November Challenge- Tripod Headstand

It's hump day again! Wednesday really is my best and worst day of the week you know... I have CDS which means I don't have to go to work, but I have CDS which means I have NYSC stress. I don't really mind CDS and actually I look forward to it a lot of the time. After Batch C 2013 passed out, I took over from the president of the Education CDS Group and it's going okay so far. I myself only have a few more months anyway and I hope I can get something tangible done in this short time left!

Anyways hump day also means it's work out Wednesdays! Today I want to share with you guys this challenge I took up at the beginning of the month, I was going to share before but then I thought, well why not? The challenge is to conquer the Forearm Headstand aka Tripod Headstead. Before we get into pictures, some background and a disclaimer. I am NOT a fitness expert, please check with a doctor or health physician before trying new exercises.

I am THE most inflexible person you will ever meet. Or I was anyways, I can't touch my toes for the life of me, my hands barely go past my knees, but some time ago while I was in Manchester I took pole dancing classes for fun and more or less became obsessed with core balance, strength and flexibility. People always look at pole as something sexy strippers do in seedy night clubs but until you've tried it you really can't understand the coordination and control it takes to be able to gracefully execute some moves. I love seeing dancers like the ones at "Fight" being able to contort their bodies into beautiful shapes and make it look effortless. I stopped going to pole after I moved away from Manchester and I lost my obsession a bit, I no longer spent hours on youtube watching MissDirdyBirdy or Jenyne Butterfly. However, one day when I was driving home, I started noticing pain in my right hip and literally just thought to myself, "Girl, you are too young for this!" and so I incorporated stretching as a major part of my exercise routine.

In pole one of the exciting things we did was headstands and I remember feeling so nervous the first time I ever kicked up into one. I decided that this month I wanted to be able to achieve a headstand with no kicking up, just like the way Maria my former pole instructor used to and thus started the challenge. I already knew the basics of the headstand but used PopSugar Fitness to further break it down. For reference, this is what it should look like.

The first step is getting into Tripod Balance but to get there you have to extend your legs out then walk your feet towards your face while transferring more of your weight to your head and arms before carefully lifting one leg and then the other. No hopping allowed. 

For this you actually need some flexibility in the hamstrings of which I have been building slowly.It probably took me about a week to be able to hold this pose for more than 5 seconds, now I'm super comfortable here and get into it every single time. 

Then you need to try and lift your knees off your triceps and then back down with control. This is a serious core killer! After many days I finally got the courage to lift my knees off my arms, it's all about going slow, breathing and feeling your body. Of course I fell backwards and hit the wall many times, haha. But that's why the wall is there in the first place! 

A few nights ago through sheer determination, after hitting the wall yet again, I pushed off gently from it and voila! I'm holding the tripod headstand with my knees at sort of a 90 degree angle, I managed to count to 5 before falling out of the pose but now I know my body can get there, I can't wait to push just a little longer next time. Can you tell how excited I am?? 

I'm feeling really hopeful that I can nail this with my legs extended by the time the month ends in the next 10 days! Practice, practice practice.

I realised that my hamstrings are holding me back also if I ever want to be able to go straight into a headstand they need to be a bit more flexible and so I've been working on loosening those too and maybe one day I will be able to touch my toes also! December challenge maybe? My ultimate stretching goal of life is to be able to do the front splits. Haha. Ambitious? Maybe. But what's life without a little challenge?

How's your hump day going? What fitness challenges have you set for yourself in the short and long term? Share with me! Also, am I like, the only one who can't touch their toes? *embarassed face*

P.S. Apologies for the atrocious picture quality, it was pretty dark when I did this and it also took a lot of experimenting, these were the best ones!

Work-Out Wednesdays: Say No To Negativity

So recently I've been having a think about my blog and how most times it's just a bunch of random hulabaloo of whatever tickles my fancy and so I've decided to try and put some more structure into it. I haven't quite decided exactly how I'm going to do it all but I'm working on a little something for the rest of this November.

Wednesday isn't hump day for no reason... It's the middle of the week and the weekend can't seem to come any quicker or slower. The whole day is full of anticipation for the weekend as well as reproach for the fact that the week isn't moving fast enough! Or maybe that's just me and to everyone else it's just a regular day. Lol. So in line with trying to make things more 'structured' on here, I decided that hump day has now been declared Fitness day. Because my fitness goals tend to be the hardest ones to stick to and it would be nice to have to remind myself (and everyone else) why I'm doing what I'm doing.

