Storm's-a-Blowin'

The rain was coming down harshly, and the wind picked up pretty intensely this morning. Nicole said that she was worried that the wind might knock the trees out of the ground!. Lol. And she jokingly expressed her fear that the wind would tear apart the building we were in. She made sure I kept my eye on the big oak tree in fornt of the studio...to make sure we'd have enough warning to run if it got knocked over! The weather definitely caused for entertainment and amusement.

Despite the stormy weather, Nicole kept my body heated with an intense regiment of exercises! I started with bicep curls...switching off every other arm. I also lifted the weights up with straight arms, out to my sides. I did these exercises, back to back, repeatedly until my arms were burning.

Then, I rolled on over to the TRX. With my w.chair tilted back, I did a number of pull-ups, putting pressure though my feet, and lifting my butt up, off the w.chair. After, Nicole un-reclined my w.chair so that I was pulling myself more straight-up. I picked-up the speed for these pull-ups. Nicole referred to the pull-ups by saying, "The speedy ones...You know, like those one's where I made you sick!"Ahhh, yes. The ones that brought me to the brink of puking.

Well, luckily, I didn't upset my stomach, and we continued our workout with some leg exercises. Nicole had me tilt the chair back a ways, and I did leg-lifts. To make it more of a challenge, she held my foot down with a resistance band. With the restraint from the band, I felt my thigh muscles working hard! So, I did leg-lifts with each leg (the left leg much stronger than the right), and then I raised my knees straight up with the resistance band, individually.

Next, with my w.chair sitting-up, I did these arm exercises with a new, stronger resistance band. I pulled inwards with my right arm, then switched to my left arm. Good lord, that was intense!

Then, Nicole switched to the "easy" resistance band. With that, I was asked to hold the band with both hands...about 10 inches apart. Then, I repeatedly spread my arms apart with straight arms, and slowly returning my hands back "together." Nicole did the exercise with me to prove that it wasn't just difficult for me. (That was sweet, but I definitely seemed to struggle more than the PERSONAL TRAINER!)

After, I did the same thing, just above my head. I just laughed at that request, but, of course, I did it.

Lastly, Nicole had me open & close both hands. The left hand can easily open & close, it was much more difficult to do so with the right hand. Nicole also had me place my hands in the prayer position, raising and lowering my hands. Of course, this sounds pretty elementary, but I suppose you gotta start somewhere! It's crazy how difficult something so basic can be for my right hand! Oh well...practice makes perfect.