"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Lao-Tzu

stevehplateClavicular Plate Removal?

Clavicular Plate Removal?

Posted by Estella in broken clavicle, rehabilitation

Back in 2008 when I broke my collarbone, I thought it’d be cool to document my incredible clavicle adventures in my blog. Little did I know that it would be so helpful and generate this much interest among others who have experienced a similar fate and were faced with the decision of whether or not to go under the knife. Many people have emailed me thank yous, questions, and comments ever since. It’s such an amazing feeling to have helped and had such a positive impact on so many people. Hearing all these stories of successful post op rehabs also helped give me reassurance that I myself made the right choice. This had to be one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever had to make for myself but thank goodness for the internet. I did a ton of research, learned a lot in the process, and asked so many different people (family, my doctor, medical professionals, therapists, friends, people i’ve never met before, you name it) for opinions before formulating my own decision. So with this blog, I want to pay it forward and pass along my experience and information acquired.

Following Up…

It’s been a bit over 3 years since getting my pre-contoured low profile titanium smith and nephew clavicular plate and 9 screws installed and I’m doing great! Occasionally people would email me to ask whether I’ve had my plate removed. The answer remains the same every time. No. It has more or less become a part of me. My orthopedic surgeon Dr. Veillette must’ve been really good and/or I’m really lucky ’cause I hardly notice it and don’t feel any extreme pain or irritations when performing workouts and everyday activities.

The only times I do feel it is if I actually touch it. On the plus side, I no longer feel any tugging of the skin around the plate :) For me, the area is still a bit sensitive if I were to get a shoulder massage. Should that situation ever arise, I’d make sure they don’t apply too much pressure or squeeze too hard around my collarbone. Wearing a messenger bag on that shoulder is usually ok unless it’s a heavy load I’m carrying. In that case, I would wear the strap on my right shoulder instead.

For now I’m keeping it in because I don’t want to deal with another surgery and its possible risks. Also, I’m not really having any serious issues with it. I can still do everything I did before the accident and can even lift heavy weights overhead no problem :) Hopefully I won’t have any problems 10-20 years down the road. That’s something I won’t be able to predict. I wonder if anyone out there has blogged about that…I’d be curious to know. On the flip side, Dr. V did tell me that the plate technology has come a long way and that they’re making them a lot smaller now.

So the verdict still stands – the plate stays!

So you want to get your plate taken out?

I’m not one to recommend or give advice on plate removal, but I can provide an example for those of you who have ever contemplated on getting it done. From what I’ve heard, the general consensus is that the recovery is relatively easy and those who have done it were happy.

Here’s one positive plate install & removal experience I’d like to share. Just over a year ago, one of my blog readers Steve Hoffman stumbled upon my blog after fracturing his collarbone in a nasty bike crash. His clavicle was fractured into 3 pieces and didn’t stand a good chance if any of healing naturally, so he got the ORIF surgery to repair his clavicle and has made a successful recovery.

Week 14 (plate in)
I’ve had my fancy titanium plate for 14 months now. Overall I’m in great shape.  100% ROM and am able to do yoga and most things without any trouble at all, though I do feel the plate most of the time.  I have a quite thin body build and the plate is rather prominent.  Most annoying is swimming due to the rotating motion of the shoulder – I really feel the plate then the most of any activity.

Steve kept his plate for 20 months then after months of research and thought and having talked to 3 surgeons and 3 people who’d had their plates taken out, he chose to get his plate taken out.

Check out his blue clavicular plate at the top of this post! Isn’t it cool? Kinda makes me wonder whether mine had a colour as well.

