Self acceptance…

Hi,

I’m going to make a self check here.

What do I have what a pretty girl is supposed to be having if I follow the rules of the magazines>

Big boobs> Hm…well, absolutely no…I never had them :(

Tiny nose> No, mine looks normal but not tiny

Big lips> Gosh, I was born with very thin lips

Great skin> I’m 31 and still have acne…I have terrible skin, no matter what I do :(

No pores> I do have pores!

Tiny bum> My bum and hipbones are huge, I can’t change this since I cannot cut off my bones

Nice teeth> My teeth are terribly small, they don’t look like those Hollywood teeth

Flawless feet> My feet are not nice looking from all of the workouts and running

Soft skin> Wow, the inside of my hand is with very thick and ugly skin from lifting weights/doing pull ups so much

Pretty face> I could win an award in a horse face competition. Have you seen my chin?

Being max 25 years old> Well, I’ve past this stage a long time ago

Having a model look a like boyfriend which isn’t older then 25 either> Well, that’s certainly not the case here…I love my partner for who he is…and he doesn’t look like a model at all.

Wearing designer clothes> Since I have to change 5 times a day due to all of the workouts I do, I simply cannot wear expensive clothes…if I would have paid a fortune for all of the 20-30pair of sports bras I have, I would be very poor by now.

Skinny calves> With my calves I could compete with any wrestler and football player

Small ears> One of my ears could fly me to the Bahamas… that’s for sure ;)

Beautiful hands> I have lost two fingers and got them operated back on my hand. They look far from perfect. 

Good Smell> …I tell you…after workout session number 4 I definitely don’t smell like a perfume store anymore ;)

Looking good in any clothes> Ah…no…just…no!

Looking cute in the shirt of your boyfriend> My boyfriend is 16cm smaller then me…he is more likely to look cute in MY shirts ;)

Tan> …when I stand in front of a white wall then you couldn’t find me anymore. I’m as pale as a vampire. 

…I could go on and on and on…

So what do I have then?

Long and toned legs> Hooray…at least something! But please don’t look at my calves!

Defined abs> Yoooohoooo! But they still aren’t perfect looking because my muscles look uneven!

Toned everywhere> …yeaaaahhh…but noooo…means toned on my chest area as well…which means again> No boobs :(. I can’t afford a plastic surgeon!

…

so…after this list here I should actually either shoot myself, go to a plastic surgeon, complain about how I look like 24/7, be depressed, dream/wish to be someone else,  feel ashamed for myself, never show myself to anyone in public (especially not my face…only until it’s fixed by my plastic surgeon of course ;)) and just simply hate myself to death and hope it makes me prettier.

OR…

I can try to accept what I have and make the best out of it.

I can start to love my height and maybe my funny ear isn’t so bad at all. My partner loves it!

I can start to actually appreciate my bulky calves since they carry me through very intense workouts and never get tired.

I can start to like my small boobs since boobs don’t have to be big to be pretty. My partner loves them and calls them cute :) I was ashamed for them for many years until I found out that there is nothing wrong with it.

I felt ashamed for my face…so much that sometimes I didn’t want to speak because I thought it might show my features even more. I got bullied at school because of it. Now I like my face :) 

I also had to accept that I cannot be polished for every workout session. My feet get dirty from working out barefoot, my clothes stink from sweating, my hair is a mess from moving/jumping around so much…I just cannot be as “perfect” as the girl on the cover of a magazine. 

I will also never be the tiny, cute, skinny hushy pushy little girl for my partner…since he is much smaller then me, older and weaker (he does’t work out). You know> There is nothing wrong with being the strong girl! We don’t have to be fragile…strong can also be very beautiful!

What I mean with this post is NOT to change your likes or dislikes towards certain looks. There is nothing wrong in finding big boobs attractive and being happy that the shirt of your boyfriend doesn’t burst when you try it on ;)

But what I do want to say with this post is that we shouldn’t only love what others have but what WE have as well. 

We shouldn’t only find others acceptable but we should find ourselves just as acceptable and lovable. 

This is not a post to say that you/we are wrong…I made this post to say that you are RIGHT! 

And now put the paper bag away from your face, your body, your whatever you don’t like and live!!!

Take care,

Anne

Posture and Bum…here I come!

