Lisa gives Pilates a go

Lisa with Rach, Suna Pilates instructor

Standing, Walking, Breathing. These are all things we do everyday and don't really think about actually how we do it.

Watch Video here and find out what the huffing and puffng is all about

But as I discovered at my recent trip to trial a Suna Pilates class at the newly opened studio in Whagaparoa, I was doing them all wrong! Or at least not in the most efficient way.

I thought Pilates was going to be something like Yoga. You know, alot of stretching, holding body positions and being very Ommmmm.

But to my surprise Pilates is very similar to the normal exercise I would give my clients but Pilates makes you do it alot more slowly as the aim is to initiate the core before any other movement in that exercise.

The introductory session focused on posture and breathing. I know, sounds simple eh. Everybody stands and breathes, and most of us have done it most of our lives. But we aren't doing it to our maximum benefit. I know I have the worst posture, I slouch when I stand or sit, which I think attributes to my bad lower back, hips and knees.

So in this class taken by Suzie, who apparently is the Pilates guru about town, showed us some pointers on how to correct even the way we stand. She said most women stand and walk with our feet slightly pointed outwards, which automatically tracks our knees and hips outwards...which attributes to some of our back and knee problems. I think she was talking about me!

Suzie said it all comes down to controlling your posture, then gave us this exercise to do. You could try it at home to see if it makes a difference to you. I know it did to me. Firstly stand with your feet pointed straight forward. At first you feel abit pidgeon toed as you're not used to 'track' your legs like that. Then pretend you have a tattoo on the inside of your thighs which you're trying to squeeze outwards to the front. Automatically you'll feel your butt clenching. At the same time you should also try and flex your transverse abs which is above your pubic bone so that your pelvis is pointed under. So hard to describe! but hope you know what I mean.

Since that class I've been practicing standing and walking with my feet straighter. Sure makes a difference to how my knees feel. I'd also been concentrating on contracting my transverse abs abit more and remembering not to slouch! I've transferred this to the gym too, especially squats. Before I even squat down I contract my abs. Then as I'm pushing upwards, I push my knees outwards which make my butt squeeze more and the weight is actually easier to push up...and it saves my back.

Lisa breaks her plateau, 20 Jan 09

Yippeee! I feel I've really broken through some of my training plateaus this week. For the past couple of weeks I've been in a serious powerlifting/mass training plan training in a 2 day split but training each bodypart twice a week. Only doing 2 exercises, 4 sets 6-8 reps per bodypart mind you. At first this was hard to do as I was used to training one bodypart once a week but with about 4 exercises per bodypart.

But since I'm not in control on my own training, I've had to go with what my trainer ie my partner Grahame tells me. Its been going great, this mass building is hard stuff and it makes me so hungry. So I've decided to not focus so much on loosing weight - I know a trap many fall into and I almost went in head first! Instead I'll just focus on decreasing my bodyfat.

Was really proud of myself the last Leg and Back day as I really put my mind to it and willed myself to lift the weights. The session began with One Arm Rows. My back is wide enough but rows are great to build thickness. I did 5 sets (1 warm up set) and by the end of the 5th set I graduated into kgs. The weights at the Environment gym are in pounds up until 55lb but now yay I can finally pick up the 27.5kg and do 8 reps. Is that hardcore or what? mind you I did have to use straps as my grip is quite weak.

Then it was a couple of sets of rear delts at the pec dec machine and on to an exercise I have a Love/Hate relationship with .....the Squat. But its the best exercise to build over mass and strength, and that's what I need.

27.5kg Row	65kg Squat
	Right: It wasn't all work in the weekend, I did have to go and shop for some new cars. I couldn't decide between the Aston Martin DBS or the Audi R8. So I left them at the Supercar show at SkyCity for them to look after while I mull it over...in my dreams! I'm putting more pics of the pretty cars on show on my facebook.

Water works for faster fat loss, 13 Jan 09

HOT HOT HOT! is anyone else suffering under this heat? I know I am. I mean, I love the sunshine and all but I don't think my body's loving the effects so much. Last week I felt really lethargic, light headed and even when I bent down and tied my shoes I got a dizzy spell. At night when I lie down to go to bed the room spins on me! does anyone else feel like that? Maybe I have low blood pressure. Gosh I sound like such a hypercondriac.

