Across the Board

Today I had two training sessions at the gym, one with one of the floor instructors and the other with Ben. The first session was pretty good, with initial plan being to concentrate on medium weights and focus on the form, and with a bit of pulsing thrown in to spice things up a tad. The second was with Ben, one of the personal trainers and one of my buddies. Admittedly, it started innocent enough. However, please be assured that innocence doesn't last long with Ben, as Ben trains hard.  But, like I said, it started innocently enough. You see, he got me out off my chair today and had me on the mat doing stuff; such as crawling, some crunches and even a few sit ups. I know that for many of you that ain't much of a big deal, but for me it was like stepping out of a comfort zone. You see, while I'm on my wheelchair, I feel in control. Heck, I am in control. I am also more or less on the same level as everyone else. I can transfer from 'chair to bed, 'chair to couch

With the previous week nothing more but a not so distant memory, I am looking forward to getting my butt kicked at the gym this time round.  Between the gym instructors, my personal trainer and one of my mates helping me, I will be doing a grand total of six and a half hours of fitness this week.  Considering I ended last week's cycle of training with heavy weights while doing Tabata-styled reps for my single cable flies and pull downs, I'm looking forward to seeing how far I can push my physical boundaries this week.  Hopefully soon I'll be adding pics of me training, but need to figure out the camera thingy on my latest cellphone.  In the interim, let me talk about my latest love affair:  Tabata Training. It's a form of interval training and one of the most effective types of high intensity interval training.  Short and sweet, lasting around for minutes per exercise, the programme gives you maximum results at the shortest time possible.  This training technique

It's just on nine o'clock on Saturday morning here in Dunedin, New Zealand, and I've been awake for two hours already.  With a second coffee within reach, it has been a perfect opportunity to just let my mind wonder about some ideas that had been jumbling about the last couple of days.  One such idea was the importance of a support network around us, and how much my own support network has helped me throughout the years and my relationship with it. Now, for those of you in the field of community social service provision and education would have come across Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model.  You know the one, with the micro, macro, meso circles and so forth.  To explain it, I stumbled across this youtube video that explains it in two minutes flat: You see, Bronfenbrenner essentially linked networking as an important element of human development and that each of the systems within the model influences one another either directly or not so.  Admitted

One of the coolest things about any fitness programme is seeing your body change. Below are pictures of my torso, check them out: Yeap, that's my front. I like to think that I'm just solidly built, considering the back: Have no idea what these bumps are, both have been there since I was born. Finally, the right side: Ok, I'll be the first to admit that I have a few extra kilograms that need to be turned into muscle.  Having said that, I have been sitting when the photos were taken. Hopefully in a couple of months we'll see change.