshmallow

A few of my friends are or have been going through  "the change".  YUK, I think.  Just as soon as you get your body figured out after adolescence, then post pregnancy, you have to deal with this curve ball Mother Nature throws at you.  I am so not wanting to deal with this.  Most women my age have that apple body look that comes from reduced hormone production that leads to belly fat.  I am praying that because I have kept up with weight training and the metabolic training that I do I won't have that rapid change in body composition.  I want to avoid the Menopausal Marshmallow look.

I try to eat a pretty clean diet, but you know, chocolate chip cookies and Dewar's ice cream are really good.  I give in sometimes, but always return to what I know makes me feel better.  I work out.  Some of these women have told me that lifting weights will make them look big.  Wait....fat sags, muscle doesn't and muscle keep your metabolism up and running.  My plan is just to keep doing my thing, I know I am training the best way I know how to keep moving and keep strong.  Most of all, the only marshmallow I want to see is not around my belly.  It will be in a s'more because I train properly, I can indulge sometimes without inflating.

Are your choices conscience ACTS or are you a mindless consumer?

When I first meet a new client most of what they tell me is how frustrated they are with themselves and their inability to lose weight.  Then they tell me that they have done these major calorie restrictive diets (like 800cal a day) or they have spent mucho bucks, ($800) to have their food packaged and delivered to them.  But after they give in of course we all know what happens, they gain it back.  When I ask about their past exercise or training experience, they tell me how they run or walk, maybe did some boxing or some boot camp.  But here they are, standing in front of me with a clinically obese body composition telling me how all of these things failed.

I don't judge, I listen.  I explain how kettlebell training and the kind of training I do is very different from their past experience.  I want to help them change their metabolism by adding muscle.  You know one pound of muscle burns an extra 500 calories.  My kind of training doesn't involve HOURS in the gym, it can be completed in 30 min or so.   I am not selling you a scam, I am telling the truth.  A Russian, centuries old system of movement that results in strength, mobility and a lean body that helps you age well.  You will be able to perform anything better without injury.

After listening to dozens of these stories from people I know, I just think about the book by Charlie Reich called The Greening of America.   It has been called a hippie book, I missed the whole hippie era.  But I do identify with this book.  I had to read it for one of my classes in college.  It talks about how the Green Machine (economy) separates us from our true thinking selves.  We make non thinking choices because in this huge marketing culture, we don't ACT, we just give into what TV and marketers tell us and consume mindlessly.

It makes me sad to see people making non-thinking choices about what they are doing to their bodies. Mindlessly giving into marketing or making non-thinking habit choices gets you nowhere.  When it comes to making healthy lifestyle choices, you have to ACT.  Make a real choice, not a mindless re-run of past choices that get you nowhere.  Think about who you really are and the choices you are making.  Are you really choosing?  Or are you mindlessly consuming? Is that really who you are, an unhappy over consumer?  I think you are more than that, maybe as Charlie Reich puts it, "You have been separated from your true self."

So the next question I ask is, "Do you really want to lose weight and get stronger?"  You tell me those are your goals.  Are you going to THINK and ACT?  I know it is not easy, but look at the real consequences.  Not just the scale.  We know the results of high fat diets and low activity levels.  Is that really what YOU want?  More of the same frustration? Is that really who you are? I think to myself and say, "I want you to be a person who is really in charge of your choices."

I can't ACT for them.  I can teach them healthy choices, but YOU and only YOU can make those choices for yourself.  Maybe I should get them to read the Greening of America.   Is that Chick-Fil-A really your choice you are making?  Do you really want it or is it the result of a master marketing?

Family Workout!

My kids have been home for almost 3 weeks!!!  Yesterday was shall we say..difficult.  We have had cold and rain, even snow here.  So the great plans I had for outdoor fun were pretty much washed out.  Today I decided I couldn't be the calm mom I liked if I had a repeat from yesterday.  I decided to get my kids (7 year old twins) in the garage and have them do a circuit work out with me.  I kept it simple.  My kids already know how to swing a kettlebell and do a proper squat.  So I took what they knew and wrote it down for them.  When we lived in Atlanta, we would do this all the time.  We had a huge basement and we set up a circuit and off they went.  Fun music blaring and kids jumping and lifting and squatting, doing pull ups...it was great.  One time we discovered that they were in the basement and set up their own circuit, they were 4 years old.  All of us miss that inside fun so we decided to try it in our garage.

