Kettlebells with PT Luca Meriano

Luca's kettlebells. Don't let the pastel shades fool you, they're not metrosexual.

While I can still type, I'm posting about a kettlebell workshop I went to today. I fear that tomorrow will be too late.

Luca Meriano ran a three-hour beginners kettlebell workshop at The Gym on Waterloo Place in Edinburgh. A new skill for me, a new teacher, and a new venue.

The Gym is a cavernous, white, modern 24 hour gym with plenty of space in the matted area for Luca to teach 9 of us the basics of kettlebells. It was clean, well equipped and (despite being the most central gym location you could imagine in Edinburgh), didn't seem full of posers. Which I liked.

Luca was a great teacher. He broke everything down very clearly. His instructions were really succinct and he took the time to check we were all managing the moves. Everyone got individual feedback throughout the class, one to one. Luca was thoroughly professional and  knowledgeable and I can't think of anything else I would ask for.

Me and the teacher!

Kettlebells will leave me with more bruising than a pole dance class, I suspect. Luca says that this is common to start with, but with practice you develop better control and stop whacking your forearms with the kettlebell!

Luca told me that kettlebell moves use up to 80 muscles. Even a shoulder press-type move uses the whole chain of muscles from your feet to your hands overhead. Two hours on and I'm starting to believe it... I'm not sure I felt this achey after my last marathon!

We had a very thorough warm-up before learning how to swing, clean, snatch and squat. Doesn't actually sound much when you list it like that, but after two hours I was feeling ready to go home. It was the cleans that I really struggled with by the end, because every time I racked the kettlebell, I was thumping it off the outside of my forearm. By the final sequence my left arm was in too much pain for me to finish - not the 'good workout' pain but the 'dropped an iron on my arm' type pain. Still, I'm assured it's just a beginners ailment and it's about timing.

The squats were not the forward-tipping Body Pump variety but real ass-to-the-grass hip-openers. After about 40 of those today, I fear my training run tomorrow will be in jeopardy. It occurs to me now that I didn't know I could do ass-to-the-grass squats until today, and why didn't I know that? Well, because nobody's ever asked me to do them, so I didn't know I could. Which is quite depressing, actually, as a bit of a sign that I don't push myself to try new stuff.

Far from only working the upper body, even when they're overhead kettlebells are really intense on your lower body, as you push from the hips to get the momentum for the moves. Squeezing the glutes protects your lower back from strain so it works your ass like crazy - before you even begin those squats!

The class, still smiling after three gruelling hours!

I used an 8kg (pleasantly pink) or a 10kg (baby blue) kettlebell. Luca has his own stash of them, the size and standard required for competition. They were colourful, but Luca warned us off the smaller (but not lighter) gym's-own kettlebells, describing them as 'metrosexual' (I did LOL).

Luca told me that having good flexibility and mobility in my hips meant that my kettlebell technque was good. Who knew, bellydance and kettlebells are odd, but complementary, bedfellows. Hurray.

I'm plan to use kettlebells again, even if they are the metrosexual kind that Edinburgh Leisure supplies.  Luca suggested 50 squats, 50 snatches and some core work as an all-over general workout in 20 minutes. I need to remember to squeeze my glutes, keep my elbow in and swing the other arm!

Great workshop, great to learn some new skills!

BodyAttack

Ooh, did I just find my favourite gym class ever?!

There's nothing new about BodyAttack, it's just that I've never tried it before. I think it's the 'attack' bit that put me off, but it turns out that BodyCombat is the martial arts class and that BodyAttack isn't. Edinburgh Leisure helpfully describes the class as "A simple, motivating and satisfying workout which will deliver results... using high energy interval training techniques", which doesn't exactly give much away and is probably why I've avoided it for so long.

D'y'know what it was? Aerobics!

When I say aerobics, I think of these key components:

• Start the move. Do it four times. Change the move. Do it four times. Repeat.
• Have music on.
• Do different sets of moves to different  music.
• Use these moves: grapevines, sidesteps, run forward, clap. Jumping jacks, squats, lunges. Kicks, skaters, plyometric jumps. Knee lifts, knee repeats. (plenty of old skool aerobics moves!)
• No weights. 
• Abs track at the end, on a mat.
• Sweat plenty.

What a buzz!

I felt really nicely knackered by the end of it, nothing totally killed me (well, a final set of squat pulses at the end was kinda horrible, but this was my second workout of the day) and I felt like I'd 'done enough', which is a feeling I don't get from many classes.

