Exciting Week

This week I managed to get to the gym and it felt great to have the endorphins running through my blood stream again. In the first session on the elliptical, I noticed that I was able to go for much longer than I did last semester before I had to start slogging through the remaining time. I hope that indicates that I've made some progress in the last few months. Quantitatively, my training consisted of 3 stretching sessions (mainly hitting my calves which have been feeling like rocks) and 2 cardio sessions including the elliptical and a Zumba taping.

In other exciting dance news, Loyola After Hours organized a salsa lesson and dance on Saturday with an instructor from out of town. Though the group consisted mainly of beginning dancers, they held a "competition" between four couples. My friend, the Zumba instructor Jordan, was approached by one of the instructors to compete to have at least four couples. I ended up leading her in the competition. We "won." The prizes are a dance pass to the DC Bachata and Salsa Congress in August and a hotel room during the event. 

Slightly less exciting, Chicago deal of the day was $20 for 20 hour-long group Argentine tango lessons at ARTango that never expire. This is a ridiculous deal. I bought 40 hours; I smell a summer project.

An Exercise in Time Management

Self-proclaimed Queen of Spreading-oneself-too-thinly

I'm beginning to realize that the consequences of taking a full course load of 20 credits and working 10-15 hours per week is limiting the fullest expression of all of my 8.654x10^n (as n-> infinity) interests. In particular, I'm finding that I actually can't go to Joffrey every Sunday morning for ballet class like I want. I can't make elaborate dinners full of the rainbow of nutrients like I want. I can't get to the gym 5 times a week like I did last semester. I do not need kryptonite to weaken me, I'm not Superwoman. 

Therefore, I think I need to reassess my strategy for fitness this semester. I need to make smaller changes in the way of diet, exercise and general living. In terms of nutrition, I'm going to try to reduce the shelf life of my stocks or try to eat more produce. For exercise, I will try to stretch and condition lightly between a few of my classes and make it a routine. I can also make an effort to practice jumps or turns for just a couple minutes each day at some point. Generally living, I will try to get at least 6-7 hours of sleep each night.

Body Image Update: The new label of "obese" from last week weighed heavily (puns are always intended) on my mind as I was buying clothes last weekend. I whined to several of my friends; most of them said 'you look fine' or 'you're not obese.' I came to realize that "obese" may be unhealthy, but that label doesn't correlate to attractiveness or strength or quality of personality or intelligence. I need to strive toward being more healthy, losing weight for that reason if I lose any at all, rather than be miserable because I think I'm repulsive for the label. 

Fighting the Numbers

Dehydrated or Obese? 

With three different methods, my class measured each of our body compositions (it's only me and a classmate) in terms of fat mass and fat free mass. Test after test resulted in numbers that shocked me, mainly because of the descriptive words to which they correspond. These words can damage the body image I've carefully constructed since my dancing younger dancing days when the extra-large pinstripe pants bent their lines to emphasize my thighs. Confronting the mirror has become less of an exercise of mental strength, but how can my scientifically-trained mind ignore numbers?

Body Mass Index (BMI) indicated the percentage of mass on a person's body that is comprised of fat. In the most simple form, it estimates the percentage by plugging height and weight into a simple little formula. Several factors like age, gender, and activity level are neglected in that formula, so other ways of indirectly measuring fat mass were generated. The ones we studied today were the 3-point skin fold test using calipers, a scale-type bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), and an electrode-based BIA. 

I bared my pasty, doughy belly and thighs in the name of learning how to measure skin folds. In this particularly mortifying method, one's fat is dug, pinched and pulled from the body. Next, I disrobed my feet for the scale BIA. This device not only measures weight, but also sends an electrical current into your lower body and measures the amount of resistance it meets (fat doesn't conduct as well as water). The scale has always been a natural foe. Finally, electrodes were stuck to my hand and foot to measure the resistance of the electrical current in the same way that the scale did. The information retrieved from this machine was entered into a program on a separate computer.

After all of these processes, my numbers ranged from 31-36% body fat. A percentage over 30% fat mass is classified as clinically obese. 

