Tag: workout

Workout/Martial Arts 03/23/2020: We exert so much energy into fear of failure.

This week in keeping up the workouts and martial arts has been surreal, and just as crazy. I have come up against some other hurdles to keeping my schedule. I am so tired of this pandemic messing up my routine.

What you may ask can be causing you to have troubles getting your booty into gear?

  1. Weather– its been alternately cold and rainy to 80 degree F days here. On the rainy days I have to wait till there is a break in the weather to go out.
  2. Husband, and children – various needs of my family, and making me tired and just want to be lazy.
  3. Missing my gym/classes being scheduled so I just show up and we work. I miss my gym Muay Thai and Kali classes. I could just show up and do my workout. Even if I was having a shitty day, by the time I got there I was there. Might as well just do it. Even if I was tired and not feeling it.
  4. Husband deciding not to go do a workout with you, makes it harder to make (at least for me) myself get my booty in gear.

Tuesday 03/24/2020: 1 hour – 1 mile run, Muay Thai

  • We always pay respect before we start

Workout: 1 hour of Interval run, and Muay Thai training.

I am not feeling it today. I made myself get up and go do the workout. But PMS is rearing it’s ugly head. Kids have been on my last nerve, fussing at me about just anything.

We worked on:

1) Jab, cross , lead hook, uppercut, cut stem knee.
2) Jab, jab, cross, long lead hook, rear kick
3) Jab, cross, rear upper cut, lead uppercut
4) Jab, cross, lead hook, rear uppercut

I did not want to do it but I did it. I am tired and been up since 3:30 am and had to go to work at the Bakery. But there you go. Sometimes I just do what I can and that has to be enough.

Thursday 03/26/2020: 1 hour and 20 mins – 1 mile run, Muay Thai

Workout: 1 hour and 20 minutes. We did an interval run 2 min run / 1 min walk. Took the kids to run with us.

Then practiced Muay Thai.

1) jab, cross, lead hook, upper cut, upper cut
2) jab, cross, lead head hook, rear body hook
3) jab, cross, uppercut, lead knee
4) jab, cross, lead head hook, rear body hook, c step out to rear knee
5) elbows and knee burn out

Whew I am tired.

Saturday 03/28/2020: 40 min – 1 mile run, Quad Band Workout

Workout: 40 minute workout 1 mile run and glute band workout.

I took advantage of the lull in the weather to go run it was beautiful. Not many people out.

Then I did a glute band workout:

All of these can be done without a glute band but the glute band makes it more challenging.
I did 4 exercises trying to get 15 reps each set and a total of 3 sets per exercise. I did it in a superset so no rest between each exercise doing all 4 before a 30 second rest.

1) single leg dead lifts 15 each leg: 15L,15R 15L,15R 15L,15R

2) on elbow plank kick backs 15 each leg: 15L,15R 10L,10R 10L,10R

3) fire hydrants 15 each leg: 15L,15R 15L,15R 15L,15R

4) donkey kicks 15 each leg: 15L,15R 15L,15R 10L,10R

Whew! I am tired. H did not want to come with so I did it on my own.

“She is poise she is grace” she so red in the face after workout. That is a sexay look.

So there you have it. I only got 3 workout days in. I was lazy on some days. Other days the weather was not working with me. Then family was wearing me out. I hate to have excuses, but that is what happened.

“We exert so much energy into fear of failure and then beating ourselves up when it happens that we have no energy left to be resilient. “

The Resilience Breakthrough: 27 Tools for Turning Adversity into Action by Christian Moore

This quote rang true for me. I compare, and chastise myself when I don’t add up.

I need to have the ability to see where I am at and to forgive myself if I fail or fall back. Sigh, I just want to keep up my training.

I am so happy that we did our level 1 test in Muay Thai before this. We, me, my husband, teammate, were talking about it. If I had to try to keep up our conditioning during this time it would be near impossible.

Anyway thanks for reading. Please keep safe. Keep disinfecting yourself and your family. Please feel free to subscribe, and comment if you want.

Gymshark Review: Ordered During COVID-19 Pandemic – Turbo Cropped Legging Cobalt

front view

First things first. I was not paid to do this review. I paid for the product myself with my own money.

Well I am amazed. I did not expect it to come so fast. I am sure that other people will not have the exact same experience. However, on their website, when you go to order they have a warning. Like any company would during this pandemic. So I expected to have to wait for it for a while, weeks even.

“Good news! We are still able to ship to your country, however due to ongoing challenges related to COVID-19 your order may be subject to courier delays.
Please keep an eye on our ‘COVID-19’ FAQ page for further updates.”

I saw that these pants were on sale. I have been wanting to get them for a while, love the color and the pattern. Did not want to buy full price cause I was worried I would not like them like the last ones I bought from Gymshark. I was willing to give them another chance.

