Good- Grieving

I woke up this morning like any typical day.  Cory by my side still knocked out from playing video games with his buddies last night and Kayda looking at me with anticipation to go outside.  I checked facebook on my phone and there was the reminder.  It’s February 17, the day my mother passed away from cancer 3 years ago.  I felt a somber feeling come over me and I thought to my self, “Has it really been three years?"  Doesn’t seem to make sense.  Obviously I knew this day was coming.  Whenever February comes along it’s in the back of my mind, but I push it back even further and wait for the day to come and go as quickly as possible.

The grieving never goes away completely.  It’s always there.  I have moments where I laugh at funny memories about my Mom and I have moments when I can’t help but cry because there is something I can’t share with her or that I can’t call her up to say hello anymore.  As I approach my 30th birthday I think about the many things that she did, that I as a child and young adult, never thought much about.  She and I are so much alike and I had so many similar experiences in my 20’s that she did. Competing in college athletics, traveling across the country, moving far away from family at a young age to start a career, being f**king fearless, and the fact that I am in love with a man that is so much like my Dad.  Which I find to be hilarious at times. 

She has a funny way of showing up randomly in my life.  Just few days ago I put in an offer on a townhouse that was accepted and up until that point I was getting really frustrated with the whole process because nothing was working out.  Then it happened, the perfect place and everything that I was looking for. (Fingers crossed the rest of the process goes well!) I couldn’t help but think that it was supposed to happen this way because she wanted me to have something exciting happen in my life during this time instead of this always being the time in which we said our final goodbyes.

I will never forget those last moments.  One of our close family friends and one of Bennett’s childhood best friends came to visit us all at the hospital.  We decided to go to dinner at Friday’s in Downtown Grand Rapids and before we left I walked back in the hospital room to grab my coat, gave my dad a hug, then went over to my mom, kissed her on the forehead, and said to her that its okay to go, and that I’m going to be okay.  For whatever reason I felt like she needed to hear that.  Then later that night around 8:00 pm, she passed.

That’s just it though, I have been okay and I want everyone to know that is going through something similar that you will be okay too.  Of course there will be tough days, but there are more and more great ones.  

The Marathon Athlete

After swimming in the Mighty Mac, a marathon swim, it got me thinking about marathon athletes and how they train.   I am not especially experienced in Marathon training myself.  I am what you call a anaerobic athlete, but there were definitely a few things I learned from competing in that swim about training for that type of event. 

The three most common sports for this type of athlete are, you guessed it, running, biking and swimming.  Which as you all know make up a triathlon and also includes one of the biggest tests for a marathon athlete, the Iron Man. 

The first and most important component about doing a marathon event is, TO TRAIN FOR IT!  I can now speak from experience.  I didn’t train at all for the Mighty Mac.  Sure I got in the pool a few times, but not like I should have.  When I was finished with this swim I was positive that I tore my left rotator cuff with how much pain I was having.  I know shame on me right? I should know better.  Luckily a few days rest and I was fine, but I strongly advise that you train properly for any marathon event or your body is going to hate you later on and your risk of injury significantly increases. 

Secondly, cross-train and do so regularly.  This is very helpful in preventing overuse or chronic injuries that are associated with marathon events.  I am convinced that because I was doing other types of training that my body recovered as well as it did.  Runners, make sure you are taking the steps to strengthen your hamstrings, glutes, and abductors.  I have seen many cases where runners have had problems with their knees or hips and it is commonly associated with weaknesses in these areas.   Swimmers, take care of those shoulders!  Your rotator cuffs specifically.  Rotator cuff tendonitis can take a long time to recover from.  Regular stretching, mobility work, and therapeutic type exercises will definitely help prevent injuries.  Cyclists, and this actually goes for swimmers and runners as well, MAKE SURE THAT CORE IS STRONG!  Between sitting in a crouched position over those handle bars and the fact that your legs are so developed, your core needs to be strong to protect your back!

Lastly, if you do experience an injury, DO NOT PUSH THROUGH IT, believe me it will only make the injury worse. You can do other things and work around an injury after a few days of full rest, but do not do any movement that will directly aggravate the injury for at least 2 weeks and maybe more depending on the injury.

I have a profound respect for individuals that compete in these types of events or just do it for fun.  It takes a lot of dedication and commitment and always remember that you are capable of more than you think!

The World of Bodybuilding

Its that time of year again.  I have just started training for my 3rd body building competition.  I have 21 more weeks of a strict nutrition plan, cardio 6 days a week, and weight training 5 days a week.  I feel very focused this time around.  I took about 6 months off since my last show, I enjoyed myself, I lifted heavy, and let myself gain mass. 