Reasons leading to his decision to do it:
• started to notice a tightness in the skin below the collarbone over the last 2-3 months (around week 12) – A sports doc said it was likely scar tissue in/around the pec muscle. He got some “Graston Technique” done on it, which involves using various metal tools to rub deeply into tissue to break up scar tissue, which helped his shoulder feel A LOT better!  Apparently scar tissue can keep forming even over a year post-surgery.  A possible reason to maybe to leave the plate in and not deal with *more* scar tissue… (for me, my numbness/tightness went away with time)
• messenger bags & car seat belts rubbing on the plate
• doing push ups or lifting heavy stuff – feeling “strain” being put on the plate
• as the numbness went down, tightness increased – regular exercise did help this a bit though.

In his own words, here are some updates on his progress after the de-plating:

Week 1
“So far so good. Much easier recovery so far than when it was put in.”

Week 3
“I’m 3 weeks post surgery and i feel GREAT. Very glad I had the plate out! Will be a while til I’m 100% but I’m prolly 80+% already – no problems w normal daily activities or driving. Just can’t lift heavy stuff yet.”

Week 5
“I’m at 5.5 weeks and 95% healed :)  all’s well with the clavicle!   i’d rather not have had to go thru that of course but the plating and de-plating were both excellent choices.  i can do daily things and light to moderate lifting already — can sleep on it – all with no pain. i don’t even notice it anymore with seat belts or winter jackets.  haven’t tried a backpack yet. the scar still needs to heal up some more but it’s coming along fine. still just a bit sensitive to direct touch.”

Week 8
“I feel 99% healed. seat belts and heavy messenger bags are again essentially pain-free – just a tad of lingering soreness from the removal surgery, but that continues to improve. I’ve taken up swimming 3-4 times per week again. The first day my shoulder was a bit sore from lack of use, but after 2-3 days, swimming was also essentially pain-free.  I don’t feel the “tugging” under my skin of plate-against-bone-against skin.  And the numbness below the scar now is no different than it was after the plate install surgery.  Or to say it another way, it’s no worse after the second surgery. It’s ended up about the same. So, suffice to say, I am VERY happy to have my plate out. 1-2 months to a full recovery is peanuts to have a lifetime of a normal collarbone again. :) ”

So there you have it! Another clavtastic success story!

Lower Back Blahs

Posted by Estella in rehabilitation

Over the last 3 weeks or so, I’ve had this pain in my lower back that just won’t go away. Any sneezing or coughing triggered pain, twisting motions were difficult and painful, and even bending over to put on my tall boots was not an easy feat. This whole not being able to workout thing has really been eating away at me >_<

If you workout intensely, getting the proper rest and rehabilitation is an essential. Unfortunately, I had to learn this the hard way again. The sad part is that this workout injury could have been prevented had I known my limits. So now, I have put myself on a joint mobility & stretching program to heal my back.

What did me in this time was probably this one week in March where I did 5 workouts within a 3 day time span. Saturday was a combination of kettlebell sport training, a few heavy deadlifts, olympic rings & bodyweight moves as my morning workout. Later that day was a video shoot for Funk Roberts’ Spartacus 2.0 Workout where I was climbing ropes, lifting kettlebells, and swinging clubbells. Sunday was an MMA workout, then Monday was Zumba dance with the girls. This was pretty much my routine for at least a month before the pain kicked in (minus the video shoot). Life was good and I felt like a badass! Of course, this minor setback has changed things a bit. Stuff like not being able to train and possibly having to forgo attending the Agatsu Kettlebell Championships that’s in 2 weeks. I was really looking forward to lifting again, so unless I can heal myself within the next week, I will have to attend the next event. If I lift, I want to be sure that I feel ready.

Lumbar disc (L4-5) protrusion

Today I went to see my MAT* (Muscle Activation Technique) specialist, Ian Murray up at Core Strength. For those of you who’ve read my previous blog posts, you’ll know he is the one who helped me rehabilitate my broken collarbone. AMAZING stuff and I highly recommend it!!

