My alarm goes off at 4:45 am, and I know I need to get
up soon to make the 6:10 am GAP class, which I already told my boss I would be
attending. I never really need to inform him when I’m coming to a
class, but here’s a tip: telling someone that you plan on working out at least
gives you some accountability if you do not show up. However, my bed is warm,
and it is still dark out, and I was currently running on less than six hours of
sleep.
I set my alarm for 5:30 giving myself another 45
minutes of sleep. My first decision is to just take the noon class instead
because no matter what I am going to reach my goal of three classes this week.
As I lay in bed dozing in and out of sleep, I keep asking myself “Do I really
want to workout after my shift on a Friday when I could just get it out of the
way before work?”
Since I commute all the way from Bothell, the 6:10
class was now off the table. So, by 5:22, I decide that I can make the 7:05
class, and haul my ass out of bed, rinse in the shower, and throw on the
workout clothes I set out the night before. This brings me to my next tip: set
out what you’re going to be wearing the night before especially if you’re
working out early. There is no way I am digging for a sport’s bra in the dark
in my cluttered room.
From the time I wake up, I manage to get out the door
in a record 25 minutes. Again, the key is having clothes, food, and my work bag,
ready to go the night before making it easier to get ready with little thinking.
I cannot stress enough how much I despise getting up early or just mornings in general,
but the upside of driving to Seattle this early is that I can dodge rush hour
traffic, which I may hate more than early mornings.
You may hear many people say that the hardest part of
getting into a fitness routine is showing up, and those people are right. Once
I was at Seattle Kettlebell Club, my bells next to my mat, I wondered why I was
so dramatic about getting out of bed a mere hour and a half before.
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| How I feel after a successful workout week |
The flow of the classes has become easier, and I’m
able to transition from exercise to exercise with more ease making me more
confident with cleans, jerks and long cycle, so I’m less stressed about form
and more focused on improvement. My biggest struggle has been straightening my
arms at the same time as bending my knees during the jerk. My body keeps
wanting to bend my knees and then raise my arms. Tyna describes the jerk being
difficult because “it’s like trying to rub your stomach and pat your head at
the same time.”
Another struggle is also anything that involves
pushups. Sometimes we do pushups with or without kettlebells, but either way, I
always find my arms wanting to give out, but the best way to see fitness
improvement is to do exercises that are difficult. Plus, I can feel myself getting stronger, and
I’m slowly moving from 4-kilo to 6-kilo for certain exercises, but I must
constantly remind myself not to overexert my muscles.
So, what are my goals for next week? I want to get in some
walking or hiking this weekend, and I plan to take three GAP classes again next
week, but also fit in a day of traditional lifting as well. For those who are
not early birds, SKC offers classes all throughout the day. Visit seattlekettlebellclub.com/calendar
for the complete schedule, and keep on eye on our blog for more on my
kettlebell journey.
-Camille Borodey
-Camille Borodey
Awesome post!
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