Life near the sea is always better. Mostly I find myself near the Atlantic Ocean and whenever I leave (like my visit to Toronto) I absolutely need to take some time when I return and go visit her. There’s something so calming about quieting your body near water. It doesn’t even have to be a perfect day. The other day I went down to my favourite spot (one that will remain nameless!) and just sat. Yes it’s February, and yes it’s cold.
But the feeling of space, rest, and openness helps to wash away all the stress of my life. And even if the sea seems a bit fishy that day, the rhythmic lapping of the water and the vastness regulate my nervous system in a way that I cannot manage fully when I’m away from her.
Now something I haven’t written about a lot is how I like to spend my time and ironically it’s inside. I’m what you would consider a gym girlie and have been for a long time. I love strength training and am not afraid of betting bulky at all. Frankly that’s a myth but I don’t want to get into it here. I’ve been in and out of the gym my whole life, but only getting serious about it in the past couple of years.
My favourite moves are the squat and the deadlift, with the leg press coming in hot too. I can move some serious weight with the press, but it seems like the squat targets my legs better. Ohhhh you know what else I love? The weighted sled push… and I like to do it at a sprint. That will really work on my aerobic ability. Now I know that I should say that I like the bench press too… and I know that having a stronger back will give you a better snatched waist. But I cannot move as much weight as I like with my upper body and I don’t want to sound like a ego lifter, because I’m not. But there’s something intrinsically cool about deadlifting 2.5 times your body weight (not even Summo style!) it’s just awesome. On the flip side, putting 25s on each side for bench feels… weak I guess? And I don’t like to feel weak.
Now, I’m planning a trip to the west coast (near the sea!) this summer. I’m going to go to Victoria to visit a dear friend and I’m also looking for a gym to drop in while I’m there. I’ve found this one: they do private personal training and in home personal training in Victoria. I am stoked, because one of the things that I want to work on is my clean and jerk AND I haven’t had the opportunity to get some time with a coach here at home.
But I was talking with the owner, Sarah Jane and she’s totally down to do a couple sessions with me just as a visitor, which I’m stoked about. I’ll let you know how the visit goes, how the sea is, and how my clean and jerk progress!
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