I understand they have different fabrics, however since I am buying these on my own I cannot afford to try all the different styles. I just get what I can when I can.

I ordered it on 03/16/2020 and received it yesterday 03/19/2020. That’s three days. With the ability to see where the order is, I saw that the label was printed in Belgium, and it shipped out of Germany, then it got here. This happened all in three days. So regardless of what I think of the pants. I am about to go run in them, and then do my Muay Thai and Kali workout. I am very happy with the shipping. I would have understood if it took longer, but it did not thankfully.

Enough prattling on here is the review:

I love them. They fit well, they perform well, and they do what I need them to do when I am moving around. On top of it all they are my favorite color.

I put up pictures above, and in one of them you can see the silicon lining at the waistline. I was surprised about it and in the end happy about it. When I went running they did not slip at all. I did not have to adjust them at all.

Pros:

  1. Stay put when running, doing martial arts, I am sure when doing anything they will stay put.
  2. Very comfortable, fabric is silky, and compression is just right.
  3. Size is dead on for me.
  4. Waist band is nice and thick.
  5. The shipping was phenomenal.
  6. They were on sale
  7. The color. Oh that saturated cobalt blue is so beautiful.
  8. High waist (on me it is very high waisted, because I am short)
  9. I like the design.

Cons:

  1. I guess the only thing I would say could be better is if it had pockets.

I really had no problems with these so far. They are exactly what I wanted. When I run they stay in place. They move with me, and I love them.

Would I buy them again?

Yes I would. Maybe a different color, or maybe the same color cause I love the color so much.

Does this change my view on Gymshark?

Yes I am more willing to give them a try again. Of course when there is a sale.

This was my first review of them. My over all review and feelings about the first order was meh. I do not wear those pants to workout, I wear them to the bakery instead. They did not hold up well.
https://think.fitness.blog/2019/03/03/gymshark-review-doo-doo-doo-doo-gymshark/

Would I pay full price for these pants?

You know… I would. I like a sale better, but I would certainly pay full price. I work out 5 to 6 days a week normally so investing in great gear is important and helps to make the process more fun, and smoother.

  • side view
  • Side view of high waist
  • High Waist
  • rear view

So hopefully that is a little bit different post than most out there. It has been a crazy tumultuous couple of weeks. We don’t know what is going to happen from on day to the next. I am still trying to keep up with my training.

As silly as it seems having something come in, no matter if it is small is nice. It is something to look forward to. Something different to take the mind off of what is rolling around the corner.

As always, thank you for reading. At this time and during our social distancing. I feel like I have a connection to other people outside of my home. Even if it is just through my blog. My personal social media sites, or through email and snail mail. While we flatten the curve at least this is a place where we can write to one another.

So if you have questions, feel free to ask. Like if you like this kind of blog post. Also let me know if you want me to write about something else. Keep safe. Wash your hands, and hug your loved ones if you can.

Workout/Martial Arts 03/16/2020: Working Out My Routine in This Pandemic

Everyone has been effected by this pandemic. Gyms are closed, schools are closed, people are working from home if they are lucky. Workers who are essential to the survival of the community are still out there working. One of my jobs is at a bakery. We are there, and I try to help others where I can. This is scary and I am starting to get overloaded with all the articles and media input on this pandemic.

The one thing that helps me, is to have a workout routine and goals. It helps me relieve stress, anxiety, and gets me thinking about something else. I made a commitment to myself years ago that I would stay on this journey no matter what. I have gotten through two medical scares. One was a kidney stone, and the other was a doozy uterine cancer. I can get through this.

Do we have to change up our routine? Yup, but change is good for your body. Also it gets you thinking about what you can do at home. So while I am still working out my workout routine during this pandemic, I am going to keep doing what I can with my head held high. I done a lot of reading and people I believe it is going to take longer than 2 weeks of isolation for this thing to blow over.

What works for me does not always work for other people, but having a routine and goals helps me have something to shoot for.

Tentative Workout routine:

  1. Run every day that I am going to do a workout (goal is to get better at running)
  2. Martial Arts- Muay Thai and Kali practice 3 times a week
  3. Full body plyometrics, and weight lifting 2 to 3 times a week.

Monday 03/16/2020: 2 mile run, Muay Thai, and full body workout

Workout #1. 2 mile run

Workout #2. 57 minutes Full body workout. Made H do it with me too.

Love my home gym… 

Workout: Do each Workout as follows
45 second, 15 seconds rest, 4 sets each exercise

  1. Goblet squats with a 20 lb kettle bell
  2. Walking lunges
  3. Revers leg push on bench (lay face down on the bench, with bent knees, push legs up squeeze glutes and hamstrings at top)
  4. Swiss ball hamstring pulls
  5. Swiss ball pikes
  6. Wall knees Muay Thai ( thank you Silvie Von Douglas)
  7. Wall jab, cross, uppercut, elbows Muay Thai (thank you Silvie Von Douglas)
  8. Leg Circles left and right
  9. Ball reverse crunches

I will put Silvie Von Douglas video here. This is where I got the Muay Thai wall knees and wall punches and elbows idea from.