If I was someone else reading this I'd probably say I got a small case of heat exhaustion. "Are you drinking enough Lisa?" I'd ask. And that was probably the critical question, I know I don't drink enough water normally so now that we're well and truly into summer I have to guzzle water down double time. When I'm walking outside I'm armed with my water bottle and shade my head with a cap but still I get the occasional dizzy spell so probably walking in the afternoon probably isn't a good idea. If the weather stays like this I think Trixie will have to wait till after dinner for her walk and I'll do my cardio indoors with the fan on and be more comfortable watching the TV!

Anyway, back to the moral of this story which is WATER. I thought it would be timely to outline the benefits of having plenty of it in the body. As you know, the human body is about two-thirds water. Water is involved in every function of the body. It helps transport nutrients and waste products in and out of cells. It is necessary for all digestive, absorption, circulatory, and excretory functions, as well as for the utilization of the water-soluble vitamins. It is also needed for the maintenance of proper body temperature.

If you don't drink enough water for your weight, environment and activity, you may develop the following classic signs and symptoms such as: Headaches, Poor concentration, Tiredness, Increased risk of developing kidney infections and Constipation.

Addition: Metabolic Water (that which is formed from metabolic function) accounts for approximately 10-14% of our total body water. In a woman expending 2500cal per day this is approx 300-400ml. Approx 1L comes from food, leaving the other 1300-1400ml to come from fluid intake. For someone who expends more energy in a day or who is working in a hotter environment or sportsperson this fluid amount will be higher, and then of course how much are they sweating, in which case electrolytes then become just as crucial as the fluid intake.

2-3L is plenty for your average hour a day gym nut depending on the amount of cardio also - someone who's at the gym sweating it out on the treadmill will probably need a little more than a weight trainer. People can work out how much water they're losing per exercise session. Just weigh before and after and add the amount of water drunk. eg 70kg to start, 69.5kg to finish and drunk 1000ml of water. 70-69.5+1=1.5L of fluid lost, which would be the extra on top of the 1L normal water.

Lisa's Sublime 09 Kickstart Plan

Happy New Year everybody! hope you all had a great break and ready to tackle the challenges of 2009 whatever they maybe.

Now the party's over! But who's still got remnance of all that lingering christmas spirit? No, I don't mean all the warm fuzzies of being with family and sharing the joys of being together over the festive period. I mean the 'jingling', not of the christmas bells, but of the extra padding you've gained on your hips from the excess food and drink that you've indulged in over the past month!

Hands up all those who've got the jingles. Yes even you who don't dare to step on the scales in case you can't handle the frightening number that might stare back at you. You probably don't even have to step on the scales to know a couple of kgs have crept on. You can tell by the way your clothes are feeling tighter and you've had to loosen your belt. But don't worry, I sympathise with you as I'm also in that situation. The ghost of christmas past (or should that be carbs) has caught up with me...yikes.

So I'll put my hand up and join the jigglers too! Since finishing my comp 2 months ago, I've really been pushing the limits of what and how much I can eat so that I have plenty of calories to put on muscle. I have been training pretty hard and heavy so I didn't just eat with no training - now that would be sinful!

I've deliberately been a little 'bad'. Not bad like eating fat laden foods, eating for the sake of eating kind of bad. But just eating more carbs at each meal, eating extra fruit - even some at night....oooh naughty naughty, more meat and fattier parts of chicken like chicken drumsticks and thighs..oohh another naughty naughty. During the christmas week I also had more chocolates and ice cream than I should.

left: Santa gave me 3kg for christmas! how much did he give you?

No wonder I'm now 58kg! from 52kg on 14 Nov 08. But there is some good news from my weight gain as it wasn't all fat. I have put some size on my upper body and increase my overall mass. Ideally I'd like my normal weight to be 55kg which will be manageable and at least at that weight I'll be able to see some definition. But at the moment there's a nice coating of carbs, salt, water and ofcourse fat putting a layer over my newly grown millimetres of muscle right now.

Lisa gives Pilates a go

Lisa breaks her plateau, 20 Jan 09

Water works for faster fat loss, 13 Jan 09

Lisa's Sublime 09 Kickstart Plan

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