It helped that the teacher at Meadowbank, Vicky, was really good - no nonsense, great cueing, clear demonstrations; that the class wasn't so busy that I couldn't see; and the music was - well, it was okay, I won't say it was any better than that - more crowd-pleasers would've been good.

I liked it better than Zumba because I didn't feel like an idiot doing daft moves.
I liked it better than Sh'Bam because I didn't feel like a complete idiot doing really daft moves.
I liked it better than BodyPump because I sweated plenty and got to jump about.
I liked it better than BodyCombat because there was more counting to 4 and only really easy technique.

BodyAttack is now my gym class of the moment! What's yours?

College Interview Day

I arrived at Jewel & Esk College at 0845 for my 0900 interview and at least 20 others were there already! I tried hard not to notice that they were pretty much all younger than me, but it’s quite hard to not notice when some of them have their mums with them, or are wearing school uniform!

I was feeling good, positive and reasonably confident, even if my subconscious told a different story. Last night I had my recurrent stress dream about missing the start of a race and not being able to run - with a new, added extra scene where I went to the loo and a hand came out of the u-bend and grabbed my bum!

When all 55 of us had arrived, we were lead through the building to a theatre space where we were introduced to 4 of the 5 teaching staff in the Health & Fitness Department, and the 1-year HNC course was outlined for us. First in the room, I walked straight up to the front and sat on the floor – I found it strange that anybody would want to skulk at the back but most people did, and had to be cajoled to the front so that everyone could get in the door!

There have been 200 applications for 40 places on the HNC course. Lots of the applicants were already Telford students who’d studied access courses in the last year to try to get a place on the NHC course, but we were assured that when it comes to awarding places, we were all equal.

News to me was that the college is to merge with two other Edinburgh colleges – Telford and Stevenson – in October, and as yet there’s no decision on where further health & fitness courses will be delivered. 

After a good while of listening, sticky numbers were distributed for us all to wear on our fronts. I was lucky number 40! With 40 places on the course, I do hope it’s a good omen!

The first part of our assessment was a short exercise to music class, lead by one of the tutors, Gillian. She made it clear that the point wasn’t to be perfect, but to throw yourself into it. Well, that’s right up my street, and the fact it was exercise to music was even better! Salsa moves, facing each wall, shoulder shimmies – I was in my element and grinned throughout. I suspect there are a lot of show-offs in a health & fitness class – but I couldn’t see because I was too busy being Up The Front!

Next was a bodyweight circuit with Simon – the meatiest of the tutors, and a graduate of the course. This was more challenging – squats, jump squats, press-ups, burpees and lots of static poses. Woah – I was wobbling by the end of those 10 minutes! Lots of the applicants had well-toned upper bodies and did the ‘manly’ option of jump-switching hand positions between push-ups – which is surely just showing off ;) Simon said he was impressed that nobody quit, and I suspect he wasn’t thinking too much about our technique!

We were split into groups according the month of our birthday – an exercise it getting us to speak to each other, but I’m not sure it worked. I was the only December birthday, which struck me as a bit spooky. 

Anyway, we were lead upstairs to some nice, modern, comfy classrooms with smartboards where we had a group discussion on how the fitness industry can tackle Scotland’s poor record of exercise and increasing obesity. Simon was to listen in to our discussions and assess us – he told us the trick was to keep talking and not be quiet. 

Most of the 5 people in my group managed to contribute usefully, although I found myself asking open questions, encouraging people to talk, and noticed that the others seemed to be addressing their comments to me – I didn’t *mean* to take on a tutor role but I suspect I did!

Finally, there was an interview booklet to fill in, with questions including:

“What is the difference between a health & fitness course and a sports-based course?”
“Where do you see yourself in five years?”
 “If you go to the gym, describe your typical workout, reps, weights, structure etc.”;

as well as a pie chart to fill in with details of your typical daily nutrition; a questionnaire to grade yourself on the type of learner you are (visual, auditory, kinetic); and a “fill in the name of the muscle, joint or bone” pop quiz. I wonder how many more of these I would have known the answer to if I’d done Higher PE.

Then there was a long and boring wait to be taken for a one-to-one interview with one of the staff.  My 10 minutes were with Mel, a former gym manager and currently teaching the course unit in ante- and post-natal fitness. She was very friendly and encouraging, and it felt much more like a chat about my goals and current work than a formal interview. The fact I didn’t have my 1989 SQA certificates didn’t seem to matter, she seemed happy enough to see my First Class Degree from Stirling University and my Post-Graduate Diploma from the CIPR. I don’t think there were many others like that around today.

