Winning!!

Man I could use some of Charlie Sheen's drangon blood at the gym so I'm going to mash up some good ole charlie sheen quotes with some deadmau5 and listen to it at the gym. Talk about motivational bi-winning!

Conscious Breathing

http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargement/PE-212-0115.html

"If you breathe through your nose you won't get so dehydrated."  This was a tip I picked up the other day from my  hot yoga instructor.

Today I hit the gym to do some good old interval training on the stairmaster. Two minutes into a 30 minute workout and I was already desperate for water. There's no way I was dehydrated going in because I don't drink pop, I haven't had an alcoholic beverage in almost two weeks, and I drink herbal tea or water all day.

I realized I was breathing through my mouth. So  I decided to apply my yogi's advice and consciously try breathing through my nose instead. It takes more mental effort because when your trying to take in large amounts of oxygen it's easier and more natural to breathe through your mouth. However, I found that the tip worked. I only needed to grab a sip every 10 minutes or so.

I'm going to try and apply this to all my workouts (except swimming, because I would drown). Drinking to much water can make you feel sick and hinder your performance. So hopefully by making a simple adjustment I'll start to see a difference.

Heat Wave In The Middle of Winter.

http://www.bikramyogavacations.com/images/p3260358_klein.jpg

January is about the time of year when I start thinking "get me the fuck out of this country."

Toronto's a dark, snowy, slushy, salty mess. The past few days I've been part daydreaming, part planning, part hallucinating about going somewhere warm and buying a house and never coming back. Alright, I'd come back for the summer, because who am I kidding, even in paradise I would miss the CN Tower.

Running away to a tropical beach isn't always in the cards. There's work, money, feasible travel dates and actually having a passport to consider. But, that doesn't mean you can't work up a sweat just by laying around in Toronto.

A few days ago I took my first Bikram Yoga class in two years. It's an hour and a half class in a room that's almost 40 degree Celsius. The only condition upon taking the class is that  you have to stay in the room the full 90 minutes. Even if you can't complete the poses and just lay there. Trust me, if you've never tried this type of yoga before you will be laying down for much of your first class.

While you're laying there feeling like you're going to suffocate you will long for the cold, crisp and fresh winter air.  A new appreciation for winter will be found.

It's a great way to escape the winter blues, turn off your mind and get that blast of warmth you crave. It's also a reminder that summer heat has it's flaws too. Especially, when you don't have air conditioning and need to take 3 showers a day just to attempt to stay cool.

It's the Canadian predisposition to complain about the weather in all circumstances. Sorry Mother Nature, I guess you're out of luck, eh.

Sometimes I Think I Could Burn

One thing I've learned from having a personal trainer is the importance of switching your work out routine up every 6 weeks or so. I have been training for just over three months and have gone through two different types of training.

The first 6 weeks formed a foundation for working with weights and the type of movements that I will be doing as I complete my training program. The next 6 weeks I was focusing on building muscle mass with lots of weight and less reps.

As of this week I'm in burn period. This is the weight loss part of program. It's pretty much an intense hour of cardio which leaves me drenched in sweat, trying to catch my breath and desperate for a shower and some water.

The goal:  lose 10-12 pounds in the next six weeks.

The plan:

-  I have three sessions a week so I need to make them all, work hard and don't complain. Complaining has gotten me into trouble a few times. I'm a whiner, I can't help it. I think this is because whiner rhymes with Kleiner.

- I should add some extra cardio in there. the plan is to hit the gym with my ipod and earphones (good music is key) and sweat it out on the stair master at least one additional time a week. It's funny once you start going to the gym a lot it really doesn't feel like an inconvenience. The thought of going a few extra times a week actually makes me pretty happy. The best part of going outside a session is that I can go whenever I want!

- I must eat right! My nutrition has not been very good since Halloween. It's incredibly shameful. It was already my intention to get back on track and the burn is just some good motivation.  Alcohol is out for the next 6 weeks and so is cheese. I don't need either of those things. Although, I do enjoy them I think I can live without them. It's just a matter of will power. The other goal is no carbs after 2pm. This one is going to be more challenging. I can normally do it for a week and then I get desperate for some bread with dinner.

They say failing to plan is planning to fail so hopefully sticking to these three key points will help me to reach or exceed my goal.

A Year of Deadmau5 - Part One

Kendra's Talents:

1) extreme fandom                    

2) playlist making

3) internet procrastination

In 2010 my extreme fandom, playlist making and internet procrastination took a new direction as I fell in love with house music. This has resulted in Deadmau5 joining the ranks of U2 and Nine Inch Nails the musicians who define my existence. 

It's hard to believe that just a year ago I was among the masses that ask "What's a dead-maow-five?"

The brilliance of name like Deadmau5 is it allows the army of fans to immediately discover and initiate the new person who doesn't know it's pronounced dead-mouse. This is normally done by making fun of them to the point that they will a) never pronounce it wrong again and b) always make fun of others who do. 

Thankfully, I received my initiation from my good friend Stephanie Hannah. She's been listening to house for years, the influence of her british fiance. Unlike myself, she doesn't try to force her taste in music on others but when you've been friends with someone from almost 10 years the influence is inevitable. 

I had been taking the Ballet Bootcamp class at Flirty Girl Fitness for a couple months by January 2010. Just like most exercises classes the music was the same every week and  fell into the house/pop genre.  

I always looooved the first song of the class but I could never remember the lyrics to google when I got home. One day I asked the instructor for the name but the simple concept of writing it down eluded me.

A small miracle happened and I remembered a sole piece of identifying information. 

"Hey Steph, I'm trying to find this song...it's pretty and it's by someone and someone else who's name ends with five" 

"mmmm it's it 'Move For Me by Kaskade and Deadmau5?"

One simple youtube search later and an obsession was in its infancy.

Training Torture.

"Good job," he said to me with a smirk and a slight laugh.

I'm hunched over trying to catch my breath and resisting the temptation to collapse on the floor. I've just lunged the length of the gym and back with 70 lbs on my back. I want to die. I hate lunges. He knows it and he takes great satisfaction in making me do them.

I think you have to be slightly sadistic to be a personal trainer. How many other careers can you think of where the sign of a good job is your clients pain filled groans as they push their bodies to move large amounts of weight?

I also think you have to be a slight masochist to want a personal trainer. While there are great payoffs to working out this way that hour can feel like absolute torture at times. Especially when the words "drop set" are mentioned in the first five minutes of the session.

I've committed to do this for a year. The goal - "dream body." Whatever that means. I better look hot and toned, but not scary toned like Madonna.

The first six weeks were a warm up. The foundation stage , as it was called, was composed of exercises that followed "primal movements." Last session we entered a build period. Let the real training begin. Heavier weight and less reps will start to build my muscles and I should start to see results.

I might overdose on protein getting there though.