Simply stated: your body will function pain free as long as you are biomechanically balanced. Based on his tests, I was walking with a bit of a tilt and had a couple of imbalances in my body which were causing me the pain. My lumbar discs (L4-5) were rubbing and there was a slight misalignment in my pelvis, thus causing a bit of inflammation (facet irritation). Luckily it was not too serious, seeing that the pain came maybe a week or so after the fact. A much better scenario than if I were to, for example feel a pull in my muscles right after performing a deadlift. Ian was able to help me regain some balance within the hour. I literally walked out of there with better posture and I’m feeling better already. I’m definitely back on the road to recovery :)

For now, I am staying away from too many twisting motions and doing more single plane motions until my back is fully healed. That combined with some isometric movements, stretching, and joint mobility.

====

* MATTM is a biomechanics-based system that aims to identify and treat muscular inhibitions that can lead to chronic orthopedic dysfunction, impeded recovery, and discomfort.  The treatment involves a systematic checks and balance process that evaluates the integrity of the neuromuscular system.

What makes it unique?

MAT™ involves a new paradigm shift in how tightness is viewed. Traditionally, tightness or restricted range of motion at a joint is viewed as the primary source of your problem.  Thus, most modalities aim at directly decreasing tightness.  The fundamental principle of the MATTM thought process is that muscle tightness is secondary to muscle weakness.  Muscles tighten as a protective mechanism that is secondary to the instability made manifest by the presence of muscle inhibition.  MAT™ focuses on treating the underlying cause of the problem rather than the symptom.

The MATTM evaluation is unique as it considers the mechanical relationships existing between joints.  With this perspective, we look at how abnormal mechanics in one joint may affect the function of all other joints shared in arthrokinematic, arthrokinetic, or myokinetic chains.  This means that where you are experiencing discomfort different than the site of the true mechanical issue.

source: www.corestrength.ca

Testing 1 2 3…

Posted by Estella in design

Please excuse the mess. I just installed a brand spanking new WordPress theme and am in the process of reformatting my blog for better usability and adding in a bunch of missing posts :)

Lady Spartacus Circular KB Workout

Posted by Estella in kettlebell training

Last Saturday, my friend Funk Roberts and I went for a morning workout at the gym. After doing a couple of rounds of improv Spartacus Workouts (10 moves, 1 min each x 2 rounds) we decided to film this. So here’s a Lady Spartacus kettlebell workout I did which incorporates circular movements with the kettlebell to work your muscles in a greater range of motion.

10 Exercise Circuit – Complete 3 full circuits

Perform each exercises in succession for 45 seconds of work followed by 15 seconds rest. You will do as many reps as you can, in that duration, then move on to the next exercise

After you complete all 10 exercises or one circuit in succession you will rest for 2 minutes. Then repeat 2 more times.

EXERCISE LIST – I used a 30lb kettlebell
KETTLEBELL (KB) ALTERNATE ONE ARM SWINGS 2:01
KB CIRCULAR CLEANS – RIGHT 2:12
KB BOTTOMS UP ALTERNATING LUNGE 2:27
KB CIRCULAR CLEANS – LEFT 2:45
KB SQUAT AND TWIST – RIGHT 3:03
KB STANDING TRICPES EXTENSIONS 3:22
KB SQUAT AND TWIST – LEFT 3:35
KB SHOULDER PRESS – RIGHT 3:49
KB SHOULDER PRESS – LEFT 4:02
KB CORE ROWERS 4:16

P1050430c

2nd Annual Agatsu KB Competition

Posted by Estella in competition, girevoy sport, personal journey

Another great weekend in the books.

Sunday June 5, I was down at the Academy of Lions gym for the 2nd Annual Agatsu Kettlebell Competition. The whole experience just reminded me of how much fun these events really are. Maybe it’s the people, the energy, comradery among competitors, the lifting of round heavy objects overhead, or simply the adrenaline rush of finishing your time right up to the last second. There’s something there. I haven’t put any serious training into kettlebell lifting or competed over the last 5 months, and it was only a couple of days ago that I decided that this event was going to be my comeback. The only objective I set out for myself this time was to compete for the fun of it and get over 100 reps of long cycle with the 16kg kettlebell. I was confident that I could lift the 16kg for 10 mins and that was all I needed. As long as I’m able to finish my time, I’m a happy camper.