I’m all ready for my classes to come.

Since it gets colder and colder outside I have to start wearing my clothes in layers. 

At the moment it’s two trousers, two tops and three hoodies…

I’m wondering how much I’m going to wear at winter time !? 5 Hoodies? Three trousers? 

Anyway…have a great day, work yourself out and stay toned,

Anne

Just tested our aerobic class…

Hi guys,

can you imagine that all of our personal trainers (we are three) met up this afternoon in between our sessions to plan for our aerobic classes!?

It was so much fun…

It was brainstorming the personal trainer way. 

We needed some movements which entertain people for an hour, keep their heart pumping, give good shock moments (for the interval effect), are easy enough to pick up quickly (since we don’t want our clients to figure out what to do for half of the session) and have a health and strength benefit.

So we put one of the trainers in  the middle for 15min and the others had to copy this trainer. After another 15min the next trainer went to the middle and showed the movements and the other two copied him/her etc. 

It was so great how many different movements we put together which were simple and effective.

It made so much fun…

You know, doing a class while the other trainers say “wow, that’s a good one. I can feel it. No, this one only for a short time, they will suffer if we hold it for to long. Yes, this one is good, I can easily remember the movements. This one is good, gets your heart pumping and is easy to copy”…

We had such a laugh and sometimes of course threw some funny clown movements in just to check out if the others still bother ;)…we will not do this in the real class of course ;)

I can’t wait for it to start now. I think it will be so much fun for me to do those classes.

Stay toned, fit and don’t forget your cardio,

Anne

5:47am…

…and ready for my next 1to1s to come.

Tired and cold. I hate the new temperatures outside and the darkness to go with it. It was so easy when it was already bright and warm at this time of the day in Summer. I didn’t mind the times at all…but now it feels like midnight :(

Good morning to everyone and have a great day,

Anne

The Abdominal Wall

Hi guys,

since a lot of clients do so many exercises and are still unhappy with their belly, I thought I might let my artistic talents speak and explain a little bit to them (gosh…my paintings are so bad that they are definitively not made with any talent…but I still hope that they are easy enough to understand what I wanted to say with them).

Yes…good…so when you have finished with laughing at my drawing skills I can start to explain what I have done here ;)

The first happy fella you see on this pic (when you go from the left to the right) is someone who is fit, low on body fat and surely has some nice abs to show off. The organs are kept very tight behind his/her strong wall.

The next fella surely is just as fit as the first guy. The only difference is his higher body fat. So he probably doesn’t eat as “clean” as the first guy  (or has started a new lifestyle and the fat is still there but the fitness has improved a lot) but still has some good core strength to show off. He…or she …will not have any visible abs although he/she has some beautiful abs underneath his/her fat. The organs are kept tight behind the abdominal wall. 

The third person is a person who has never ever done any exercises. The person is probably slim but complains a lot about a bloated looking stomach… this might be a thin and unfit person on a bad diet, a thin and old person who hasn’t done any exercising or a post-natal woman who hasn’t done any exercising to tighten up the abdominal wall again…a lot of people carry this version around. The organs are not kept tight behind the weak abdominal wall and they press against it.

The forth person is an unlucky fella. He/she hasn’t done any exercising and ate too much over a long period of time. The abdominal wall is very weak and has to bear even more then the weak abdominal wall of the thin person since the organs are probably bigger from all of the visceral fat around them. It might be so bad that this person even suffers from hernia (a broken abdominal wall). 

So what does this say?

Thin people are not always fit. Fit people don’t always have a visible six/eight-pack and core strengthening is always good for you :)

Take care, do your workouts and stay toned! 

Anne

Classes…here I come!

Hi guys,

I’m getting ready for my own classes. First I have to do the Posture class and then I have to do the Bum/Tum/Leg-class. 

Happily both of my 1to1 clients are busy this weekend and so I can go home after only two hours of exercising and enjoy my Sunday :) 

This is very good because I have my period at the moment and period cramps plus core exercises are not always so compatible (<do they say compatible in English as well? It would have been the word I would have used in German ;)). 

It is also interesting that my recovery is very bad when I’m on my period. I’m much more vulnerable to injuries, need more sleep and rest from my workouts and my body is weaker in general.

