Adventures In Cross Training

We're sure many of you have heard it, we have talked a bit about it, but cross training is something that many people skip when they are training. The beauty of cross training is that it breaks up your training program and gives your body a break. Plus you then aren't doing the same thing over and over and over again. Not to mention you might even get to use a different set of muscles! It doesn't have to be anything extensive, you could add in walking, some core work, strength training, wave running (this is one of our personal favorites during the summer) or even yoga.

Yoga is something Andrea got into a couple years ago and she loved it. Her favorite was hot yoga. She loved it because she was able to feel the toxins leave her body while strengthening and elongating her muscles. As with anything people love she wanted to share it with Tegan and her husband. So one day after about the 1,000 times of asking she finally talked them into going. The following is Tegan's account of that disastrous hour and half.

So Andrea started doing hot yoga and fell in love with it; I being the awesome supportive friend I am, begrudgingly agreed to go with her and Adam once to try this out. Now I was SUPER out of shape but some where in the back of my head I kept thinking, I use to do this when I was on the crew team I can do it without a problem. Here's the thing about that... I was probably 90-100 pounds heavier that morning than I was in college, I had never been so out of shape in my life and to this day I will maintain Andrea didn't fully disclose everything that would happen that morning.

The night before she reminds me to bring a litter of water, this should have been my first warning, and a towel, warning number two. I show up all ready to do this. Let me tell you I had talked myself into this, I was going to knock this out of the park, they are going to be so impressed by my beginner skills they would be basically having me teaching the class by the end of it. Boy was I wrong.

I check in and the lady said the intermediate class will start in a couple minutes. Ummmmm... What? I thought this was a beginners class! Here's warning number three. You know three strike and your out? I should have ran so fast in the opposite direction. But the three of us set up in the back of the class, Andrea between Adam and I. Let me take this moment to tell you all that Adam and I are basically the same person, just opposite genders. I'm sure this is why we are in Andrea's life.

The class starts out easy, I'm still convinced I'm going to rock it, I know a lot of these moves from my crew days. Although I'm not as limber and my core strength is leaving a lot to be desired! But then the room starts to warm up. And I mean we are basically in the firey pits of hell my friends. The window behind us have foged up, I'm pretty sure there's no escaping this torture at this point. I check the clock, 10 minutes have gone by. I turn to Andrea about the time Adam does to remark that I'm glad there was only 50 minutes left. This is the point when she informs the both of us that it's an hour and a half class. I can't repeat what came out of our mouths but let me tell you it was not what you should be saying while doing yoga!

Over the  next hour and 10 minutes we twist our body into shapes that are beyond human. It wasn't long into the experience that I figured out why you needed the towel. There was sweat coming out of places I didn't know knew how to sweat. The instructor would say put your hand on the middle of your leg. Look you crazy skinny, not sweating, super zen lady, if I could actually keep it there I would but I'm pretty sure there's an ocean of sweat coming out of my body at this moment that is making it a very difficult process! I wish someone had taped us for the running cometary Andrea was hearing from each side. Adam and I are convinced it was pretty epic, I'm sure it was actually just the two of us cussing her out and tell her how much we hated her for suggesting this.

Am I glad I went? That's debatable. It's good to know I'm not made to do hot yoga, and still to this day I have nightmares about it.

Obviously not every one of our cross training experiences have ended this way. But when you try something new you never really know what you are going to get. We would love to here some of your cross training experiences. Please share them with us!

Remember, you've got this!

Fitster Sisters

The Weight Roller Coaster

Have you ever weighed your self knowing you've been on point that week, haven't missed a workout and ate smart all week just to see the scale go up? Losing weight and maintaining it is a never ending battle. One we personally are fighting each and every day.. Even after logging more miles than we can count,, we both still struggle with our weight. We are here to say the struggle is real and it's NORMAL!!!

Looking at the weight numbers fluctuating is similar to being on a roller coaster of emotions. One day, we are extremely happy with our progress and the next day we've told each other we will just give up! Nothing is worse then not being able to change from a weight you've been seeing forever. This is especially the case when you feel as though you are doing everything right. Let us be the first to tell you this is the time to not give up! It's okay to have a bad day, and it's okay to feel like you need to feed those feelings. We have hose days more than we probably should. Go ahead and have that bad day if it makes you feel better, but the next day pick yourself up and get back on the horse. Sometimes it helps to get back to the basics. 

If you are training, doctors have told us it's normal to fluctuate up or down 8-10 pounds from your normal weight. Yes you read that correctly, 8-10 pounds!! In our own training we have found this to be completely true, and it drives us nuts. Actually both of us are currently dealing with this. Usually this is the point where people start exsercising more and eating less, while in theory this might work it's not actually the case. Remember to feed your body. It might be our normal tendency when we gain weight to not eat but when running several miles; the fact is that we need major nutrition. Be safe and take care of yourself!

This is an important time to remind you ladies out there; if you are eating less than 1200 calories a day you are putting your body into starvation mode. You know what happens when it goes into starvation mode? You body will store everything it can and start breaking down your muscles. We aren't sure about you but personally we would like to keep our muscle and get rid of the fat. This can only be achieved if you are feeding your body.

Related: Dieting Again?!...

Something else to keep in mind, take some time for yourself and don't be too frustrated.  Go have some fun, a night where you allow yourself to enjoy yourself. Recently we treated ourselves to a dinner out and the Bobby Bones show! It was just what we needed as we finished up a training schedule. 

As always don't forget you've got this!

The Fitster Sisters