Bodybuilding is a very interesting world. Before I got involved in competing I believed that bodybuilding was unhealthy both physically and mentally.  I always thought that every person involved in bodybuilding was starving themselves prior to shows.  I thought that the tans were hideous and everyone was on something.

While some of this is true, especially the steroid use and other “supplements,” it wasn’t quite what I thought it was going to be.  When I started training for my first show I wanted to see if I could actually do it.  The working out is easy, but the nutrition is the tough part.  Prepping the food, trying to discover dishes that taste good that are within your limitations, and finding things that actually keep well in the fridge.  It sounds like a lot, but once you find something that works and doesn’t take long to prep, it becomes much easier. 

Contrary to popular belief I was never hungry.  When I actually first started I couldn’t finish all the food I needed to eat!  I was consuming roughly around 2300 calories, and I was full ALL the time!  That was something that I had never expected.  I remember eating that way for three weeks and then it came time to check in with my coach again.  I really felt that I didn’t make much or any change within that time period.  I was so wrong!  My bloat was gone, I had lost about 5lbs (some was water weight), and my look was already different.  It amazed me what eating well did for my body.  Not just externally, but internally as well.  At that point I had learned that it isn’t about how much you eat, but more about what you eat. 

The weeks passed by, and my body continued to change.  Then it came time to get up on stage.  I was so nervous!  Standing in front of 500+ people in a very small show bikini and trying not to fall in those damn heels.  It was surreal, but I did it.  I didn’t have the look that some of these women had, and I certainly didn’t expect to win anything, but I knew deep down I had won for myself.  I remember sitting in the locker room, waiting to go out on stage for the night show, and a woman came up to me and said “ I just want you to know that I came across you instagram profile and that I really admire all the hard work you did to get to this point.”  That comment that this woman made to me mattered more than any score a judge could give me.  It wasn’t about her commenting on how I looked, but the fact that another woman recognized and praised another woman on her efforts.

Bodybuilding wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be, and I am glad I decided to start competing.  There are still things within this sport that I don’t agree with, but ultimately it has helped me grow as a personal trainer, and it has given me a new-found respect for these athletes. 

Journey into the Storm

When I was 18, I moved from West Michigan to Los Angeles to go to school and play Division 1 water polo at California State University Northridge.  How I went from Michigan to California is another story, but all I knew is I wanted to be where the best water polo was.  I remember being nervous, scared, and excited all at the same time.  Wondering how the hell I was going to balance school, athletics, and having a social life.  I always felt like I had some big shoes to fill since all three of my older siblings were collegiate athletes.  Without knowing it, that is what started my passion for health and wellness, and what started me in the direction of personal training.

I had a very successful career representing Northridge.  Numerous awards and allocates, including All-American honors.  It was more than I could have imagined.  Especially when I started playing water polo as a freshman in high school and I was an outsider from Michigan.  Eventually, it all had to come to an end and having to give up a sport I loved was heartbreaking and humbling.  I spent my 5th year at Northridge helping out with the water polo team, and finishing up pre-requisites in order to get into graduate school.  It was strange, watching my former teammates in the water.  I would always have that urge to jump in and play during games.  It really is like having a part of your identity taken away from you.  I had considered playing over seas, but I knew the team dynamic wouldn’t be the same and eventually I realized that’s what I missed the most.  My teammates, my friends, these women, had become my family away from home.  I would do anything for them and to this day I still feel like that bond will never be broken. 

My love for athletics has never left me. Once I had graduated from Northridge in 2011, I drove across country to obtain a masters degree in athletic training from Florida International University.  That program was one of the toughest challenges in my life.  But, I loved it.  I loved it because I could relate to these athletes.  Everything they went through, I had experienced myself, and it made me appreciate what I gained from my time at Northridge.

After graduate school I had worked for about a year and a half as an athletic trainer at a physical therapy clinic in South Florida.  I had not had planned to leave that job as early as I did, but when my Mother was re-diagnosed with Cancer, I knew I needed to come home.  Due to the lack of athletic training positions available in Grand Rapids, I accepted a position as a personal trainer at a major gym and that’s when I had my “ah-ha” moment.  I thought to myself that this is what I am supposed to be doing with my life, to help others with their health and to ultimately increase their quality of life.  I can’t imagine myself doing anything else, and I am constantly applying what I have learned as an athletic trainer to supplement my career as a personal trainer.  It has allowed me to help clients in ways that others could not, and what sets me apart from other personal trainers and coaches.

So here I am; a certified athletic trainer and personal trainer pursuing my passion and pushing to make myself better as well as others around me.  My professional career may not have been what I originally thought it would be, but it is exactly what it is meant to be.