My Sunday morning was off to a good start. I took advantage of the late start time and got a few extra hours of sleep. My body was feeling a bit tight from the intense interval kettlebell workout and hours of Indo boarding I did the day before. Thankfully, this was quickly remedied shortly after I got to the gym. I was there around 1pm, weighed in at 67.5kg, then went straight into warming up.

My warm up consisted of 10-15 mins of indian club movements outside followed by a short break, then I lifted the 12, 16, 20, and 24kg kettlebells – did 3 clean and jerks on each arm. After that, my body was fired up. I was feeling strong and ready to go.

2:15pm

It was time for my set. After the countdown, I was off. For the most part the set felt good and I was going at a steady pace of 11-12 rpm. Towards the last minute, I was really feeling the weight of the bell more but powered through to the end.

All in all, I was happy with my set and actually surprised that I was still able to even get over 100 reps after such a long break from training. I got a total of 102 reps long cycle! I went slightly longer than 5mins on my right hand, as it is still my more dominant arm. Got 60 reps on my right and 42 on my left. Unfortunately had a few no counts because I went too fast and didn’t have enough separation between my clean and jerks. Too bad, otherwise I probably would’ve had close to 110reps.


In the end, I won a Gold medal for 16kg long cycle in the 60-70kg weight class and a was the 2nd top female lifter overall (coefficient)!!! It was a good day and I’m really glad I pushed myself to come and compete :D Shout out to Shawn Mozen and Boris Terzic for putting on another great event!

There is a lesson to be had from this. That is, it is healthy to take an off season from kettlebell sport specific training. The body needs time to recover and the way I see it, it’s a good opportunity to try something new as a change of pace, especially if you’re like me and have ‘fitness ADD’. I also found out that day that a few of my friends have been feeling burned out from training and taking a bit of a break from it too, which made me a bit less guilty. I say embrace the time off and when you get back at it, chances are you’ll come back refreshed and stronger!

gold medal + 2nd best lifter award

106reps 16kg LC

Goodbye Stage 5, Hello Stage 1!!

Posted by Estella in competition, kettlebell training, personal journey

A lot of things have been running through my mind lately. Mostly work, life, cars, and the thought of getting back on track with my training. Just recently I was reminded of the upcoming 2nd Annual Agatsu Canadian Kettlebell Long Cycle Championships. I had signed up for this competition several months ago and totally lost track of it and even had made plans this weekend which would make me have to forego the whole thing. Long story short, plans changed. I wasn’t too happy about that but maybe it’s a blessing in disguise :)

8:00pm today. I got home from work and decided to do a test set with the 16kg kettlebell just to see how much of a hit my training took with my off season and whether or not I should be competing on Sunday. It’s been over 5 months since I’ve done any serious training with the 16kg (damn you stage 5!!!!) and the times that I did lift it, I didn’t go the full 10 minutes. So….5 months later, here I am. I did an Indian Club warmup followed by a few swings with the 16kg then set my gym boss to 10 minutes and started lifting. It wasn’t as ugly as I thought it’d be for a first attempt. I got 106 reps! Just for comparison, it was 7 reps short of what I got at my last competition with the 16kg, so not too shabby. I can live with it and work to improve my numbers.

So it’s official now, I filled out my registration form and will be lifting this Sunday! The Agatsu comp will be a perfect way for me to get back on track. I’m going into it without any training and with the expectation of just having fun with my kb friends and the joy of lifting a heavy ball of steel overhead. Winning will be an added bonus. I’ll just be happy to finish my time and get over 100 reps!

 

OKC, you inspire me!

Posted by Estella in kettlebell training, personal journey

The time was 2:00am, Monday night.

I had just wrapped up some freelance design work and decided that I wanted to fit in a quick workout before ending the day.

