Life Lyn Style

Yesterday, my week of learning continued with a water exercise instructor class for the Arthritis Foundation Aquatic Program.  The class was held at the JCC, so it was convenient for me to take the class.  Out of 13 participants, there were only 3 of us who had never taught an exercise class before.  I found the class to be very informative.  We learned a bit about the Arthritis Foundation, class set up, logistics, lesson plans, and most importantly the exercises.  The day was divided up with about 6 hours of classroom instruction and 2 hours of pool instruction.

During the pool instruction, we learned about recovery and rescue for a bit.  Then, we tried a few exercises with some of the permitted equipment.  We also had to swim 25 yards and tread water for a minute.  The bulk of the pool time consisted of us each teaching part of a sample class to the other participants.  It was fun!

After the pool time, we changed and headed back to the classroom for our test and wrap up.  I didn’t have any problems with the test and passed with flying colors.

To actually be certified as an instructor, I need to teach 6 classes in the next 6 months.  The JCC offers and Arthritis Foundation water exercise class three times a week. Even with our great staff of instructors, we always seem to be in the need for subs. I’m hoping to teach on a semi regular basis at some point.  The 6 classes shouldn’t be a problem for me to achieve.

Now, I’m considering getting the MS certification along with the regular water aerobics certification.  There is so much to learn and so little time.  Maybe I’ll write a bucket list soon.

I’ve been busy the last few weeks, but I am still getting my workouts in (even if is squats while strawberry picking).

Last week, when we met with our trainer, I completed the following:

2 sets of the following:

• Lateral Band Walk w/ Shoulder Press 5lb x length of gym x 2
• Single Arm Rope Pulldown 20lb x 20ea
• Single Arm Overhead Lunge 8lb x 20ea leg
• Dumbbell Chest Press/Fly Combo on ball 10lb x 20
• Step up + Lateral Lunge x 12ea leg
• Punching Back Extension 5lb x 6punches x 15
• Shoulder Alphabet 5lb
• Shoulder Retraction 20lb x 20

1 set:

• Single Leg V-Up x 15ea
• Bar Fwd/Bkwd Row 6lb x :30ea

Today, my partner and crime worked out with our trainer.  After a 5 minute warm up on the spin bike, I completed the following:

1 set of the following:

• Single arm/leg V-ups x 20ea
• Straight Arm Back Extension x 20

2 sets of the following:

• Cable Single Arm Chest Press 30lb x 15ea
• Shoulder Circuit 2.5lb x 8 reps x 6 exercises
• Bus Drivers 45lb bar x 40total
• Walking Band Figure-8s x length of gym

3 sets of the following:

• Kneeling Bosu Lat Pulldown 50lb x 20
• Overhead Lunge x 20ea
• Cable Good Mornings 50lb x 30
• Walking Lateral Lunges x length of gym

I suspect my arms and shoulders will be particularly sore tomorrow!  Our summer schedules are quite hectic with lots of travel, so my trainer workouts will be more sporadic, but I plan on exercising on the road and in town as often as possible.

Usually, my trainer workout is on Thursday, but due to scheduling conflicts, we moved it to Monday this week.  I cringed almost immediately when Jen said that we were heading to the gym.

I really hate the gym workouts.  They are outside of my comfort zone and they are extremely difficult for me.  I guess that means that I need more practice.

It probably didn’t help that I was tired and had taken my typical Monday morning spin class earlier.

I tried not be grumpy as we did this workout-

2 sets of the following:

• Side Shuffles 1/2 court x 2
• Tennis Ball Shuttle Run 5 balls x 2
• Wall sit 2 x :30sec
• Overhead Walking Lunge 18lb bar x 1/2 court x 2
• Multi-Directional Reaction 3 x :30sec w/ :15sec rest
• Curl + Press 18lb x 30
• Bicycles 2 x :30sec w/ :15sec rest

1 set of:

• Pushup Walk 1/4 court

I’m not much of a jumper or runner so anything involving running and shuffling isn’t so fun.

The pushup walk was impossible.  I tried and fell at least 3 times.  I only made it a few feet.  Remember when you were little and used to bear walk for fun?  Imagine that from a traditional push up position.  Fun right?

I must admit that I left this workout a little defeated.  But, I’ll be right back at it next week.

A few weeks back, I mentioned that I was reading books about swim workouts and drills.  My friend Lyle offered to help in this area.  He’s wanting to get in the pool more and I want to figure out some workouts/drills.  It was a perfect combination.

My partner in crime had another commitment yesterday, so Lyle and I made plans to meet at the pool.  He had sent me the workout earlier in the week.  I wasn’t sure what I had gotten myself into.

When I showed up, he had the workout printed and laminated.    It was great!

Warm Up

• 4 lengths flutter kick with kickboard

Workout

• 4 Lengths Front Crawl
• 2 Lengths with paddles
• 2 Lengths without paddles
• 4 Lengths Front Crawl
• 2 Lengths with buoys
• 2 Lengths with buoys and paddles
• 4 Lengths Breaststroke

Cool Down

• 4 Lengths Flutter Kick
• 2 Lengths Front
• 2 Lengths Back

So, the workout was basically a 100 yard warm up, 300 yards of drills, and 100 yards of cool down for a total of 500 yard swim.  I really enjoyed having a workout set up like this.  Usually, swimming laps is boring and hard to keep track of.  Because we were switching things up so much, it was easy to know when we were done with each part.

I didn’t know what paddles were.  I really enjoyed using them.  You can really feel the difference in stroke power and resistance with them.  I can’t wait to order my own pair.  I had used a pull buoy before, but only a few times.  It forces you to engage your buttocks while you use just your arms to move through the water.

My worst hundred yards was the breaststroke.  I still am not proficient.  I need to keep practicing.

I definitely got a great workout.  It took just over 30 minutes and that included a bit of instruction and chatting along the way.  Today, I found myself tired, but not really sore.  It’s a good feeling.

Lyle’s going to create another workout for next week.  I can’t wait.