Anyway…”Bloody Anne” (<well, certainly;)) is ready for her classes to come.

Take care,

Anne

Oh ohhhh!

…and I mean the Teletubby “oh ohhh” ;)…

I had a look after our new time table yesterday and realized > Holy sh*it! ALL of my new classes are already on there and ready to be booked. 

Here it is: http://www.trainingpoints.co.uk/group-training.htm

The problem> I haven’t even thought about what to do in some classes. I thought I had more time and just let it go a bit. 

So today (on my only workout free day) I have to put some ideas together (means I will try out lots of different exercises, alternate them if required etc)…so I can be as flexible as possible when giving my classes and be able to alternate the exercises for different needs and levels without even thinking.

I never do a class after a  1,2,3-plan since I never know who is coming and what fitness level this person has. There is one hole idea (for example “fat burning”…so I know the exercises have to be on a fat burning level, high reps, fast movements, etc) of a class but the exercises always change to improve the fitness level of the person and to not let our clients adapt to exercises (this is the death of every workout programm).

As a personal trainer I cannot do “ready made”-fast food-like classes which just touch a baseline of everyone. It got to be better then this. I have to make sure that the toughest and the weakest clients get a suitable workout….and just alternating the weights is not really what we are looking for ;) 

So far so good!

In December one of our trainers is gone for a month. So I will be doing his classes as well. So I will be doing instead of 8 classes, 15 classes per week for one month…PLUS my 1to1s.

Even this…no prob! His kettle bell class I’ve done a couple of times now and I’m okay with it. The fat burning is of course the easiest of his classes since I love fat burning anyway…even the Thai Boxing won’t be a problem.

But the self defense! I have no idea what he is going to do there and I have never visited a self defense class myself. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

I think we got to cancel this one then ;)

The other thing I was wondering was what happens when both of them are at holidays. This happened already and I had to do all of their classes and some of their 1to1s. 

This would be 27 classes in a week plus my 1to1s and some of their 1to1s…my body will be dead by the time they come back.

You see> I never have to force myself to do a workout. I never count points or I’m never proud that I’ve kicked my arse to go to the gym…since I’m not only there anyway but haven’t really much of a choice ;)

I HAVE to work out. It’s my job. I don’t need any motivation since I’m the one who gives the class and when I’m not there it might be noticed (big time ;)).

I don’t have to force myself…I don’t have to be proud of anything accomplished since I’m doing it anyway and it feels like nothing to me anymore.

3 times work out a week? Well, how about 20/30/50times per week? My numbers are slightly different from the average person and that’s why I have lost all of my counting about how much I have worked out a day or what I have eaten.

I eat…that’s it….and train and eat and train  and eat…that’s it. 

Please don’t get me wrong but so many workouts are not recommended for anyone! Unless you are not a pro FORGET IT! It’s not worth the risk of your health.

I couldn’t be on a low kcal diet since my body wouldn’t be very happy to run me through the classes without fuel. 

It is so easy for me to keep fit, train hard, eat the right food and such and such….since I haven’t got of a choice. 

I think that’s why you will never find a post of me where I’m proud of my workout since there is nothing to be proud of really…I’m just doing my everyday job. I don’t have to motivate myself…not because I’m better (far from it) but just because I HAVE to do it. 

That’s why I think> I have it so much easier then all of you to be fit. I don’t have to be fighter.

Just try to imagine you would be getting paid for waking up at 5am and do your full workout or even two, three or four…of course you would do it :)

I have it so much easier then you girls and that’s why I’m so proud of you. 

All of those fit girls on those nike-adverts you are reblogging the pics from: Those are pros! They do this for work! They shouldn’t get as much reward as you do. They have the time to work out…they get money for their looks and fitness.

You don’t! And you still do it and you still achieve it just by pure motivation and determination. YOU are the winners here…not the girls who haven’t got anything else to do then training.

YOU are the awesome people.

This is what I always think when I see the people coming to my class. I adore their drive, passion and determination. 

Anyway> I have work (outs) to do now to be able to give my classes. I hate to train on my workout free days (since there is only one) but sometimes I haven’t got much of a choice.

Stay strong! I admire all of you! 

Anne

Rest day

Hi guys,

Saturdays is my only rest day when I’m off work and workouts. 