Ever since lifting at the One Hour Long Cycle charity event back in October of last year, I just haven’t been able to get myself back into kettlebell sport lifting. I felt that the energy or time just wasn’t there, and if there was time, my mind just wasn’t in the right place. Kettlebell sport is a mental game and requires a lot of focus and dedication, at least for me it does. I admit, I’ve had some major sidetracking and slackage on my part in terms of practicing my long cycle clean and jerk sets for the longest time. Not to say that the last few months haven’t been amazing…but something was missing. I was working out but not training for anything. I needed that spark. That will to compete and train for something.

Today’s session was just a quick test set just to see where I stand. I did a quick warm up with indian clubs, went down to the basement, strapped on my lifting shoes, set the gym boss for 10 minutes, grabbed a 12kg kettlebell, and off I went. I was struggling a bit towards the end and the KB didn’t feel quite as light as it used to but I did manage to get about 120 reps of long cycle clean and jerks, so not bad. To overcome the weight and work back up to lifting the 16kg, it looks like I’ve got a lot of lifting ahead of me! Let’s do this!!

So what brought this all on?


Well, a few weekends ago, my good friends Jason Dolby and John Wild Buckley of the Orange Kettlebell Club (OKC) flew in from California to instruct  a 2-day workshop on Indian Clubs and Russian Kettlebell training, held at my friend Greg Carver’s gym - Strengthbox. They had just returned from a trip to Siberia to compete and train under  the watchful eye of their Russian Coach: Sergey Rudnev and were here to share their collective knowledge and tips on Russian kettlebell lifting with us all. Both guys are extremely passionate about kettlebell lifting. It really showed in their teachings and newly acquired Russian accents and mannerisms. Needless to say, we were all well entertained and educated at the same time!

John Wild Buckley is bigger than Godzilla and the friendliest giant you’ll ever meet. He also possesses superhuman strength. He once lifted me over his head.

Jason Dolby is a total badass. I did a few months of online training with him last year in preparation for one of my kettlebell competitions and saw some great results with lifting the 16kg. We used to text each other every time we finished one of our crazy late night lifting sessions. It was good times and I miss it! Seeing how things are going, we’ll probably be training together again.

Day 1

The first day of the workshop began with Jason taking us through an entire mobility routine that involved a set of joint mobility movements to warm up the body and prepare it for lifting followed by some shoulder mobility drills with Indian Clubs. Indian Clubs are great, I remember how excited I was to have came across them 3 years ago when I was rehabbing my newly repaired left collarbone. They only weigh a pound each but they work wonders. It helped me restore my range of motion and is just a great all round tool for anyone looking to improve/maintain their range of motion in the shoulders. It’s also great for opening up the chest and keeping the body loose.

Some of the Indian Club moves we did included:
Folding Arcs
Folding Wrists (fwd and bkwd)
Frontal Plane Circles (half and full)
Sagittal Plane Circles (half and full)
Falling Arcs (inside and outside)
Chest Opener

The remainder of the workshop was spent going over the basics of kettlebell sport lifting. We started off with the kettlebell swing, progressed to the clean and rack, then incorporated all the movements for the Jerk. No matter how many times I’m taught the basics, I always learn something new. This time, I learned a new way of swinging the kettlebell that involves an elbow/hip connection, making it more efficient and energy conserving for those long 10 minute sets.

johnny lift

Eric St Onge and Boris Terzic demonstrate the perfect rack while lifting John off the ground. If you have a strong rack, the weight of the kb should be perfectly aligned with your body and you should be resistant to any amount of weight or downward force.

My favourite part was when they taught the Jerk. I’m always learning and seeking ways to improve my technique. We did various drills on the double knee dip and practiced reducing the 2nd knee dip for added efficiency. Jason had the breathing part of it down to an art. You can bet it took hundreds of breathing cycles to perfect. It’ll take a bit of practice before I fully get the hang of it too and for it to feel natural, but I’m working on it and looking forward to seeing how it’ll improve my lifting :) By the end of the day, I was able to jerk the 24kg for a few reps and the 28kg for 1 rep.

