Happy Sunday Funday!

The day i've been waiting for since March 2015 has finally come!  The girls and I were ready to #sweatwithkayla

I didn't know what to expect other than knowing that Kayla would do her thing and kill us all Haha. Prior to this boot camp i watched the session she did at her Amsterdam Boot Camp and saw how fast paced the session was, so i knew not to over work myself to much during the week to prep myself... and boy was i right!

I felt rushed in the morning, didn't get to make myself a smoothie so i just settled for green tea and cereal topped with blueberries. There was track work on the Western line so we had to catch bus and then change over at Granville station.




When we finally got through the security,  we were greeted with music pumping and a big S W E A T pink letter display and we couldn't help but run up to it and take photos haha. We walked over to the stage and noticed how spacious it was, and even though it looked like we were in a decent spot which seemed like the middle because there was so much more space behind us  (well it might've been just me and my poor poor eye sight) as we arrived there an hour and a half before starting time, but we were actually pretty far. which suddenly made me even more eager to meet Kayla because i wanted to see her properly! When we found our spots, Kayla's boyfriend Tobi came on the stage and introduced himself as the MC and read the terms and conditions of the event as we patiently waited for Kayla.




When Kayla was introduced to come out, everyone was looking at all angles to see where she would come from! People were looking towards the stage, on the sides and down the aisle, (which was where i was hoping for) and then there she was on stage!  She said her hello's and thanked everyone for coming and then just went straight to the warm up exercises that went for about 3 minutes and then a 30 second break  before beginning her circuits.

The whole session went for about 45 minutes including stretches and it was my most intense boot camp yet! She did arms, abs and leg circuits in 30 second intervals 3 times and then did other work out challenges. An example of one of them was Kayla would  split the room into groups and instruct us to do specific exercises for 2 minutes and then swap over.  Some people from Kayla's team were giving away merchandise during the workout, However, whenever they would coincidently walk over to our side, i would be struggling or dying so there was no way i was going to get a freebie that way!

When I recently started BBG 1.0 again for the third time, i started to time myself properly and i try to do the circuits as fast as i possibly can (honestly) but on this day her 30 second intervals felt like 20. I was on struggle street! but Nonetheless, still tried to push through. It didn't help though when most of the exercises she chose were the ones i dreaded the most.. including Snap jump in and outs, burpees and Jump lunges, just to name a few..


By the end of the work out session she made me dislike mountain climbers even more. (It seemed like they were included into almost every round!) Overall, my  favourite circuit was her ab circuit seeing as we were on the floor the entire time, but it was still a killer  because while we were doing those exercises i could definitely feel the burn.

When the struggle was over, we went straight into stretching and cool downs as Kayla talked to us about her journey and BBG. If i was being honest though, I used this time to make more memory on my phone for photos instead of focusing on stretching properly. Oops!

When stretching was finished everyone rushed, ran and sped walked to the front of the stage as Kayla wanted to take  a massive selfie with the crowd and was literally throwing free merchandise! Everyone had their arms stretched out ready to charge. I badly wanted something but i knew there would be no hope given my short arms , reflexes and hopeless catching skills, but my friend Lisa managed to catch a #sweatwithkayla bottle! (Lucky her)

 It was during this time, that i realised the morning and work out session went by so so soo quickly that i really couldn't believe it.

My girls and I quickly came up with a plan where i would run straight to the meet and greet line while they went back to pack our stuff. So when Kayla finished giving her freebies, that's exactly what i did as I decided in that moment, I didn't want to leave without meeting her, even though i didn't know my chances and i actually didn't know what I'd say.

Thankfully we wern't too far down the line but it was still probably a half an hour wait. (You should have seen the HUGE line behind us!) After awhile it  hit me that we were ACTUALLY meeting her. I mentally was NOT prepared. I had all these questions: What do i say to her? Do i take a solo photo? a selfie ? A group photo?  Do i hug her ? How do i tell her she's an inspiration to me? What ? How? ... Just standing in the line was making me so nervous. I tried to compose myself, but on the inside i was freaking out. There was so much i wanted to say to Kayla. I saw people giving her gifts and then it dawned on me i should have wrote her a LETTER as i knew i wouldn't be able to tell her EVERYTHING i wanted to say.


