May 2, 2010
Tags: accident, barbell complex workout, Eat Stop Eat, Enter The Kettlebell, HKC, I'm Alive Day, Kettlebell Training, kettlebells, MMA workout, Randy Couture, RKC, studio
Today marks the one -year mark for this blog. It’s strongsarah.com’s blogiversary, which also means that today is the (4th) anniversary of The Accident. That was a rough day, but it was also the start of something very cool. You just never know how things will unfold and evolve into something beyond your wildest imagination.
A look back at the past year is in order. It has been a big year, most of which has been documented here. In the last 12 months I have evolved from kettlebell newbie to HKC instructor. Not to be limited to kettlebell training alone, I became quite proficient at jumping rope, and also tried a Randy Couture MMA (mixed martial arts) workout that I loved. I explored (and did not love) the Eat Stop Eat program. My kettlebell studio, Intensity Works, was conceived and opened, and I shared many details of that process. I worked through the Enter the Kettlebell (ETK) program twice and realized success with it, nearly doubling my kettlebell pressing ability. I struggled with physical limitations resulting from The Accident and worked around or through them. I even began to feel ready to register for the RKC Instructor course. Just contemplating that was a milestone for me. I feel pretty good about the last year.
The blog has been neglected a lot too. I didn’t want my posts to become too repetitive, so I stopped posting regularly when my workouts often looked the same. When starting a small business became my focus, blogging dropped down the priority list. Then, when a (cancer) bomb was dropped on my world, I started a new blog, strongersarah.com, which has received much more attention than this blog lately.
But, Happy Birthday to strongsarah.com. I hope to be able to post many more workout triumphs over the course of the next year. Possibly, I will even have the priviledge of posting my experiences at an RKC instructor weekend. If not, maybe I will have at least registered for one by the time this blog turns 2. I am grateful to all who have visited and commented and encouraged me here. This has been fun, and it is far from over. You just never know how things will unfold, and I am excited to continue the adventure! 
July 27, 2009
Tags: studio
Here are some “Before” pictures I took today at my future fitness studio. Please help me choose wall paint colors!!
Front Room From Rt Corner
Front Room, Taken From Corner
Partial Wall w 2way mirror sep F and Main Room
Main Room Taken From L of Partial Wall
Bathroom, Ewww
Super Heavy Bench We Moved In
The Price Was Right on this desk
In case it’s difficult to tell, here’s the color scheme: blue. There is low pile industrial grade blue carpet throughout. The top most pictures show it best. There is blue trim in the front room. It’s kind of a country blue/light blue. The carpet does have some lighter and darker blue variations in it. The walls are white. The Price is Right Desk is kind of a honey tan. The bench (did I mention it was HEAVY) is dark green.
I’m no good at interior design. How can I transform this place using primarily paint, into something that looks bright and energetic like a gym? My logo is going to be black and red. I’d like to use logo colors in the design somehow, but don’t have a clue how to make that work with the blue. I can’t change the carpet, and would rather not have to paint the trim in the front. It has a really weird wood grain finish that may or not take paint. Also, I like the green of the bench and would be fine leaving it as is, sans the heavy dirt!
Please feel free to give your expert interior design suggestions in the comments or tweet @strongsarah.
Tags: Enter The Kettlebell, exercise when sick, studio
I decided to repeat week 10 of Enter the Kettlebell this week, since I couldn’t complete it last week. Heavy day never happened last week, due to a bout with a stomach virus. Rather than just pick up where I left off, repeating the entire week will give me an opportunity to ease back into working out, and rebuild some lost stamina.
This morning I wasn’t even sure I could make it through today’s light workout. My son came down with the same virus yesterday, and although he was over the “worst” of it, he was awake much of the night with body aches. Of course this means I didn’t get much sleep either, so the thought of exercise wasn’t all that enticing this morning.
However, propelled by the desire to reestablish my normal routine, I made the workout happen. Today consisted of clean and press ladders: five ladders of three rungs each. As usual, I added in chinups/rows as prescribed in the workbook. Together that portion of the workout was difficult but doable.
The second half of my kettlebell practice consisted of 9 minutes of snatches performed at a comfortable pace. I got through this, but not without experiencing more fatigue than usual, and probably less-than-stellar form for some of the reps. Afterward I felt exhausted rather than energized. I guess that’s to be expected, so I’m not too concerned. And I am continuing with medium day of week 10 on Wednesday. Tomorrow’s variety day may end up as a rest day, though. I’m still not feeling 100%.
My second, and somewhat unplanned workout of the day consisted of moving a large desk and heavy park bench into my future studio space. The landlord had agreed to let me have these pieces of furniture, which had been left by prior tenants in other units. So my husband and I used our “functional” strength combined with some hand trucks to get the job done. Look for pictures of the space and the two “new” pieces of furniture to be posted here later today. 