We wrapped up day one with dinner out while watching the UFC 129 fight, which was actually in Toronto this time down at the Rogers Centre, but we had to settle for watching it at a local Boston Pizza.

Day 2

The next day we started off by doing Jason’s joint mobility and indian club warm up drills and spent most of our time learning the more technical movements which included the Snatch and Long Cycle. I actually hate snatches with a passion, but absolutely love my long cycle clean and jerks. Though I’ll admit that after the workshop ended, I hated them a little less, as we did a series of assistance drills to help make the movement more fluid and learned a better way of gripping the bell so that there is less strain on the hands. Torn hands are never sexy. I like to keep my lifting blood-free whenever possible.

taking notes
Next up, John concluded the workshop with a lecture on programming and how to cater your workouts towards your competition training goals. There are 5 stages. The first 3 stages you’re working out. Stage 4 you’re training for the win, then stage 5 is everything enjoyable, fun, and tasty. So apparently I’ve just been snowboarding, living it up, and stuck in stage 5 for the last 5 months. That’s ok, I was told that it’s healthy to give the joints a break from all that heavy lifting…but pretty soon I need to get back at it, lol. Life’s just too good in Stage 5!!

steve maxwell
What an amazing weekend. Steve Maxwell also happened to be in town and came by the gym to say hello. I was so thrilled to have the honour of meeting him and shaking his hand.


Unfortunately, Nazo, the other 3rd of the OKC team was stuck in Japan and couldn’t make it. We missed her presence so much that it only seemed natural to photoshop her into our group photo :)

Thank you OKC for inspiring me to dig deep and get my butt back into hardcore training mode!!

koala hug

John, Jason, & I. *koala hug*

cocoa coconut date truffles 100raw

Cocoa Coconut Truffles

Posted by Estella in healthy eating

Looking for a healthy indulgence? Try making my homemade organic cocoa coconut truffles rolled in almonds. 100% raw, all natural, sugar free, guilt free and oh so good!

It’s super easy to make. You will need:

2/3 cup organic cocoa powder
3/4 cup fresh dried dates pitted
2 tbsp melted coconut butter or oil
a pinch of sea salt
Chopped almonds

Combine the above ingredients into a food processor or Vitamix until well blended. Roll them into balls and cover with chopped almonds or hemp seeds. Then refrigerate and enjoy!

Makes approximately 24 bite size truffles.

cypress olympic rings

I’m still alive!

Posted by Estella in personal journey

I know it’s been several months since I’ve blogged or updated anything on here, and people, especially my friends in the kettlebell world have been asking me what I’ve been up to, inviting me to events, and wondering whether I’ve dropped off the face of the earth. Partially true. I’ve kinda been laying low and super busy over the last little while. Unfortunately, whenever that happens, my blog is often one of the first things to get neglected. Life’s been pretty good otherwise and it has been an amazing year so far.

Sooo here are a few updates of what I’ve been up to.

1. New Lifting Shoes!


I bought these back in December of last year shortly after coming back from a 2-day IKSFA (Int’l Kettlebell Sport and Fitness Academy) Russian kettlebell lifting workshop in LA lead by President and 9-time world champion, 12-time champion of Russia Sergey Rachinskiy and master coach, 5-time world champion and 5-time champion of Russia Sergey Rudnev. More about this in another post.

One of the things I learned was if I wanted to maximize the efficiency and power transfer of my lifts, especially when in competition, lifting shoes are a must-have. Although I was and still am comfortable lifting in flat soled shoes or even barefoot, I decided to give it a shot. If it’s going give me an extra edge, why not? And let me tell you, these shoes are AMAZING!! The look, the feel, and functionality. I haven’t really used them too much since, but of the few times I did, I’ve noticed that these shoes offered great power transfer, stability, and support during my high volume lifting sessions. I searched high and low for a pair in my size. Ended up getting them for $200 and by the time taxes and shipping were added in, I paid close to $300. I LOVE ‘em and even though I probably paid waaay too much, they are worth every penny. Next, I just need to enter some competitions and win!

