My Final Guinea Pig Summary - by Carrie Adamson

I am done with my job as the guinea pig for the Wolf Studio in Solana Beach, CA. It has been experience that is unforgettable. I was selected over other applicants by Corina and Alan Lunn to receive an evaluation, personal training, and weekly massage therapy for six weeks. I entered at the last minute on a whim, not sure I would even be considered. I was already following the Wolf Studio on Facebook because I knew Corina from a weekly group run we attended and saw the post the weekend before the entries were due. I felt like I was already in pretty good shape from weight training three days a week and running 5-6 times a week. Why would they pick someone who was already doing well on her own? Well because there is always room for improvement. The weekend prior I ran a half marathon and set a new PR, that is when Alan was first able to assess my fitness level. I remember him saying that I was already looking like I was in pretty good shape, but when he saw my rear view he saw that he could make some improvements to my physique. My first two appointments were a client assessment and then a lactate test. The first is just a bunch of measurements and the second was a real workout. On an early Monday Morning I ran in four minute intervals having my finger poked for a blood sample and the speed increasing each time until I couldn’t take it (the speed) anymore. Apparently I did well and my chart was exactly what it should have looked like. Now my training can begin.

It is agreed that my workout days will be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 6 AM and I alternated between upper and lower body workouts. I was used to going to the gym three times a week and doing the same routine each time for almost two years. I used almost exclusively machines and figured it was working because between that and my running I had managed to lose almost 100 lbs in a year. In the studio I worked mostly with Alan. Corina was there almost every day and helped spot me for some exercises to Alan could take photos tracking my progress. For every exercise I did, there was four sets of about 8-10 reps. The weight seemed to progress quickly. They joke that I made it look too easy, so the weight had to go up. On the lower body days some of my favorites were squats and lunges. I feel that they had the biggest impact on the shape of my legs and with the squats it was always nice to go around bragging how much weight I had on the bar (I got up to 205). On the upper body for the same reason that I like seeing the changes I liked the bent over row and squat thrust. I remember one morning looking in the mirror during the bent over row workout and seeing how shapely my shoulders and arms were, I couldn’t believe that was my body changing so quickly right before my eyes. Two of my least favorites were the hamstring exercise with the swiss ball because it will really get that burning feeling and the prone cobra because it was at the end of the workout and my arms were already dead. 

Music accompanied all my training sessions and I must say Alan’s library is vast. I am not sure I ever heard the same set, he plays mostly rock from the 80’s and 90’s I think. It is not my style so while I knew some of the more popular tunes I didn’t know them all.

Prior to working out with the Wolf Studio I was only doing two sets of every machine in the rotation and with no workout buddy. Now I am doing four sets, sometimes with heavy weight and having someone behind me strongly encouraging me to keep going because I only have one or two reps is helpful. I already miss that, so I just pretend when I am tired and don’t want to push out one more that they are behind me saying to keep going. 

Part of my job as guinea pig was to get a weekly massage. That sounds so rough I know. Through my experience though I have learned that massage isn’t just for relaxation, but also for thearapy and that it can be used to fix any minor aches and pains (or niggles in Alan and Corina speak) before they become major issues and take out of training. I would come in on Saturday after my long runs and let them know what parts of my body was feeling the beat up. Most occasions the entire sessions were spent working on my legs since I was the hardest on them for my marathon training. While I did enjoy the soft tissue massage work (who wouldn’t?) I have learned the value in using it to keep me healthy. I did have some minor aches that were treated with massage and Kinesio tape. Both Alan and Corina have areas and specialties that they work on best, so my body got the best treatments every time. 

Corina and Alan went above and beyond on what I was supposed to receive as the Guinea Pig. The offer was originally for six weeks, but they extended to me for 10 weeks. The same time I was beginning my training sessions at the Wolf Studio I was also training for my first Boston Marathon. Corina told me at one of our weekly fun runs that they were going to see me through to Boston so I wasn’t dropped with a month out and no training. On top of getting the extra training, Corina revamped my running schedule. I saw a few new workouts I had never tried before and was asked to push myself to faster paces I hadn’t tried. The first weeks took some getting used to, between the weight training and the new running program I was wore out. I enjoyed the physical challenge of it all and kept up with my workouts and runs. My least favorite run was probably hill for two reasons, because it left me out of breath and I had to do it before work in the winter in the dark to fit it in my schedule. 

