High hopes!

I'm in my third week of seeing Melody (personal trainer) every Monday and Thursday. Last Monday, my 2nd time with kettlebells, we stopped before the last exercise because I was feeling nauseous and light-headed. My vision got all weird and blurry too. It was rather trippy. Since then I've tried to make sure I get some food at least an hour before sessions.

Last Thursday I used sandbags! Melody likes training with the sandbags because they're non-rigid, like a lot of the things we have to carry in life. How often do you have to lift dumbbell-shaped objects on a regular basis? Sandbags, on the other hand, are floppy and their weight shifts so you need to get a good grip on them - like bags of groceries or little kids. This is good because my grip sucks. It was also very satisfying to be able to just drop the sandbag after each exercise. One of the last exercises Melody had me do was a pushup where I was propped up on the sandbags and after pushing myself up I had to lift a small sandbag with one hand. I was soooo weak, she had to switch out the sandbag for a small kettlebell. Even then, I could barely do a few.

I think that was a big indicator of how weak my chest muscles and my core are so Monday this week, she had me do a few pushup-like exercises. One was with 2 barbells laid parallel, where I did a pushup with my hands rested on each barbell. By having my hands on the barbells, I had to work harder at making sure the barbells didn't roll around each time I went up & down. Then I had to do an exercise where I leaned with both hands on a barbell, rolling it out, and then rolling it back. It's difficult because you have to go as low as you can, but be able to stop at the right point so you can roll yourself back up. Then there were situps while holding up a barbell. The most fun was the last exercise with the balance trainer (like an exercise ball cut in half, with a flat base that it rests on) where I hop on with one foot, switch feet, and then hop off the other side.

I can really feel it in my abs after Monday's workout, which is great! I love feeling sore after workouts because that indicates to me that I put effort into exercising. It may hurt, but it hurts SO good. I feel so optimistic about my body now, like I know I can finally lose weight and get fit. The other day I was thinking about taking up a form of martial arts. I've always wanted to do that, but there were a lot of things that held me back. I'm not into contact sports. My brother and my cousins did judo, and that's full on body contact with all the throws and grabs. I didn't have enough self confidence to pursue it because I was afraid I wouldn't be any good at it. The thought of competitions and sparring scared the shit out of me - what if I fail, screw up, or get my ass whooped? How would I be able to think quick enough and respond fast enough to spar with someone?

I think I would much prefer weapon fighting. I always wanted to learn archery (but not of the modern high-tech sort). Sword fighting would be awesome too (but not fencing, and probably not kendo). I'm also interested in staff fighting...I learned a little when I was in junior high actually. It wasn't real fighting, unfortunately. Because my dad knows the Chinese opera crowd, he knew this lady who was opening up a chinese opera/dance school. This lady gave me lessons in certain Chinese opera techniques - which can include acrobatics and choreographed fighting. I learned how to hold my hands in the position that ladies in Chinese opera do, how you're supposed to move gracefully and position your arms in a graceful way, how to maintain all of that while you walk/run in these quick, graceful little steps.

I also learned how to twirl a staff. I could twirl one staff, two staves (one in each hand at the same time), I could twirl one around switching between hands, and I also learned this method of twirling where you hold the staff closer to one end so the uneven weight balance helps you spin it around. The best part was the choreographed staff fighting routine we learned. "We" consisted of me and this other girl who was the daughter of one of the ladies who sang Chinese opera with my dad. We would attack, block, do sweeps, jump, spin around, it was awesome! Well, that sounds more crazy than it actually was...I don't think we were so energetic, but still...there was potential. :D

I wish I could find some place to learn weapon fighting, but I think you need to learn basic martial arts first.