So today I’m going to enjoy to do nothing and just sit around like “normal” people do. I must say that all of my friends and even my partner are completely unfit and do not share any of my fitness interest with me.

So I’m s glad that I have my colleagues, clients and finally the tumblr crowd :)

The funny thing is that on my rest day I can feel all of the pain of all of the workouts I have done within the week. I don’t feel it on my workout days though…just on my rest day.

So I feel my abs, legs, arms, back…there really wasn’t a place which I didn’t train for several hours a day.

I hope you feel your well deserved workout pain as well!

Take care and enjoy your weekend,

Anne

Starving=No thanks!

To all of the starving girls out there:

Those are NOT my ribs:

Those are my hard earned core muscles which come from FOOD and workouts!

Ribs wouldn’t get me up there!

Don’t starve! You are taking your life, talents, energy and abilities AWAY from you. You are making yourself worse.

Eat healthy, work out and GIVE yourself energy. Make yourself better!

Take care, be strong and stay positive,

Anne

1to1s with me:)

Hi guys,

today one of our personal trainers took the camera and captured me while doing a 1to1.

I so enjoy working out with this client of the pics as her personality is just amazing and her little girl, which always comes with her mommy to the 1to1s, is just too cute to be true.

Sometimes she stands in front of us adults and shows us how to move. It feels like having the smallest personal trainer in the world :)

But now I let pictures speak:

Doing some downward facing dogs. Do you see the little girl? Isn’t she cute? She LOVES when we do the downward facing dog as apparently we look like houses for her.

Doing some lower back exercises …bum in…bum out…bum in…bum out…well done!

…but twisting the spine isn’t so bad either :) Come one let’s twist again!

Going to Daddy’s corner as mummy is too busy with working out :)

After all of this twisting, shaking and moving some “banana” stretches back with our little assistant.

I hope you enjoyed the little tour from the “woman at work”. 

Take care and enjoy your day,

Anne

Starting new classes, getting inspired!

Hi guys,

just sitting here and getting lots of ideas for our new classes. Although we are a personal trainer studio we also offer classes as well. 

We are three personal trainers in the studio and every one has different abilities which makes it so great to not only work with my workmates but also getting inspiration from each other and being able to offer a lot of different services and classes. 

That’s the good thing about being a PT as you can give classes AND do 1to1s. A fitness instructor or dance instructor wouldn’t be allowed to do this down to his/her more basic certificate.

Anyway…

At the moment I not only do 1to1’s but also cover some core classes, posture classes and bums/tums classes.

The other female PT covers all pre-/post-natal classes and our male PT covers the fat burning, kettle bell and Thai boxing class. 

Since we understand that paying £45 is not affordable for everyone we decided to give classes as well so clients who cannot afford 1to1’s can still experience a workout with a PT (our classes are MAX 6-8 people). 

We thought to add more classes that more people with different interests and fitness levels can join.

I will do an extra posture class, aerobic classes, classes for elderly people and maybe a stretch-relaxation class early mornings on top of the classes I already do…

The other female trainer will give more pre-/post-natal classes to give those girls a more regular workout …and will give some classes for people with special needs as well (arthritis, knee/back problems etc).

Our guy will give extra self defense classes which is so important especially living in a big city like London. After the attack which occurred to me one night (read my post “Got attacked at Auckland Road”> http://workoutpact.tumblr.com/post/9912319058/got-attacked-in-auckland-road ) we realized that it is very important to give people the ability to defend themselves in situations like this…as not everyone is a fast runner…

So at the moment I’m going through books, DVD’s, videos etc.) for inspiration and ideas to make my classes as good as I can.

…and I must say I already had a laugh or two just watching some of those funny old 80ties aerobic dance videos where people are all dressed up with tight “arse” free leotards and legwarmers topped with HUGE hair and half of a ton of make up in their faces :) > Hilarious! 

I tried to imagine myself working out like this (to be honest> with laughing my tears out) and I can tell you that after a session the whole studio would need a complete renovation just because all of the make up and hair spray would stick on the floor, on the mats and the workout equipment. 

…aham…of course I will NOT train 80/90ties style workouts in my class but you know…sometimes it happens that you go through some funnier videos just for your own entertainment.