The Boston Marathon has come and gone. I trained hard to run a 3:20 race and was ready to set a new personal record with my best being a 3:28. Race day I was a bunch of nerves and my morning didn’t start off well. I spilled coffee all over my running outfit, spilled my breakfast all over the subway, took a big fall getting onto the bus, and couldn’t imagine what else would go wrong. I tied my shoes too tight and had to stop twice to readjust them, but it wasn’t until mile 14 that I really started to fall off pace. I felt dehydrated and getting water wasn’t seeming to help. It took me about six miles to feel better, but by then my PR was out the window. I didn’t have my best race time wise, but I had the most fun at a race. I will say it is very disappointing knowing that I worked so hard, put all I had into the last few months to get ready for one race and then had an off day. I know my 3:20 is in me and I will get it, hopefully within the year. 

After the marathon I took a couple weeks off from running and weight training. I am back to the gym and slowly adding runs back to my daily activities. I the gym I did not go back to using the machines, but I am doing the exercises that I learned working with Corina and Alan. The photos from my sessions have come in handy as I used them to help remember most of the exercises I was doing in my training at Wolf. Through this process I have learned some new things: I like my body looking strong and healthy, that sit-ups do not equal core work, massage is an important part of training and therapy, and that Corina and Alan are great trainers, know their professions, and love their work.

Thank you for the wonderful opportunity to be the guinea pig!

Carrie

Yikes, I’m going to run a Marathon

I have been racing for many years now. I have done lots of triathlons, swim and running races. The longest race I have ever run was a half-marathon. I always thought this was a good thing, a half marathon is a good challenge, but it is manageable. After close to 2 hours of running I always felt that I was ready to stop and didn’t feel the need to turn around and run the same course again to complete the full marathon. I am an average runner and in triathlon my skills get weaker with each subsequent event; swim, bike, run.

Since we started living in San Diego I have begun to hang out with a lot of girls that run marathons and seem to enjoy running them. Although some of these ladies are crazy fast, some are not, and run at my pace. So I thought, if they can do it, why can’t I?

I wasn’t looking for a marathon to run. I was planning my schedule for the coming year and deciding which races, running or triathlon, I wanted to do later in the year. Lots of people had told me about the Nike Womens Marathon, a notoriously difficult race to get into as it is so oversubscribed because the lucky ones that finish it get a Tiffany’s necklace on the finishing line. I debated whether I should enter the full or half marathon when I put my name into the drawing. Knowing it was unlikely I would be selected, I decided to let fate decide and entered the marathon. To my complete surprise my name came out of the drawing and now I was signed up to run a marathon in October! I had to re-read the email from Nike several times just to make sure it wasn’t a hoax. 

After a weekend to digest the news and discuss my new venture with Alan (he has an amused grin on his face whenever we talk about me doing a marathon) I sat down to write myself a training plan. I haven’t been running much for the last 2 months, only 1-2 runs a week and those were short at 3-4 miles. It will be a long way to the 26.2 miles in October.

My training started officially on Monday. The first month is about increasing my mileage, getting an endurance base and getting my legs used to regular running again. So far, so good. The runs have felt good so far, very slow but my body is happy and so am I. My appetite has increased back up and I think my tummy is already getting flatter (I know that is probably my imagination but it makes me feel good anyway!).

I’m planning to keep a blog of my experiences for the next 5 months, hopefully I’ll have something more interesting to report than “went for another run today”, but there may be some of that too! See you next week!

Corina

An Ideal Client

An Austin Martin driver with a celebrity status who wants to lose his spare tyre, look more buff and is prepared to train 3 or 4 times per week.

This is the line that I use at networking meetings when I am asked to describe my ideal client or the type of clients that I am looking for. I am being a little flippant, but this actually describes two of my regular clients that I saw while in Scotland!

What we look for in a client is hard work and an open mind. Yes, training with us regularly is great for business and it is also the best way to get results but we live in the real world where spending $1000 per month on training can be unrealistic.

If you come in to see us to get an assessment, we can design a program that you can do in your own home or in your local gym, so you don’t even have to live locally. We actually work with a number of clients from out of State. 

All you have to do is the work necessary to make changes… This may mean you need to challenge some of the beliefs you previously held as fact, this means you may have to accept that what you did before didn’t produce the results you wanted and it means you need to accept some responsibility for where you are now and where want to be.

Our ideal client has lots of money, is ready to make changes, has the time and energy to train hard, eat right and get the correct rest. Money is not important, we can work with most budgets, but if there is an unwillingness to make change and move on from previous mistakes then all of our advice will fall on deaf ears.

If you want to make change and are willing to listen to our advice and work hard, both physically and mentally, you are an ideal client, give us a call today.

Model Behavior

Over the past couple of weeks I have had the pleasure of assisting professional photographer Ken Williams on some photo shoots. This arrangement is mutually beneficial because Ken gets someone to move his lights around and tell jokes to the models while he gets on with the serious work of shooting (I get to shoot a little).