Wednesday 03/18/2020: 1.5 hours, Run, Muay Thai

1.5 hours Workout/Muay Thai training

We went for a 1 mile run, then we worked on Muay Thai for a little over an hour.

I am so lucky that H and I train together, cause we know a great number of drills. So I feel like we can keep working Muay Thai. I have been feeling sad we have not been able to go to training. I miss Muay Thai training. We will try to keep up our training while we are socially distancing ourselves during this pandemic.

We worked the:

  1. boxing 20
  2. knees
  3. some kicks
  4. I found and worked on the fact that when I throw my crosses I turn my fist first and throw it. I only do it when I do the cross on its own. I should throw it out there and then turn it at the end. When I throw a jab, cross, I don’t turn it till the end.

I think it is important to keep up our training, and It is important for people to get exercise in. I know a lot of people are at home now without anything to do. Also you have a lot more time. I believe starting to get a workout into your daily schedule, now that you don’t have to drive anywhere if you are stuck at home would be great.

I however, want to caution, if you have not been doing a lot of exercise start slowly. Start by walking daily, or running twice a week, try some yoga there are youtube videos you can watch. You don’t want to hurt yourself right now, but get up and get some exercise in.

I took video of some of our training.

Friday 03/20/2020: 2 hours, Run, Muay Thai, and Kali

Workout #1 : 1 mile run. I listened to my trainers suggestions and ran differently today. I went for a mile run, 1 min run/ 1 min walk. My overall time was much better for the mile. One of my goals for this time is to get better at running. Woot! Thanks Khun Kru Krysta for the tips and motivation.

Hoping to get some Muay Thai and Kali training in later when H is off work.

Workout #2: 1.5 Muay Thai and Kali. I love having H here to help me work on my technique. I am not in any way an expert. But I am going to keep practicing.

Keep training and working through the pandemic. Don’t give up on your dreams during this time.

I have a video I am going to put up too.

Also I love these new pants from Gymshark.

Some of my training video

Sunday 03/22/2020: 45 minutes, Run, full body workout

Middle picture shows angled or seated pull ups and chin ups.

I could not drag husband along this time he was tired. He was working all weekend so I understand.

Workout: 45 minutes. I did an interval run like my trainer recommended 2 min run/1 min walk for a mile.

Then I did a plyometric workout:
1 min each exercise with 15 seconds rest between doing each 3 times

( Note: I did a seated or angled chin ups and pull ups because I am not strong enough yet to do them on my own. I hope to be able to do them one day. But either way it still worked my arms really well.)

  1. curb toe taps
  2. alternating jump lunges
  3. 1 1/2 squats with a pump in the middle
  4. seated pull ups/angled
  5. human pull overs ( anchor your arms and using your core and lats pull your straightened legs up and to your face. Think hanging leg pikes)
  6. seated chin ups/angled

That was it for this last week. I got 4 days of work out in. It is not my normal schedule and it may change again.

We have to be kind to ourselves. I have to remind myself of that. I am a get up and, go go go person. If we are not going what are we doing? Wasting time? But I know that this is new our life has changed and what we are doing has changed. I am taking into consideration when H wants to go and work out. I am working around him being home all the time. So I can’t do a loud HIIT work out at home where it may disturb him.

I have goals Running, and keep up with my Muay Thai and Kali.

Its going to be weird, its going to suck, but we are going to keep moving. Thank you for reading. I hope you have a great week. Please don’t give up on your dreams. Keep going, even if you have to change things, or post pone things. Keep dreaming and keep reaching. Stay safe, and all the love goes out to you.

Note: while I am running I am keeping social distancing. I just don’t get to near anyone and I don’t stop to talk to anyone. I just wave hi and continue on.

Workout/Martial Arts 03/09/2020: During Time of Pandemic what do I do?

So this week has been a roller coaster. I am in the U.S.A. We have been watching the CORVID 19 unfold, and the fact that it turned into a pandemic.

We watched as Italy completely shut down and quarantined the entire nation. We watched as more and more cases were found in America.

As such our work life has been upset, and changed due to the changes we have witnessed. We are lucky. My husband can work from home and do his job still. Where I am a service worker, work at a bakery and work with children. My job with children has been suspended, and my bakery work I can at least go in before the store is opened and get some work done there.

School for us has not been disrupted, because I home school my kids. I am lucky there as well because I have friends that have kids that are now staying home for 1 month because schools have been closed.

