Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Guinea Pig Workout Week 1 - by Carrie Adamson

I have been chosen by the Wolf Studio to be the guinea pig to receive three personal training workouts and recovery therapy each week.  I feel lucky that they chose to work with me and excited to go on this journey with them.  My first time in the studio, I was there for an assessment where my strength, flexibility, and balance were tested.  It was also a chance for Corina and Alan and myself to learn a little bit more about each other. 

Week 1 of training began with a blood lactate test where I ran in four minute intervals and a sample is taken to determine my anaerobic capacity.  I was sweaty and worked hard, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as some of the photos posted from previous tests made it look.  Wednesday morning was my first real workout and it was all about my legs.  After some stretching I did squats, walking lunges, jack knifes, some balancing stuff and a superman move on the balance ball.  My legs were feeling pretty good when I was done and it wasn’t until later in the day that I my quad and glute muscles really started to burn.  I have to say I enjoyed the temporary pain because it meant I had a good workout.  Lifting weights and doing the same routine day in and day out for the last year and half, I hadn’t felt sore in a long time and was really just going through the motions of my routine.  

Friday I went in and we worked on upper body.  I surprised myself with some of the workouts I was able to do.  There was the bent over row with a weighted bar, chest press while laying back on a balance ball, a move that was both bicep curl and over head press all in one, and balancing on a bosu ball while doing lateral and front raises.  Doing a push-up and pulling up a dumb bell in between was where I was surprised.  First I was doing real push-ups, no my toes not on my knees and then in between I had the strength and balance to pull up a barbell.  Who knew?  Because this workout I was able to focus on sides during each exercise I realized that I feel weaker on my right side.  After the upper body workout I felt sore right away.  I joked that I couldn’t lift my arms higher than my shoulders and was sore through the weekend.  Again, I didn’t mind the soreness, knowing that Alan gave my muscles a great, hard workout. 

Saturday I got to end my first week with a soft tissue recovery massage.  Earlier that morning I had just a new PR in a 10k and after some hard runs earlier in the week and my body getting used to the new workouts I needed it.  Alan explained the philosophy of the soft tissue recovery to me; that the massages don’t need to be painful to be beneficial and by coming in for weekly recovery he is treating any issues and pains that are small before they can become chronic.  Even though it is part of the training process helping my body perform it is still a relaxing treat that I will look forward to for all the work from earlier in the week.
I am thrilled I have this chance to be the guinea pig for Wolf Studio working with Corina and Alan to become a stronger, better athlete.  I promise to give this opportunity 100% of my effort and dedication.  See you all next week!
Carrie

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