**WARNING - LONG POST***
Here is where I am on my fitness journey...AWESOME and getting better! :P
As of the last couple of days, I've nearly hit my lean goal weight of 57kgs. I'm sitting on 57.15kgs and feeling...you guessed it...awesome!
I'm feeling confident about my body, and I'm wearing all those nice little 'short' items I've had tucked away for over a year. I'm just annoyed that summer is now coming to an end, and I will only fleetingly get to enjoy them before the colder weather is upon us. However...I'm really excited about what I'll be wearing come this summer. Who knows what another six months of hard work will yield. I'm so excited!
And I'm not just talking about what changes I can bring about aesthetically in the next 6 months, but from a 'strength and function' (as Liz puts it) perspective, I'm getting a little tipsy thinking about the possibilities.
So here's a summary of the past 4.5 years up until present. I didn't start my Ideal Bodies Online journey until July, 2008:
* 2006...Weight: 95kg's (just before Philomena was born). I was wearing a size 22 and borrowing clothes from a friend. I put on 20kgs in a space of about one month, due to fluid. I later discovered after the birth that I had a medical condition called Polyhydramnios. After Phil's birth, I eventually got back down to 75kgs (still overweight). I couldn't walk and went into hospital in a wheelchair. I had to wear blood clot stockings and have an electric bed because I was too big and swollen to move and was in a lot of pain. I also had separation of the Pubic Symphysis which added to the difficulty of moving. My daily exercise in the hospital, after Philomena was born, was using a walking frame to walk up and down the hall once a day. When I got home from the hospital, to have a shower, I had to use a step because it was painful to lift my leg into the shower/bath. I also had to use a sitting frame in the shower to be able to clean myself. My self confidence was at an all-time low.
* 2008...Weight: 75kg's...Confidence: still low. I cried alot of the time (usually at bed time), over my health and fitness that I had lost...As you can see, it would be 2 years before I finally decided to do something about my weight, and also my mounting health problems. My original back injury from 2000 (disc, due to incorrect technique in gym) hadn't improved, as I hadn't done anything about it. In fact, I discovered I had complications from a weak back...muscular imbalances, weak core, including a major imbalance on the RHS, especially my glutes. When I started my IBO program in July 2008, I had hip bursitis, and couldn't run at all. My muscles in and around the hip/pelvis were so weak, I was constantly having to have chiropractic adjustments to re-align the spine. My muscles were in constant tension and the lower back was sore alot of the time.
* January 2009...Weight: 58kg's (Depletion weight: 54.55kgs)...Confidence: High...I don't know why, but when I started my IBO program, I made the decision and I burnt the bridges and threw out all those excuses. I appied myself 110%, and I worked bloody hard! Between IBO and my physio, I overcame the bursitis and got stronger, and was able to jog for the first time in over 6 years (because of my back). It was back in December 2008, I decided I would join the AR. I spent the next 6 months training specifically for the physical challenge of joining the AA with the help of Kristin from IBO who wrote specific programs for me to be able to achieve this end. It was also around that time I became a Personal Success Mentor for IBO.
* June 2009...Weight: 57kg's...Confidence: High...I enlisted in the AA and in September 2009 was physically strong enough to do my basic training in Kapooka. I found the 4 weeks of training physically and emotionally challenging, but I made it through. I did however sustain a re-injury of the lower back in the last days of my basic training.
* January 2010...Weight: 61.5kg's...Confidence: Meh...I had finally joined Crossfit, in the endeavour to become ultra-fit and to help me improve my strength and endurance required for the AR. I believed (and still do), that Crossfitters are the fittest people on earth. They amaze and astound me with their strength, determination and endurance - their physical stamina. However, I soon discovered that physically, Crossfit left me physically exhausted most of the time, leaving me with little energy for anything else. I also found some particular exercises extremely difficult due to my back injury and muscular imbalances. I also became frustrated and wondered why I wasn't doing as well physically as others, and was confident at the time that it was only a matter of time, and that with persistence I would see improvements.
* March 2010...Weight: 60.5kg's...Confidence: Low...This is when I discovered that I had the beginnings of degeneration in the ball (humerus) of my RHS hip. I also had a small bone spur in the RHS scapula. I was told no running, jumping, or impacting movements. I was still confident I could overcome, and I'd be back at Crossfit in no time.
* May 2010...Weight: 61.9 kg's...Confidence: Low... At this point I made the hard decision to let go of Crossfit. I hadn't made any gains. In fact, I'd actually gone backwards physically. It was a difficult thing to admit that maybe Crossfit wasn't meant to be. My confidence was dropping more and more. I was bewildered and confused. My injuries (back, hip) were still haunting me and it was at this time I looked to a solution as to why I was going backward. I had to do something different.