Anyway, I continue my studying and take care,

Anne

Q:thanks so much for replying! and my oh my, that's quite the work ! I guess this is why I haven't been seeing much of an improvement :/ And to your questions, my strength training usually consists of bicep curls, weight machines, bench, press- that sort. It's quite vague, really. My diet is.. well not the best in the world, I stick to a high fiber diet of 25g a day with 5 meals a day- limiting my carb intake. Sorry to be of a nuisance :[ but what workouts for strength training and ab do you rec?

fueled-by-sunshine-deactivated2

Strength training for weight loss

I would recommend body weight exercises for strengthening yourself. If you want to lose some weight it’s better to go for body weight exercises just down to the fact that doing them requires a lot of muscle strength AND burns calories.

For example> When you train your pecs on a chest press machine the only muscles which are working out at this very moment are your pec’s…nothing else…so it’s only the pec’s which are burning calories in this moment and nothing else. 

Then you go to the next machine and this time it might be only your biceps working out and nothing else…so you strengthen them definitely (when you train them regularly enough of course ;)) but you hardly burn any calories at all.

If on a weight loss diet I would always recommend to do body weight exercises so you have your calories burnt not only on your cardio day but strength training day as well.

What does this mean?

Just think about doing press ups as a chest work out rather then the chest press machine.

Just being in the press up ground position requires a lot of core strength (it’s like holding a plank not on your elbows but hands which is just as hard). So while you are doing your press ups your entire core has to work with it.

Not only this> Down to the fact that you ALWAYS have to carry the weight when doing the press up (doesn’t matter if you press yourself down or up) BOTH…the concentric and eccentric movement of the press up are actively involving your arms, chest and core…within the entire exercise. 

And if you choose to do another body weight exercise you will have the same effect. 

So for burning calories and strengthening I would always recommend  free weight exercises AND body weight exercises as the machines might be helpful for a beginner and for strengthening but if you haven’t got much of time and want to loose weight faster then you should go for the machine free version.

I will post at some time soon an extra post just about different body weight exercises and workouts which help strengthening and boost the metabolism. But be patient as my “paying” clients ;) come first.

There are so many core exercises out there which are good and strengthen the abs/back/inner core/outer core/obliques etc (it always has to be trained combined otherwise muscle disbalance occurs) …

If you haven’t got much of time then exercises which train the core muscles combined are very good (so rather then crunches you should do a plank or jack knifes for example).  Kettle bell exercises (swings, side swings etc) are VERY good for the full core as well and many more…too many to pack into this email…gets already too long ;)

Can you tell me more about your diet? I haven’t figured out what you are eating?!? The diet is very important, too!

Take care, enjoy your workouts and have a great day,

Anne

(I’ll publish this post so it can be from help for others as well. Jet again> If you are not comfortable with this I’ll remove it from my blog immediately :))

edit> I edited the title so it’s easier for people to figure out what this post is about :)

Thank you for your reply!

Screaming at my clients? > Never!!!

Hi guys,

as “fun” this might look and as much it might work for some people BUT it has NOTHING to do with reality. 

She is screaming to obese people and forces them to continue even when out of breath. Of course we all think: There is nothing wrong with this, they deserve it, they signed up for it and they wanted it BUT from a personal trainer working in the REAL world this is NOT recommended at all.

Why is this???

> It could be FATAL! 

Obese people or morbidly obese people tend to have a higher blood pressure and clogged blood vessels. So theoretically if I would do this to someone with this condition, the person is likely to end up with a heart attack or stroke. So basically could die.

The other thing is that people with this condition normally have to take beta blockers or other medication to control their blood pressure. This again makes it close to impossible to train a person the way this woman does just because of the fact that you might kill your client within the session.

In real life a client should ALWAYS be able to stop when he/she can’t breathe anymore. Although we personal trainers have an insurance for cases like this (yes, even possible death) and the clients actually sign a form which indicates this (the possible death) NO ONE wants to take the risk to take someones life!!!

That’s said from a personal trainer in the real world! 

The personal trainer in this video is hired to “act” this way to get more viewers and attention from the audience. Just watching people working out would be plain boring and we could just hit the next gym and watch the big girl walking an the treadmill.

So for our entertainment those kind of unreal scenarios are created…there might be some gyms out there who practice this kind of motivation (especially in the USA) but down to the laws it is very difficult to actually be this extreme to a client…as you could kill the person.

