Kate Rita- Personal Trainer and Diastasis Expert

I need to blog. It's been too long and I have been run off of my feet. With a new Pfilates certification under my belt, I have a growing arsenal of tools for the new clients coming on board every week. I have tons of workouts to post, recipes to share and general information updates to make. It's on the to-do list ;) Stay tuned.....

This week I have not used the weight machine much as my wrists have been sore and recovering. I did a small set with the guys to do some "grip testing" in an attempt to adjust the set up of the machine for better form. The problem with the Universal is the way the machine adjusts- seat height and position are simply notches - the adjustments are bell-curve incremental. I can't refine it to the perfect position which will give me perfect form. Dang machines. What is interesting (although a bit demoralizing) is that with better position/form I am only benching 30lbs, not the 60 I thought I was up to. It never ceases to amaze me how much "better" you can perform with crap form (but not for long before injury takes you down!) Whenever I  reign in my runners' form they invariably slow down and then complain about how much faster they run "their" way. You may run a 1:35 Half, but how will your performance stand the test of time? Poor form over thousa...

On June 9th I hope to become a certified Pfilates instructor. There have been changes in the way we approach Ab Rehab at Core Expectation, and Pfilates has been a big part of that. The most recent research as well as our own experience in the field has shown that the Tupler Technique, while effective, is aggressive and may create other problems through the core. These imbalances can include too much intra-abdominal pressure on the pelvic floor muscles resulting in a dysfunction, as well as lateral spine and thorax rotation ROMs reduced, as in chest gripping. Kim Vopni of Epi-No Canada will be giving the course along with the creator, Dr. Crawford on June 19, 2012. The course is available for fitness professionals only and I believe it is booked full. I am so very excited to attend! Not only will I have another completely practical certification I have the opportunity to spend an academic day with my team, learning! How fun is that :)

Accompanying all of the delicious food I just blogged out were some serious late night workouts. I have been very busy training clients which leaves me always backed up with paperwork. I do my best to work diligently all day so that I earn my 9PM "check out" to hit the gym and clear my mind/work my body. We had 2 pretty serious weight training sessions where I pushed my max weight and reps to test myself. The result? I am happy with my strength and muscular balance (so far) but my wrists have been killing me :( I took a big 4 day break, working out calisthenics with clients only, and even then I laid off the tricep pushups for 2 entire days. On Monday evening we were joined by the fiancee of a client of mine who is interested in more effectively integrating plyometrics into his weight training program in order to round-out his approach to fitness. I took him through a few sets and kicked his butt- Core trio, Pike jump overs, Knee Raises..... you all know the drill lo...

It's been a busy 10 days since I blogged and a lot of eatins been going on! I was given a beautiful BBQ last weekend by my friend Maria (thank you!) which inspired some sizzling meat menus to accompany our strength push in the gym. It all started with that big meat sale we scored at Sobey's last week :) ........... This is a load of chicken breasts & thighs that lasted us for days. We BBQ'ed in the garage after a workout on Sunday. It was fun :) ---> <--- BBQ Chicken, steamed greens, steamed potatoes, tomatoes & cucumbers with homemade dressing. Mmmm. This was the official BBQ celebration feast post workout. Perfect fuel for replenishing!  We had lots leftover that then served to accompany several days worth of meals:  <---Chicken with 3 delicious salads that were shared with me by my friend & client Sue. Let's see if I can remember- a chick pea salad, Mediterranean spinach with feta, and a Quinoa vegetable salad, served with homemade...

 This week we are making a push, hitting the gym every night at 9PMish for an hour long strength workout. We are using the new Universal machine, adding calisthenic sets during active rest. The reps are adding up and anyone who knows me knows that the "rep whore" in me is loving that lol! We logged 5 workouts in 7 days; I also logged a good number of reps in session with clients, and although they aren't max effort, they do add up. This summer the plan is to add muscle! With 2 good years of solid calisthenics/body weight training I feel ready to pump a bit. I know I have a solid foundation of strength, balance, agility, coordination and damn near perfect form to support pushing some weight. I can already see big changes in my body over the past 6 months and I am excited to see where I'll be in September. Please notice the missing reps on the guys' scores. They suck at logging and I resent being secretary ;) Today I ran 9K in 50:00- about a 5:45. My...

This week has been all about making a push! With workouts in high gear post race, we are hitting the gym a lot and paying attention to the nutrition supporting these workouts. Here is a snapshot of how we are eating, high in protein for weight training on the Universal machine. We are building muscles baby! <--- Oatmeal breaded chicken strips with seamed potato, steamed beets, quinoa rice, steamed greens, apple slices w/homemade apple sauce/butter, cucumber, snow peas, sour cream.  Homemade perogies. Heart shaped :) --->;  Potato & Cheese with homemade pasta wrap. <---- We bought these beautiful steaks at The Apple Factory last weekend. It was served with asparagus stalks (a but tough but we steam them extra long and enjoy the high dose of fibre- pragmatism over aesthetics lol), steamed beets, homemade apple sauce/butter, snow peas, tomatoes, dandelion root stir fry & homemade pasta. We are certainly focusing on high protein meals. Today w...