For months Ken has been badgering me about setting up some sort of training regime aimed at models. I had been resisting because like most people I was under the impression that these girls don’t need a personal trainer as they all look so good already. Mistake…

When we get clients in for a consultation we need to get to the heart of their goals, they may say that they want to get fit and healthy buy if they don’t end up with a beach body they will be ultimately dissatisfied. This does not make them vain or narcissistic, just human, I specialize in working with humans…

What I know is that very few people are satisfied with their own body. Few people wouldn’t change something about themselves given the opportunity. For those who wouldn't change you are either a Buddha (not kidding) or in need of a great psychotherapist that I can recommend. 

In the week where I have had the new Sixx:AM Album “Lies of the Beautiful People” on repeat, I have been thinking a lot about our perception of beauty. Even the most beautiful people I have worked with this week were the most insecure about their bodies. The grass is always greener and everyone else is always doing more training…

It is a hard balance to strike between being overly critical about yourself and being self-aware. An external, impartial perspective is always useful that is why we like to measure people, the numbers don’t lie, they don’t intentionally hurt or sweeten the pill to save your blushes.

Beauty can be on the inside and the outside, I know which I would prefer if I had to choose only one, but I will continue to strive for both.

New Challenges

Corina got accepted to run The Nike Womens Marathon in San Francisco in October. She has never ran a marathon before and I was surprised when she suggested that she enter the lottery, I figure that if she got in I would get a vacation to one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and nothing lost if she didn’t. 

I love the fact that Corina is motivated by new challenges, I cannot imagine ever running a marathon, I did train for one once and then came to the realization that my body is just not suited for such an undertaking. People are motivated by different things and that is so wonderful. Personally I just love training, I love the physicality of training with my sword, the repetition, the formality and the strength of mind and body that it takes. I know that some people cannot understand why I love it, I just do.

When Corina decided that she would try and make the GB Age-group Triathlon team I understood the commitment that it would take and the sacrifices that both of us would have to make, and it was totally worth it! I know that in order for Corina to achieve her new goal we will both have to make sacrifices and that there will be a few tears shed along the way but I know it will be totally worth it. 

It is important that you find new challenges and that you strive forwards in whatever field of endeavor that you are involved in, whether that be running your first 5k, or taking photographs in a new and challenging environment. Pushing the envelope and taking yourself out of your comfort zone is a great way of growing and people respect it so much.

As an exercise professional I love working with people with specific goals, motivation is individual, goals are individual and if you strive to succeed you cannot fail in your endeavor no matter what the outcome. Roll on October 16th!

When does an ache need treatment?

Most people who train regularly have aches and pains, it is how we know we have trained hard enough right? But when should you seek treatment for an ache, if you came to our clinic every time you had a sore bit you would never be away from The Wolf Studio!

One good way of knowing that you need to see us is if your ache starts to affect the way that you walk. If your normal walking stride is painful enough for you to limp or to walk in an unnatural way, like being bent over when normally you stand tall, then you need to come and see us.

By coming to see us early in the injury process we can often make an intervention that prevents an ache from becoming something more serious. Regular massage always helps and we would recommend that athletes of all levels get regular treatment (we have packages to reduce the pain in your wallet!). By using tape and using the correct stretching and strengthening protocols you will usually be able to continue training. 

Your body will be sore with regular training, that is one aspect of how it gets stronger, but don’t be a martyr, book in for an appointment to avoid serious injury. Early intervention will be less costly in the long term and you will most likely be able to continue doing the sport you love.

Curvylicious?

It is a regular occurrence for us that a new client will come into the studio with deep worry lines on their face because someone has told them that their spine “curves at the top and at the bottom”. Sometimes there are even technical terms thrown about that make it sound so much worse, such as “I have a lordosis”. What do we do when we are faced with this situation? Reassure that person that this is a good thing!

A normal spine should have an even 30-35 degree curve along your upper back where your ribcage is. It should also have another curve of 30-35 degrees, this time curving inwards, in your low back. With the bad posture that comes with spending too many hours sitting at a desk or in the car the curves in most people’s backs start to change slightly. The one at the top of the back gets a little greater, the low back gets a little flatter. When it is only happening a little bit and your back stays mobile so you are able to still straighten up if you want to then it is no problem. Once you start to look like Quasimodo you will probably be feeling very uncomfortable, not be able to do the things you used to and may have health issues as well. 

Most people never get to this stage. When you come in for a postural and biomechanics assessment or a stretching assessment we measure both what the curves in your spine are when standing and how much you are able to move. That way we can detect any potential problems early before you even know about them. The stretches used to correct spinal curves are very simple and most people find them really pleasant to do, they can loosen your back up and make you feel human again after long hours at a desk! 

If you would like us to check out your curvy back give us a call!