When i went to meet her, the first thing i did was hug her and told her it was amazing to meet her!  Then Lisa and Maree thanked Kayla for the workout and i chimed in with "Yeah you killed us" and she just  laughed and said "I know."  After the photo was taken, I stayed back and i told her about how much she inspires me  She was so down to earth to talk to and took her time with everyone who met her. When she was talking to me, she asked about my Cerebral Palsy and told me how cool it is that i'm doing BBG my own way and then gave me another hug (unfortunately there's no evidence of any of the hugs :( ) . Here's how it roughly went down..

Me: Kayla you are honestly amazing , you are such a huge inspiration to me! I have Cerebral Palsy and i do your workouts and even though i modify some they are amazing (WARNING:  'amazing' is said about about 10 times Haha) 

Kayla: Omg that's amazing you can't even tell just by looking at you!! So what is it that's affected  ?  

Me: Yeah i modify pretty much most of your exercises but i do them the best i can . but its mainly my right side and leg. 

Kayla: so it's mainly your leg. what are they doing to it now, do you go physio or ? 

Me: (in my head: OMG she's asking about me, she's so nice *FREAKS OUT*) 

Me: Yeah well i've had two correctional surgeries because i used to walk on my toe and so they operated and twisted my hip and operated on my right leg.. it's never going to be 100% cured or anything but i'm walking better now than before and working out.

Kayla: No, yeah but it's amazing how you can do these exercises, that's incredible.

Me: Thank you so much!! you're amazing *Hugs goodbye*

Kayla: Thank you so much for coming it was good meeting you! 

Me: you tooo! *omg i actually met her*

Kayla is such a nice and down to earth person to talk to, i wish i wasn't super nervous though and couldn't help being extremely star struck by her, but i was so surprised when she was interested to know more about my Cerebral Palsy. I really wish i could have given her a letter too though but initially i really didn't think I'd actually get to meet her and i was lost for words when i did. 


When i woke up the next morning , i found my arms and shoulders were kiiiillllingggg me the most that I had to take a rest day, seeing as i worked out for 5 days that week anyways.

Below is a little video montage i put together, showing highlights from the day. Enjoy



Overall, i enjoyed the day especially doing another bootcamp with my two friends. It  certainly kicked my butt and gave me the motivation i needed and it was amazing to see all these women come together.  Kayla has done so much for her age at only 24 and i love how even though her exercise guides are called 'Bikini Body Guides' she always emphasises that health and fitness is all about FEELING confident in yourself and reminds girls to enjoy the journey and progress as she posts transformation photos of  girls all different shapes and sizes.

Sure there are similar guides and workouts around, but there's something about the way Kayla presents herself that makes me and so many other girls stay on track with active living. I may mix and match with workouts, but i still incorporate her her guides into my routine.

 Even though the boot camp killed me and it was challenging, i would  definitely go again, so i'm hoping she does another one in the future!

Kayla Itsines Official:

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So, Who's going?!


What a great and healthy way to kick start the new year!
Hopefully (fingers crossed) i get to meet her too! Kayla's workouts have changed my life for the better, transforming not only my body but my attitude and outlook too and i can't wait to see the rest of the #BBGcommunity come together as a huge team!

Looking forward to recapping this event :)

Wearing:
-Cotton On Body: Activewear
-Converse
-Lorna Jane  

I am back to doing the BBTG guide! Back where i left off. I didn't get to do Fridays workout over the weekend so i did it today. Better late than never as they say ?

Modifications: 

Snap Jumps:  Snap Jumps off the step instead of off the ground.

Spider Push ups:  Off the step instead of off the ground.