* June 2010..Weight: 62.3kg's...Confidence: Low...I discover what's actually wrong with me, thanks to Liz Nelson, my exercise physiologist, who does a correct postural assessment for me and makes me aware of the source of my muscular imbalances (mostly through the RHS). It's from here that I begin to discover that all this time, I had been using my muscles incorrectly. No doubt, there had been alot of compensation going on since my original back injury, and that in order for me to move forward again, I would have to 'retrain' the muscles, and activate the correct muscles to work synergistically, to take me, as Liz says, from 'injury to performance'.
My assessment (original and developing) was: Lower lordosis of the spine, culminating in a weak core and glutes, leading to hip/pelvis instability, hence, over-reliance on lower back to take load; overdevelopment of traps and muscular tension in upper back/neck due to incorrect recruitment of upper traps. Since Liz's original assessment, through the tweaking of my program as I've become stronger, we also discovered that my hip flexors were doing more work than they should have, effectively cutting out the recruitment of my glute muscles.
Solution: work firstly on core stability and glute/ab co-ordination.
* 16th March 2011...Weight: 57.15kgs...Confidence: High...It wasn't until November that I really upped the ante. It was at this stage that I had Liz not only prescribe my exercise/rehab program, but to now include nutrition. So it's been in the last 4 months where I've made the most significant strength and function gains, as well as fat/weight loss, to bring me where I am today.
The most recent discovery, was that my hamstrings are dominant compared with my quads, which are being underutilised. Hence, the propensity to rely on my lower back, when my hamstrings became fatigued, and developing into lower back pain. So I had also been using the hamstrings, instead of using my glutes and quads to take the load. My hamstrings would tighten like hell and I had alot of trouble running with any type of intensity. Because the hammies were fatigued, the load would then immediately transfer to the lower back, so I'd be back where I'd started with lower back pain.
So at this moment, in my current program, we're still working on activitating and building glute strength, but Liz has prescribed exercises for me to now activate the glutes 'before' I activate my hamstrings. I'm also now working on building my quads, so that I'm spreading the workload more evenly and using the glutes, hamstrings and quads, and taking the load off the back. I am also doing more ab/stabilising work to continue building strength through the core, to support all these other areas.
Liz prescribes for me cardio (combo of steady state and HIIT) to get and stay lean, and also to improve my cardiovasclar fitness. In addition...weights/strength training (focusing on mainly compound exercises, i.e. squatting, deadlifting along with a little isolation work) and rehabilitation/activation work, ensuring 'correct form and technique' as the no.1 priority.
So what does that mean?
I'm the strongest and fittest I've been since before I injured my back in 2000!
- I currently have no lower back pain, and the tension has significantly reduced on RHS. So I'm starting to see improvements in the muscular imbalances on the RHS (which is where it is mainly prevalent).
- My hamstrings are no longer tight, and I can now run at a moderate pace without any subsequent tightness or lower back pain. My lower back and hamstring flexibility are starting to return.
- I can now run on hard surface at a moderate to fast pace without any subsequent hip stiffness, soreness or pain. I am now pain-free throughout both hips, especially in the RHS where my degeneration is.
- My pelvis has not dropped out significantly for at least 2 months, and I have only just visited my chiropractor for my normal monthly adjustment in the last week. Prior to that, I needed at least 2 adjustments per month to see me through the month.
- I haven't been to see my physio for at least 2 months. No need.
- I reached one of my 2011 goals last month, which is to do 40 push-ups at my BFA (basic fitness assessment) which is a sign that I've increased my core strength. I only improved my run time of 2.4kms by 4 seconds, but most importantly again - no hip pain or stiffness. And I'm still well under the time for females for my age group.
- Last Tuesday night was my first ever AR PT session that I have approached without one ounce of apprehension about injuring myself. It's the first time ever that I have not been stressed about what would be in store for me during an AR PT session. It was a fartlek (running) session, and I'd already done a leg workout and cardio session that morning. I was confident and I had no physical repercussions (apart from being fatigued the next morning for Zumba). This was a major milestone for me!
- I am now able to kick without any pain or restriction in the hip joints. I have increased flexibility and range of motion surrounding the hip joints. It's still tighter on the RHS, but alot better. I am also experiencing less restriction on the RHS, especially along the ITB.
- I have experienced a significant decrease in tension and neck/shoulder pain, improving my ability to train in Wing Chun, which is upper body dominant. This has been achieved by learning to activate the lower traps/upper back and relax the upper traps.
I cannot begin to explain what an epiphany this is.
I'm still working on the imbalances, but I've come a long way. And I'm moving forward with confidence.
I couldn't have achieved all of this without the help of certain people in my life. I believe that in order to progress, it's important that you find the right people to help you achieve your goals. And if you experience a stalemate in your journey, don't give up. Keep looking until you find the right person and/or the right solution for you, because your situation can change as you progress (or regress). I've always had the fortune of finding the best people to help me. People who have walked the talk and who have the knowledge, passion and skills to take me from where I am to where I want to be.
I've always found throughout my life and I'm still finding now, more than ever that, 'when the student is ready, the teacher will appear'.