My head doesn't seem to want to accept the classification. There could be lots of error; if one doesn't have enough water in their system, the reading could be higher than the actual percentage. With a low hydration level (which the scale also detected), my BMI could be reading too high. The skin folds test, however, doesn't rely on these factors. 

I feel a sense of urgency to run to the gym and stay on the treadmill for hours or not eat for the next few days. This will ultimately accomplish more damage than benefits, yet I want to erase the label from my body. I feel the weight of the five letters more than I've felt the weight of the cells.

The Day My Broken Jete-Overs and Pirouettes Feel Better!

I never thought that I'd see the day when I felt confident about any of my jumps or pirouettes. Last semester, I felt as if I had this huge bowl of gruel before me and was told to eat all of it. I felt like a failure when I couldn't even make the spoon hit my mouth and I was chewing air. I kept repeating the action, feeling more desperate as more gruel fell into my lap. Poor analogy aside, I was frustrated and I didn't understand why my body felt so disconnected from my head.

To be honest, I've felt like Franklin is a big hippie. Phrases like 'Visualize your tension leaving' or 'most likely you feel more free in your pelvis after that exercise' were particularly convincing for me about his hippie-ness. I recognized that kinesthetic awareness and alignment are the key to healthy joints, but I maintained my resistance. Did he have to word things this way?

Earlier this morning, in dance physiology, one particular phrase hopped from the page of the Franklin text to strike me in the face. In the section about dynamic alignment, "Balance is created by countering the forces at their place of origin, not by countering an imbalance with an increased level of tension" (Franklin, 84). In other words, think about the source of movement rather than the result of it. We followed it in class with an exercise about hip alignment. In class, I didn't feel a STUPENDOUS change. Later on, in ballet, I concentrated on visualizing the hip as rotating within the acetebulum, forgetting most of the other details of technique that need work. Cue STUPENDOUS change! This visualization felt much better than the turning of the heel that I've been doing.

*Visual to be inserted here

Tendus feel more aligned. I attribute this to feeling better in my broken down jete-overs and pirouettes. They may still be broken, but I feel as if I've successfully eaten a brownie with extra chocolate chips still gooey with warmth.

A Week to Breathe

Improperly.

I'd like to boast that not even The Blizzard of '11 was able to keep me from dancing. We'll never know however, because I was stuck on the couch fighting to keep my airways clear.

My theory: my lungs took Franklin's text too seriously. They started visualizing my ribcage as a prison cell, deciding to escape or drown.

In terms of training, I'll just have to accept last week as a period of rest. Resting is naturally part of the training process; it even has several studies trying to determine the optimal periodization schedule. This week, in contrast, will have to proceed with a more pressing urgency to finally accomplish my training goals. I am optimistic with the purchase of exercise pants, a yoga mat, and the discovery of a dance DVD from the depths of my closet (aka Zumba ideas in a box).

Did I Caps Lock Adhere?

Week 2 Training Check-in:

Ok, I did Caps Lock adhere last week. Shoot. I adhered like a generic band-aid, sticky until you get one droplet of moisture on it and it suddenly falls off or creates a sticky mess. I did get to the gym once last week for my friend's Zumba class and I stretched extensively afterwards. I also went to three three-hour long blues and lindy dances this weekend, but those are mostly anaerobic in nature (so they don't count for cardiovascular exercise). Regardless, I did not meet my goals that I set last week. I'm not sure if my goals are unrealistic or if I need to manage my time more efficiently. I will leave my goals as they are for one more week to see if I can get any closer.

The raging winter storm will not keep me away from the fitness center tomorrow for a rematch with Zumba, however this hacking cough might. I don't want to get anyone sick, nor is my respiratory system equipped to handle exercise.

My focus of the week should be on turn out. Stretching and strengthening my external and internal rotators. I noticed that I could feel that my piriformis muscles tiring quickly during ballet this week. I'm also going to actively attempt to think positively according to the Franklin text.

Dance Technique Cues and Concepts of the Week:
"Unglue your tongues from the roofs of your mouths."
"[My] knees are hyperextended." Rond de jambs get to me.
"[I] pronate [my] feet." aka collapsing my arches
Ocean breathing (I'm not sure I like this one.)