Week 2 at A Greater You: It’s All About That Strength Training
Jennifer is doing a 12-week program at A Greater You in Kansas City. Here’s her report after two weeks down!
Two weeks in the books at A Greater You! Megan and I talked about what we are most proud of, I think we both agreed that it’s that we were able to get up and GO. The first week felt pretty dreadful. Getting up, I remember turning off my alarm thinking, “What the heck did I get myself into?” I don’t say “No” very well, and 5 a.m. workouts when I have small kids certainly feels like an appropriate time to say no. We need our rest, don’t we? I mean, Megan and I both have teething babies and nighttime does not always go smoothly. This is where that accountability has played the most crucial role in this entire process. I am accountable to Megan, and she is accountable to me. We get one another there and keep one another moving. We are committed to this process and to each other.
These past two weeks have been about conditioning our minds and bodies to work together. We have used a lot of equipment to learn proper form and function of movements, for both the weights and our bodies. Jason has kept a close eye on both of us, being sure to tweak us where necessary and explain how movements should feel. I like that he doesn’t just come and correct our bodies, he also explains why and what it should feel like. If we’re not feeling it, we adjust properly until we are.
These workouts are styled the same on Mondays and Wednesdays; we focus on strength and conditioning. Each of these days, we have a set workout. We do each move for about 75 to 90 seconds, then we do some intervals in between to get our heart rates up. An example of one of the strength movements we do is floor dumbbell raises. Our feet are up and our legs are bent to a 90-degree angle as we lift the weights. We do this until time is up, then go into an interval, then move onto the next strength and conditioning movement. We do four rounds of four different movements. For each move, Jason reminds us what to focus on with our form. Slowly, we move up in our weights, as long as we can maintain good form.
Then Fridays. Oh, Fridays.
I enjoy them because it is a circuit-style workout, and I have always enjoyed circuits. Problem is, Jason springs some surprises on us from time to time. Like when he jumps on our loaded sled that we are already in the process of pulling with our bear crawl.
There are about five to six circuit stations that we rotate through four times. Sometimes I feel sore immediately following the workout. Other times it sneaks up on me. Like the ab rollouts; I didn’t realize how much pain my “abs” were in until I came down with bronchitis. Coughing was just sheer and utter torture. Hurts so good, right?
Megan and I chatted about how we forget just how strong we are. These past two weeks we’ve both been using weights much more than we have in the past. We are strong mamas and this journey is helping us find that strength. Sure we carry kids around all day, but there is so much more we can do that we are learning about.
Stay tuned for future updates on how strong we’re getting! —Jennifer