The other thing is that I NEVER EVER had to treat any of my clients this way. None of my clients has ever given up or behaved this way….probably because I don’t scream at them.

All of my clients improve a lot, are reaching their goals and actually train to full exhaustion…some even vomited because of the intensity.

But they all achieved this in a positive way. 

There are different types of motivation….this woman uses NEGATIVE motivation. She tells the person what they can’t do, how bad they are when they can’t do it and how much of a failure they are if they don’t do it. She basically tells them they are losers, bad people etc.

What I use is POSITIVE motivation. I tell my clients how proud I am of them that they come to all of their sessions and courses. I tell them how great I find them when they do more what I ask for…I tell them how proud I am of them when they trained so hard that they can barely even walk. I compliment them on their weight loss. I give them achievable goals and ALL…ALL of my clients have NEVER given up.

It’s like they want to prove me how fit they are and I LOVE this!!!

At the end of the day they can say to themselves > I have done this MYSELF. I’m a great person. I’m proud of myself. I’m proud of myself that I chose the right path. I might have been wrong in the past. I might have done mistakes and I wasn’t perfect but now I have made this change.

If I would constantly scream “Loser” in my clients face they would never think they have achieved anything themselves. They would think > I am because Anne made me this way…without Anne I would still be a loser. Without her screaming at my face I would have never achieved my goal…I’m such loser…

Treatment like this can be very traumatizing and just cannot be hold for a too long period of time. My clients come to me for a very long time…some wanna stay in our studio because they love the atmosphere, the other clients and feel safe, proud and happy. 

If someone would scream at our clients constantly how bad they are they would probably believe this after a while. This is not good for any ones soul.

Girls, just try to imagine someone would scream at you > You are fat, you are disgusting, you are a waste of life etc in your face EVEN when you give everything.

And now imagine yourself doing the same workout just as hard and the trainer says > Wow, your are pushing very hard today. You are breaking your record. Just 30 more seconds and you have broken it. Wow, I can’t believe you are still doing this. You are so fit by now. Don’t give up, you can do this…etc…

I can tell you that my client will be going home completely exhausted (as she or he has pushed her absolute limits) BUT very PROUD of her or his achievement. 

The client of the negative motivator goes home and will think > I’m still a piece of shit. I still wasn’t good enough. I’m still a loser. She still thinks I’m worthless and disgusting…I hate myself.

THIS would be the LAST feeling I wanted for ANY of my clients to have. I would never ever let anyone go home feeling shit about themselves although they should be proud of having worked out so hard. And it’s not that I’m sugar coating anything but I would NEVER EVER want anyone to feel this way after having achieved so much.

I am proud of my clients…each and every fu**ing day. I’m proud that they stand there with me at 5am, 6am or 7am in the morning or any other given time and give their very best and have NEVER given up on this. 

In that moment my clients come into our studio and decide to change their life they already show that they are no losers at all. Losers would NOT come into our studio, losers wouldn’t go through a body assessment knowing that from this point on they have to make a life changing commitment. 

Losers are the ones who do NOTHING and stay at home!

My clients…no of them…is a loser! And that’s why I would never ever dream of treating any of my clients like a loser. They don’t deserve this…the lazy person sitting on the couch doing NOTHING is a loser but none of any of my clients who have changed their path!

Ahhhhh…sorry…I’m so emotional with this as I am so proud of my clients. 

My next training is at 12pm…so today is one of the days I can relax :)

And in case any my of clients is reading this:

I’m proud of you!

Take care, enjoy your day and be proud of yourself having made this change in your life,

Anne

(via foreva-changingx3)

Source: frecklesandfitness

Some pics of old times…

…and it’s probably not what anyone expects to see.

Today I talked with a client about my past involving modelling. Normally I never talk about it anymore…although it would be perfect for some people to mention it for the personal training job but I totally feel embarrassed and detached to it.

It just doesn’t feel like ME anymore as now I hardly wear make up, I’m in sweaty sports clothes all day, people see me working out rather then elegantly sitting somewhere with high heels and a dress…I have just changed so much in my life that I do feel strange about looking at those pictures.

What do you think?

Odd, isn’t it!?

Take care,

Anne

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