So in this community I live in and this environment I work in, people always comment so freely on others weight that it's kind of annoying. Like, can a n*gga live? It seems there's always someone round the corner to declare "Ah! You've added [weight]" or "Have you stopped eating? You are looking too thin" Everyone is so concerned with other people's weight or lack of and for people on a journey to change their weight it can be very discouraging and at times angering to hear certain comments. Here's how I deal with the haters and nay sayers...

1. Have a healthy image of my body

I definitely don't hate my current body, in fact I quite like it and I'm sure if I didn't like it so much all those Digestives and akara would be easier to say no to. Lol. It's so so important to remember to love the skin you're in, a lot of people who aren't confident think "Well when I get skinny I'd be more confident" and sadly that's often not the case. While image is important it should never define you. Realising that you are so much more than the body you're in is one of the first steps to dealing with negativity. 

2. Do it for YOURSELF

Life is just too darn short to live your life for anyone else, if you want to lose weight, DO IT. Gain weight? DO IT. If it's not even about weight but about fitness and health, do it even harder! Have a goal that's based on your own decision and not because somebody else told you you had to. All those people that made/make you feel inferior are not worth your salt and that's just my two kobo. Doing things because of other people is the fastest way to an unhappy and unfulfilled life.

3. Work for what you want

Don't be like this kid checking everyday if his summer body is ready even though he hasn't even done exercise in about a week. Consistency is key in many aspects of life and this is one of them. I find that setting mini goals works really really well for me and helps me stay focused. I used to be so good and do them every month (example here) but I fell off the wagon somewhere, definitely going to continue soon and very soon! More information on that later.

Anyways people, say NO to negativity. Especially from strangers, keep your eyes on the prize and go for a run! Haha.

How do you deal with negativity from people you care (or don't care) about?

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Getting Back on the Bandwagon: Fitfam.

So you know sometimes you fall off a bandwagon that you were so on and your life just feels kind of stagnant and incomplete? Well that's kind of how I've felt this whole month of October ever since my bootcamp instructor left for the States for a while! At this point you're probably wondering, what bootcamp? And you're right to. For some reason I stopped blogging about my fitness journey and that's not necessarily because I stopped, it just went through varying highs and lows. Last time I was here talking about fitness was June 2013 before I did Cancer Research UK's Race for Life! How time flies... I also did Insanity and have a few updates on that too, Insanity Month 2: It's not a Diet, it's a Lifestyle.

So this bootcamp is done in Banana Island, Lagos and it's called Body By Ponz, it's on 4 times a week, Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays 6-7 pm and Saturdays 7 - 8am. For more information you can check out his instagram page @bodybyponz.

So back to the essence of this post, for the last month, I've been off the wagon because Ponz left for a month but then I saw a picture on his instagram announcing the new season starts on November 3rd and I knew I had to do something and move my lazy ass before then. Plus it's the end of October, that means Christmas is upon us, gotta get that body looking right in time for all the events and old family members and friends. I started a new regime yesterday that I really want to stick through for at least a month. It involves waking up and working out. Haha. That's the simple part. I really think I could work out all day everyday especially in these cuties! What kills me is the food part.

I'm sure some people are thinking, well can't you work out and eat whatever? The short answer is no. Attaining your dream body is 20% exercise and 80% food... Which is why I have to stop nodding my head every morning when my colleagues ask me if I want hot akara from Iya Basira! For those who don't know akara is basically beans that has been ground and then deep fried and that alongside tea, coffee and Mcvities Digestives have been the reason for my waistline expansion! It's time to stop all these bad habits and throw in the new. I'm ready to move again and here's what I'd be doing..

1. Do a 30 minute workout every weekday morning

This would be in terms of those cute charts and diagrams you can find on Instagram like the one below from Fit Girls Worldwide and my aim is to complete 3 sets and then skip for the remaining 30 minutes. I'm throwing in the skipping because I often don't feel like I get enough cardio from these.

2. Do Bootcamp at least 3 times per week

Once the new season starts, I plan to be just as committed as I was before and do boot camp at least 3 times a week. I wouldn't lie... I never go for Saturday, Friday nights are simply too activity filled to expect me to be out of bed before 7am!

3. Say no to hot akara

Lol. And all other types of deep fried foods and unnecessary, unhealthy snacks. This is going to be the most difficult one because my colleagues literally just drop temptations on my table and sometimes babes are peckish... I'm compiling a list of healthy snacks that are easily portable so that at work, when the elevenses munchies strike I have something yum and healthy with me.

Well that's it for now... Is anyone else on a fitness journey? Or just trying to look good for the upcoming holiday season? Drop me a comment let's do this together!

Christmas Body Loading! Haha.