Coach Kirstin

When I started my career 10 years ago, at 23, I wanted people to take me seriously. I wanted them to take me for my brain, not my face. I wore pants and dress shirts so I didn't stand out in the office.  So I was less feminine. 10 years, 7 jobs later I am much more comfortable in who I am. I know I'm pretty good at what I do. I know what I'm good at and what I'm terrible at. And I know that I can still get your respect even if I wear a skirt and heels. Oh and I probably have your attention even faster.

So for what ever reason I doubt myself and my ability to do things. Example: I went over to my friends house to use his gravity boots. Well getting on the bar was a perilous activity. Not because I was unable to do it but I doubted that I could. So he got a chair and without any effort I swung myself up. He laughed, I shrugged my shoulders. But this incident is not an uncommon event. And the biggest example is riding my motorcycle. It scares the shit out of me. Especially at anything over ~35. So that same friend doesn't understand this. I can step into a cage or ring, but can't ride my motorcycle. And admittedly part of it is time. I need more of it to practice. But most of my time goes to the gym. So I'm not making any progress at it. So I met this guy and talked him out of us riding together and into me being his passenger. On more than one occasion I almost backed out. But the moment of truth arrived and off we went. I thought my heart was going explode from pure pani...

To say I am not a morning person, is an understatement.  Most of my college roommates thought I hated them because I was so grumpy in the am.  For the last 10 days I had a dear friend from college in town.  In my attempts to spend as much time with him (since I couldn't take off of work) I was working out in the am so my evenings were free.  I used to be an avid morning runner.  And then my activity started transitioning to the evenings, which really is more in line with my body's natural rhythm.  I have tried to do morning workouts at different points in my training cycles, it fails miserably.  Or I am a hazard to my own safety (i.e. running into traffic without looking).  So 3 out of 4 days last week I went in to the gym in the morning before work...at 6 am.  It's still not for me.  Every day I struggled to get up.  I forgot something at home or at the gym every day.  The poor cat was so confused why I was eating at 5:30 but ...

Do you make rules for your life?  I do. Most of them...well all of them come from learning from my mistakes.  And my list reads like a Microsoft update list.  But I wouldn't take any of them back.  I can honestly say that.  They make me whom I am today, good and bad.  Though often they suck at the time. One of my rules I had been steadfast about was not dating in the gym.  I am all too familiar with the drama it can bring.  But more than anything, the gym is my happy place.  The place I go to get away from all the other stuff in my life.  Which is why I don't date there.  It can influence my emotions when I'm really just there to train. But I broke that rule.  And I'm having a painful reminder why I had that rule.  My finger is doing much better, the day I have waited 6.5 weeks for.  And now I'm having to force myself to go to the gym.  Not because there is drama but because its not my happy place right now. ...

I do S&C 3-4 times a week normally.  And I love to measure progress.  Things can feel easier but I like knowing.  Which is why I appreciate the maxes in S&C.  In reality they have no surface value other than being markers to make my workouts harder from.  But it frustrates me that they don't grow by the leaps and bounds they initially did.  My dead lift jumped by 50 lbs initially.  But I go on these cycles where I have to loose weight, some times a lot.  And it impacts my ability to build any muscle.  Im pretty much maintaining, if not loosing some muscle. Im also constrained by the fact that my weight has to stay in a certain range.  Thus my back squat has been stale for most of this year.  I just looked through my log and I can only find my initial back squat of 150 from May 7, 20012. (I change how I record maxes now for this reason).  I had 175 on March 22. On July 15, I tried 185 and failed.  So today I cautiou...