HUGE Training News...

I’ve been a bit quiet on all news pertaining to my training lately. There’s a very good reason for that, and here it is….I have a new trainer!!! I’m terribly, terribly excited about my new trainer but am seriously sensitive to the fact that Sammy was just perfect for my first year of training. With her help and guidance we not only made it to the comp, we did bloody good too!!

So why the change? I have to be honest – it’s a compulsion I have. Throughout my married life I’ve had many occasions where I really, really didn’t want to tell Rob what I done/bought/didn’t do, but I always caved!! Not sure why!! Sometimes it was just madness to do so but there I’d go, blurting out the truth in a rush of words, hoping to ease my conscience somewhat. Actually, I recall once in my life where I told a great, big, fat lie. I shudder to think of it even now – so many years later. And I couldn’t move on from it. I cried and hid under the blankets and spent endless hours asking myself why I had been so stupid as to tell such a big porky. Talk about walking under a black cloud for weeks after that and my family really suffered as a result of my terrible guilt. At that point I vowed and declared that NEVER AGAIN would I fib like that. I later read an article by a female Police Commissioner who said that the softest pillow she ever lay on at night was the pillow of a clear conscience. It stuck with me like super glue and it’s so very true. So while I try to use good discretion with what I say and when, I try to keep it really honest.

I digress. Trainer change. Towards the end of my training for the Darwin comp last year, I was issued a nutrition plan unlike any I had ever seen before in my life, and one that I would be happy to not clap eyes on again. Many of you know what it consisted of and it wasn't a pretty sight. I think being a police officer for those years and working in that hierarchy, it suited my personality to be told what to do and how to do it. Results were more important than the method. So in relation to my training, I did it because I was told to. And I proudly followed it to a tee. I didn’t look to the left or the right and I didn’t even really question why I was doing what I was doing. Possibly I had no energy to ask the questions actually. On top of this diet, I was completing 3 hours of combined cardio and weight training per day. Exhausting is an understatement. The understatement of the year. While following this regime I continued to be a Mother of three, a wife to a shift worker, school banking lady, Personal Trainer, YMCA gym worker and the proud facilitator of two Bootcamps each week. For those who like number crunching, I would say my calorie intake was under 1000 per day – easily. I started my exercise at 5.30am and ended my day at about 9pm.

Result? Winning two divisions and the overall title, then continuing to the Nationals where I came 4^th in my class. Brutal as it was, it worked, and I even felt that it all paid off with the success that came. But somewhere deep in my gut, way way way down inside, I had a niggle…..that I wasn’t doing my body any favours. I couldn’t justify my feeling with anything other than common sense but I was willing to accept that common sense might not prevail when it comes to comp prep. But, all the same, I started trawling every site I could to gain more knowledge. Time and again I saw my prep plan repeated and felt happy that at least I was in good company.

Then, one day, I stumbled across another site and read a short story about a woman who trained ferociously for her first comp. The story implied that she over-trained and under-ate but still went on to win everything she entered. She continued in this fashion until her world began collapsing in a heap of physical and psychological malfunctions. I certainly hadn’t gotten to that point but I can see so clearly that I would get there. I’m way too militant in my approach to just about everything and would keep the regime firing even if I was on deaths’ door. Sounds crazy but that's just the zone I get into when I'm heading toward a goal - singled focused, even tunnel-visioned. Then the story went on to talk about the new approach she took to continue with great results while looking after herself in the process. It doesn’t give away too much but it clearly states that there IS another way that can achieve massive results while still nurturing the body with what it needs.

I was knocked out by this story! Seriously knocked out, a little dubious and fantastically curious. So I mulled on it for a few days before I got the courage to contact the trainer. Her name is Ingrid Barclay and she answered me immediately. And each sentence she gave me convinced me that she; knows what she’s talking about, is an honest and open person, and has a genuine desire to help people. Right there and then I decided I wanted her as my trainer and eventually asked her. To my absolute delight she agreed and I couldn’t be happier.

So what’s changed? My food increased by double. My training almost halved. Cardio cut back by 2/3. And I ‘get it’! I get why she is doing it. I don’t have all of the scientific knowledge but the fundamentals are sinking in and I’m enjoying it so much!!

Training wise? I’ve increased my compounds (deadlifts, squats, chest press etc) by between10-30kg. Sound too good to be true? It’s not. I’m honest. I have never gone into the gym and done a really half-assed workout. It’s not in my nature. Previous to Ingrid, I was lifting to my max. Now I’m better fuelled and I’m powering through what I could previously do. Do the numbers on the weights mean much to me? Not really. My intensity is what it’s all about and the numbers are merely a way to follow my progress.

So it’s 12 weeks to go. Fresh and new outlook. The grey cloud I felt looming with the thought of serious deprivation has gone. We have a new strategy and only the results will talk. That doesn’t necessarily mean wining either. It means having a healthy shredded body, ready to do my best on comp day. I can’t control the judges unfortunately so I must be happy with my prep and take the best result I can.

So I'm on track. I'm happy, healthy and pleased to announce that Mrs Cranky Pants (thanks for that name Michelle!!) may be toned down just a little prior to the competition. That doesn't mean Bootcamp will get any easier though! That would just be taking the piss!!