I enjoyed my child-free time with a quick cup of tea in The Club – I’d been in the college for four hours and I was parched! I reflected that although the 200 applications for 40 places make it a tough course to get on to, I felt like I was the only one in the room who *really wanted* to get on the course – or at least the only one who gave that impression.

When I started my degree course in 1991, it was the only Film & Media course in Scotland (at that time!) and the competition was really tough. I later found out that the board had been impressed that I had Higher Physics, not that I’d been working in journalism in my year out. 

So, although it’s hard to predict what a college is looking for, if Jewel & Esk are looking for someone  smart and enthusiastic, who’s happy to throw themselves into any task, encourage others and really, really wants to be on their course,  they’ll want me on the basis of my performance today.

Marathon Training Week 1

This was my first week of marathon training. It was *varied*.

Tuesday was my first run. The weather was attrocious. Blowing a gale, rainy with sleet. I had 4 miles to run, well within my comfort zone, and if it hadn't been "my first run in my marathon training", I would NOT have gone out in it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a woos when it comes to getting out there. I have run three times a week, EVERY week through the winter. Snow has not stopped me, cold has not stopped me, rain has not stopped me. In fact, now that the streets are busier with runners, I feel quite sniffy that they've not been on the pavements through thick and thin, like I have. But when I heard the wind howling down my chimney, I knew it was not going to be the greatest run ever.

You know how we say that we never regret a run? Well I *very nearly* regretted this run. It was *miserable*. My face ached from the freezing blasts of wind and sleet. Every so often I'd be suspended in mid-step, unable to run through the force of the wind. Some roof slates crashed to the ground from a tenement as I ran past (scary!).

When I got home, I took off my clothes - full-length leggings, 2 tops and a jacket - and my skin was *burnt* underneath. I've never seen anything like it - bright red like sunburn on my legs, arms and tummy. Add to this the fact I was pretty stressed about running anyway, and I actually wanted to cry. What else could it be but an omen? The first run of my training was one of the worst runs of my life!

So for the rest of Tuesday, I was preoccupied with my imminent failure as a marathon runner. I was pretty close to logging on to the EMF site to register for the half marathon.

Wednesday's weather was a bit better for my 8 miles, but not much. Scaffolding was blowing loose above my head in Portobello. When I got home and discovered I'd actually only done 7.6 miles, I wanted to cry once more. It looked like half marathon for me.


Thursday morning I did 5 miles, to make up for being half a mile short on each of Tuesday and Wednesday. Thankfully it was a bright, clear spring morning. I went to Holyrood Park and really enjoyed the scenery. I did my 5 miles without any stress and felt much better. I could possibly conceive of continuing with my marathon efforts now, phew.

Today's run was 16 miles. I've never run 16 miles before, my max has been a half marathon at 13.1miles. I was a bit nervous. I had a lovely rest day yesterday, resting a lot and eating a lot (although failing to avoid sweeties and wheat as I'd hoped to do), and thinking about doing my 16 miles. With my bottle of water and energy gel, I hit the road at 5.20am.

Well, it was *amazing*. Just brilliant. It was cool and drizzly with light wind. For the first mile I felt nervous and ran too fast - running nervous is something I've only done on race days before, because my regular runs are for pure enjoyment. I worked hard at calming myself and listened to podcasts.

I ran to Cramond and back, with few little detours to make up the distance. I had a big grin on my face the whole way. I kept checking my watch to see how far I'd gone with my feelgood factor, planning to blog "I felt really happy until X miles" - but the bubble never burst, and I felt really happy all the way through. This is training, I thought. The nerves, the change of expectation from relaxed enjoyment to achievement, stepping up and realising that it *feels different*.

The little detours were lovely, just like when I'd just moved to Edinburgh and my runs to explore different streets in my neighbourhood. When I hit 16 miles - 2 hours 27 minutes - I had a wee walk before I got home, which was actually the hardest part of the run! My knees twinged and the change of muscles in use was challenging!

I wore my grin *all day*. was starving for my porridge and loved every mouthful, it tasted amazing. I danced with my daughter and tickled my son in a way I never usually have the energy to do on a Saturday. I dragged them out leafletting for the elections in the afternoon (they didn't enjoy that quite as much). It's dinner time and I still feel fantastic.

So today I added 6 miles to my regular run. That's a big step-up and there'll need to be stretching before bedtime. But it was *fine*. And now I feel like that marathon experience is in my reach after all.