2. Work and Freelance

Those who know me know that I work a LOT and that my everyday life tends to extend beyond the standard 24 hour day. I’m sure I’m not the only one here who feels 24 hours is not enough. I’ve got a full time job on weekdays and do freelance design work on the side to feed my passion and make some extra money. I love my job but the hours…eh, not so much. Most of my freelance work fits in somewhere between after dinner and bedtime on weeknights and weekends if needed. It’s a real challenge juggling the two jobs along with personal responsibilities, working out, having a social life, and getting sleep among other things. There’d be times I’d find myself working day and night to meet deadlines, on very little or no sleep at all, and I do it without the whole coffee thing (never been a fan of caffeine). The worst part is working late into the night, falling asleep in front of the computer, only to wake up realizing that the work did not get done and that the deadline is closer than ever. I know, I’m probably crazy for taking on so much work but the end result is often rewarding and balances thing out. I have some new and exciting projects on the horizon too, which I’m very happy about, so no complaints there :)

3. Then winter came along

Usually when winter hits, I’d opt to workout/train indoors. This year I did the Canadian thing: embraced the cold and took up a winter sport. I had rediscovered a new sport again for the first time — Snowboarding!! I hadn’t done it in over 2 years and skill wise, I was a novice with nothing more than maybe 7 times on the slopes under my belt. I was good enough to make it down the hill without any major wipe outs.

My first time out this year at Horseshoe Valley with a group of friends turned out to be the catalyst of things to come. Thanks to muscle memory, I got the hang of snowboarding pretty fast and if anything, I felt more confident and balanced on the board and doing better than when I last left off. Woohoo! I guess those KB workouts must be paying off! Having said that, I probably fell off the chair lift more times than I did on the slopes.

Before I knew it, I was selling all my old, used equipment on Craigslist then buying myself a brand new Burton snowboard and bindings, goggles, helmet, jacket, and snowboard pants. The whole package. It was a new beginning. I fell in love with the sport, was hooked and going almost every weekend over the next 3-4 months. My best friend and I would drive up to Blue Mountain (the only good place to ski/snowboard here in Ontario) at 8am and literally snowboard the whole day until the 10pm closing time. We were so into it and pretty hardcore about the whole thing. It was exciting, fun, and a much welcomed change to my fitness regimen. My best achievement was finally learning how to carve on a snowboard (going down the hill while alternating between heel and toe side). I even attempted a few jumps in the park area and was doing ollies while going down the hill. What an incredible adrenaline rush! I went more times this year than I had done in the last 7 years and I look forward to going even more times next year :-D I rarely say this, but I can’t wait til winter comes again.

4. Snowboarding in Whistler, BC

If there’s one thing I love more than doing my favourite sports is getting the opportunity to travel to a destination with the intention of doing that sport. If I can travel and stay active at the same time, to me, that is perfection, it is bliss. So, one day over dinner, 3 friends and myself were talking about how cool it would be to take a trip out to the West Coast to experience what it would be like to descend a 3000m+ high mountain…and then a week or so later we just made it happen.

In March, we took a flight out to Vancouver, rented a van to haul all our luggage and equipment around town, and wasted no time once we got there. I had booked a townhouse unit at Whistler Village but before hitting up Whistler, we took a side trip to Cypress Mountain (the official site of the olympic games) as our ‘warm up’.

cypress olympic rings
It pretty much rained the whole time we were in Vancouver but once we drove up to the mountains, rain became snow and it was literally a winter wonderland. The fact that Cypress was only a 30 minute drive away from downtown Vancouver made it all the better – another reason why I’d love to live in Vancouver. That’s much better than my usual 2 hr drives to Blue Mountain back at home!

white out!
The snowboarding conditions at Cypress Mountain were incredible! We got so much snow that at certain points, it was white out conditions and we found ourselves snowboarding and getting stuck in some really deep powder. I also got my snowboard waxed for the very first time (it was only $10, couldn’t resist!). The riding from that point on was amazing! I was going faster and it felt like I was floating over the freshly fallen snow. It was one smoooth, fast ride! There really is nothing like a freshly waxed board. I highly recommend it.