Today's Family Workout was as follows:

3 rounds
My daughter used a 4kg, my son used an 8kg.
I wrote the exercises out on a white board so they could look at it to see what was next.
10 KB squats
20 KB swings
50 jumping jacks (they chose that amount)
20 KB swings
10 step ups (5 right, 5 left) We used a Reebok step

My son wanted to out do his sister so he added more reps to each exercise.  He wanted me to write it down too.

We warmed up (they know Ron's dynamic warm up) we went through each of the exercises in the circuit so they knew what they were doing, went over safety issues so they didn't trip or bump into each other and then we got started.  When they were done, they took turns doing pull ups.  It was hysterical watching them swing the KBs, their eyes would get so big and they loved it!!   After we cooled down we did a few stretches and came in and ate lunch.  The rest of the afternoon was so peaceful I couldn't believe I didn't do this earlier.

We have never made our kids work out.  We have always told them that their bodies were made to move.  We tell them we exercise to stay healthy and they join us. We never made them pick up a KB, but when you have friends over to basically have a KB workout party, they want to do it.  Sometimes we take the KBs and a couple of Frisbees  to the park.  They run, skate and play and sometimes they come over and do a few KB swings.  We don't force it, we just make it fun and part of our family fun.  We always finish our park work outs with Frisbee sprints, they love it.    Mostly I am just proud of my kids.

Kettlebells 101- Introduction to Kettlebells

The Basics,

One thing I have learned in my years in ballet and rock climbing is learn from the best.  This means that YOU as a fitness consumer need to know enough to evaluate whether or not your potential class, instructor, workshop has had the proper training so you don't get hurt or ripped off.  For rock climbing this was a must.  I needed to know whether or not who was teaching me knew enough to keep me safe.  So I read a bit, checked the Internet, spoke to other accomplished climbers.  Yosemite Mountaineering School was the best, so that is where I learned.

Same with kettlebells.  I have learned you go to the source.  Pavel T. brought the kettlebell from Russia to America and started the RKC (Russian Kettlebell Challenge).  The experts in movement, Gray Cook and Brett Jones in the USA are Russian Kettlebell Certified.  So that is where I went to learn.  I first started with Delaine Ross in Atlanta who is RKC trained and now a team leader!!!

In Kettlebells 101, you will learn the basics from a movement system designed to help you move better.  The basics will help correct dysfunctional movement patterns that can save you from potential injuries.  Even in ballet, every dancer from soloist to beginning dance student starts and repeats the basics.  It needs to be grooved into your movement memory.  I will help you get started!

KB 101 will teach you:

• Dynamic Joint Mobility
• Body Weight Squat
• KB Dead Lift
• KB Clean
• KB Press
• KB Swing

These movements will set a sound foundation that we can build upon in future lessons.  They will get you a great workout that you can repeat at home.  As your strength builds, we will add new movements, but we will always work on the basics as well.

Information Links:

• PRINT KB 101 FLYER
• Kettlebell Information (RonJones.org)

Welcome!



Hi All,

For years many people have always told me I should be a personal trainer.  I studied classical ballet for 20 years or so, danced professionally, did undergraduate studies in ballet, anatomy, kinesiology, and physiology.  I have a strong movement background and have always helped friends out at the gym.  I also love to rock climb.  Two years ago while taking Spinning classes, the instructors once again told me I should teach.  This time I decided to give it a try and so began my formal career as a fitness professional.  I took the Schwinn Cycle Instructor's class and began teaching classes at Lifetime Fitness in Lawrenceville, GA (AKA..Team Shuga).  I loved it. 

My husband had began learning kettlebells during his travels and we found a great instructor in Atlanta.  Delaine Ross gave me my first kettlebell lesson.  I loved it.  I took what I learned, bought a kettlebell and began training in my basement.  It really fit my lifestyle.  I worked full time as a Title 1 Coordinator, I have school aged twins, taught cycle classes.  I was busy.  It was great to become more proficient with the KB because I could just go in my basement with one kettlebell and BAM!  Cardio and weight training DONE!  I was hooked and started going to KB workshops held at Delaine's gym.  I met Brett Jones and learned a whole new way of using the KB to correct the bad movement patterns that had crept up on my body.  He told me to get with Doc Cheng when I move back to LA.  So began my quest to pass the RKC.  With the help of Doc Cheng and my husband Ron, I passed the RKC in August 2010.  I also passed the American Council on Exercise Personal Trainer exam this past year.  I am ready!!