Burpee Bench Jumps: Normal modified Burpees , No jump. (Burpee off the step)

Whilst i am following Kayla Itsines' BBTG (am currently on my second round of BBG 1.0 - on week 10 at the moment) and still love it and have been doing it religiously for months now!..  sometimes when i'm doing her guides i like to mix it up and incorporate other workouts while i am doing her guides... not because i don't feel like i'm progressing or bored for that matter, but because i feel it's good to change it up every now and again, experiment and push myself further. If you're familiar with Kayla's guides, some of the exercises here (below) are similar to what's in her guides already... But oddly enough.. maybe because they are laid out differently, I still feel challenged when i do them. I'm not  bashing or neglecting Kayla's guides as i have been doing them since the start of 2015 and still am doing them! If anything, her guides have taught me about discipline, structure, routine and names/terminologies of exercises. I feel like i'm able to discipline myself to explore other options of  how else i can challenge myself because of what i've gained from the BBG guides! Sometimes i'll even do an extra workout day by either repeating a day from her guide from that week OR i'll randomly just look at other workouts from online/youtube or instagram and do them in addition to the BBG.





Below i've  listed the ones that were MOST challenging for me in each workout circuit and i review & critique how i am at attempting them:

Total Body:

- The Pile Squat: Whilst i love squats they also require so much thinking as i struggle to even do standard squats most times. Putting my hands on my hips made it more difficult for me to maintain my posture as i would lean too forward. So it's better if i just to push my arms outwards in front of me instead. While doing these  i also had to make sure my feet would do its best to point in the right direction. Of course i could only do my best and go as low as i could... which still isn't very low.

-Donkey Kicks ( kicking out with my left leg:) I am right side hemiplegic meaning the right side of my body has weaker control and balance. When i donkey kick with my right leg i seem to  have more control and  better balance in comparison to when i donkey kick with my left leg. The reason being is because as you kick out with which ever leg, the other side that is stable is there to support you and help you balance, so when i kick out with my right leg, my left side which is stable (stronger side) is able to support me. However, when i kick out my left leg i tend to shift towards to the right side (unintentionally) because my right side has trouble balancing & supporting.

-Heel Touches: I feel the most uncoordinated (second to squats haha) with this one. Reaching down to my left side is easier than my right. I feel as though my right foot becomes stubborn and turns in and starts to stretch out. I have to physically bring my leg back up and reposition myself. Though, when i first starting to exercise i couldn't even do one! so hoorah for getting somewhere and being able to somehow do these..

Muffin Top Blaster:

-Mountain climbers/Alternative Knee-ins: I've never done alternative Knee-ins before until this but i know how to do them (at a slow pace). Interestingly, It was easier for me to co-ordinate my right leg to my opposite elbow rather than my left which fell short. I'm guessing its to do with my weak right side again.

-Bird Dogs/Alternating reach & Kick Back: I replaced these with donkey kicks. I feel like i get more out of the donkey kicks. It's even harder for me to remain upright doing the bird dogs (if donkey kicks are challenging for me).With Bird dogs, I would just flop and shake to the ground. I will hopefully one day be able to do them though.

-Side Plank:  Always a challenge for me. The max i can hold these is for 30 seconds. Sometimes i wobble forward. I do my best to have my form correct though.

3 circuits in 1: I'm just going to write an overall review for this one

One day i decided to create my own 3 in 1 circuit from what i've found on instagram just for fun! Each time i've done this i've been in pain the next day but i love it! I feel all my muscles working. I am actually proud of myself for putting this together as they were all individual workouts.
In The following order i  would do: 
1) Bottom left picture x3 times .. or 4 if i feel like
2) the top picture x1 (because its basically doing each exercise x3 anyways..)
3) the bottom right15 reps x3.

By the end of this one i am dead! When doing "Russian twists" it's hard for me to keep balance and to try and stop myself from leaning or falling and sometimes when i do "crunches" or sit ups i use weights or a medicine ball to help me if i feel like i'm straining myself but then there are other times when i feel i just can use my arms to help bring me up. With "bicycle crunches" OR "AB bikes" i feel like i have trouble controlling my pace when doing them and struggle reaching my left elbow to my right knee. I feel uncoordinated  but i feel as though i am  getting better the more i do them. Haha :)