Whistler from Above

Whister as seen from the gondola. Absolutely breathtaking!!

Next, we drove up to Whistler Blackcomb for the remainder of our trip. Another incredible experience in itself. This was the largest mountain I’ve ever been on. Each run was massive and took us at least an hour to reach the bottom. It’s usually about a 6 min run back in Ontario, so instead of doing over 20 runs, we did about 5 runs in a day. It was the most amazing experience and exhausting at the same time, especially boarding on the flatter areas. My quads were burning!!

avalanche area!

 

The run that took us the longest was when we decided to do something crazy like taking a trek up to the avalanche hazard area just to see what it’d be like. When we stopped seeing signs, we knew we were definitely off the main trails. The hills were steep, powder up to our knees, the view: breathtaking! I never felt so alive! …and was glad to have made it down the hill alive 1 hour 45 minutes later ;-)

This whole experience was magical and I’ll certainly be back next season. Apparently Grouse mountain is going to be open for skiing/snowboarding til July 1, so maybe I’ll even get to fit in another session before the season ends.

5. What about the workouts?

monkey bars
Aside from snowboarding, for the last little while I didn’t have any particular training goal or focus aside from just staying in shape. The motivation to compete or urge to train that hard just wasn’t there so at this point, I was just having some fun with my workouts. Treating it like my off-season from girevoy sport lifting, I was doing almost anything and everything. Muay Thai, various dance classes, boxing, spinning, hot yoga, rollerblading, you name it.


I had the occasional timed set in there and attended a couple of KB lifting classes run by my friend Boris, but that was about it (I know you invited me to a bunch but every time it happened to fall on the days I was snowboarding). I still kept KBs at the core of my training but instead of practicing 10min timed sets and training for comps, in place of that, I was doing a bunch of strength and conditioning type workouts combined with body weight intervals and shorter timed sets.

6. I met a boy

carvers
Late nights out, movies, hanging out, dinners, long drives, having the time of my life and just living in the moment. A lot of things happen when you least expect it. I wasn’t actively looking for or wanting a boyfriend so this new development took me by surprise.

We randomly met on the beach 3 years ago when we were put on the same advanced 4′s beach volleyball team. Since then, he’s been a good friend of mine. We rollerbladed and played beach vball during the summers but never really did any sports together in the winter until this year.

It all started out with a concert, a few dinners here and there and then it was the snowboarding trips up north that really brought us closer together. One day we figured it’d be weird to just keep telling everyone that we’re just ‘really good friends’ so we recently became an item and things have been going great ever since!

If there’s any relationship tips to be had from this, I’d say it’d be to get out there and pursue the things you enjoy doing. You never know who you’d meet.

cityline 2

Bodyweight workout on CityLine

Posted by Estella in personal journey

My first time on CityTV! Today I was demonstrating a series of bodyweight workout moves with Ryan Shanahan and a couple of friends on CityLine, hosted by Tracy Moore. I love this show! Especially for their style at home tips and Fashion Friday segments, so having the opportunity to be on it was a great experience and it was really nice to meet Tracy, the host and fashionista behind it all. She is so down to earth and friendly. She has also been doing Ryan’s KettleWorx program and has already lost 8lbs. Way to go!

We were in the studio shooting with a live audience last Wednesday around 9:30am. Since we were in the 4th segment, we got to watch the show from backstage – very cool and it was a totally different perspective to see a show be filmed from start to finish live. Once we were on set, our workout segment went by really quick and all was a blur. It was a good day :)

If you missed the show or don’t live in Toronto, you can watch the full episode online. The segment is about 45 minutes in.

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