We have witnessed people freaking out, buying all the toilet paper, all the hand sanitizer, all the soap, and now food here in the USA, and around the world. I have read, and read a great deal. I have read everything I can get my hands on. I like to be informed so I can make the right decision for my family. I started preparing as soon as I saw what was happening in Asia, Iran and Italy. We have been socially distancing ourselves since Monday of last week. If I can help flatten the curve then I will do what I can.

I write all of this to say, I have stopped going to the gym, and meeting with my trainers for the time being. I miss them, and miss my training with them. However, I don’t want to be a vector and cause the spread. I don’t want my family to get it and for us to put a burden on our medical system.

I am however going to continue training, after I gathered myself and realized that we are going to be staying home.

Friday 03/13/2020: Running, Shadowboxing, and full body workout

Workout: I went for a 1.25 mile run around my neighborhood, shadow boxed, and did a 10 min…Total Body Exercise Ball Workout…( said in stadium announcers voice)

Forgot to mention it is beautiful outside.

In an effort to flatten the curve my husband and I have been avoiding social activities. That includes our gym. I miss MuayThai and Kali so much. But we are erring on the side of caution and avoiding the gym to try to do our part in the stopping of the spread of COVID 19.

With the situation the way it is I don’t want to lose the progress I have made. (Yeah my brain is going there on me.) So I have decided to get what training I can in. I ran and did a total body workout.

Swiss ball workout:
9 exercises 45 seconds each for 10 mins total

1) Swiss ball hamstring curl
2) Swiss ball push-ups
3) Swiss ball crunch
4) Swiss ball wall squat/ or just squat traditional
5) Swiss ball inner thigh squeezes
6) Swiss ball back extension
7) Swiss ball tricep push-ups
8 ) Swiss ball abductor lifts left
9) Swiss ball abductor lifts right

I will put link to where I got exercises below. It’s a Fitness Blender routine. Works your muscles out good.

I love this youtube channel. The workouts are free and something you can do at home. They have workouts with and without equipment. I am not sponsored by them. But I know my friends are wondering what they will do while we are trying to keep social isolation.

Saturday 03/14/2020: Running, Shadowboxing, and Full Body Workout

Workout and a ridiculous picture of me. Looking like, “Are you ready to get pumped?” Bwahaha

Ran for half a mile before it started hailing on me.

Then did 3 minutes of shadow boxing.

Full body workout: (exercises that can be done without the ball I will indicate)

45 seconds each

1) Swiss ball pikes

2) Swiss ball sit ups : sit ups

3) Swiss ball rolls: plank on floor

4) Swiss ball adductor leg raises left : laying on side raise up on elbow and balance on one leg raising the other leg

5) Swiss ball adductor leg raises right : laying on side raise up on elbow and balance on one leg raising the other leg

6) Swiss ball reverse crunches with ball between feet : reverse crunches on floor (lift straightened legs and hips completely off ground and straight up

7) Swiss ball pike (raise ball with ankle and legs straight, pike up and grab ball lowering back and bring it back up again grabbing ball with legs) : do a pike on the floor by bringing straight arms and legs up and crunch touching your feet

8 ) Swiss ball hip thrusters (feet on ball thrusting hips up): hip thrusters on the floor

9) Swiss ball push ups (push ups with feet on ball): push ups on the floor

Just cause we are in a pandemic does not mean we can’t still get our bodies moving. ❤️❤️❤️

So to answer the question. During the time of pandemic what do I do? You can do so much now at home. Some of the things I will be doing are, calisthenics, weight lifting if you have the equipment at home, swiss ball workouts, shadow boxing, Kali drills, running outdoors away from the gym. You can still do so much and not be in the company of other humans.

I wrote all of this to say. I am still going to be training. I will put up what I do for training. Things will and have to change for a short time, but I will get back to my normal routine when I can. I am socially distancing myself for the good of all. I hope you all stay safe and healthy. Thank you for reading.

Martial Arts 03/02/2020: When The Body Needs REST… Just Rest

This last weeks martial arts week of training post is a little late. I have been a bit tired, and I did not realize how tired. When we were prepping for this test we were doing extra training before and after classes. We have been pushing our bodies to get them to be ready.

My trainer Tony said that a fighter after a hard fight will need to rest for 2 weeks after sometimes. This is our first week after the test that happened Thursday 02/27/2020. Really We only took 3 days off before the Thursday I just could not make myself train.

I ended up doing a Tuesday class, then Thursday my body said no… you need to sleep. I listened and just slept. So our last week of training was light, but still awesome.

I got to teach a class on Saturday. That was fun, and a great learning experience.

Tuesday 03/03/2020: 3 hours of Muay Thai, Kali

3 hours of training Muay Thai and Kali. Thank you Khun Kru K for a fantastic classes.

Muay Thai:
It was a fun class today. We worked on all the knees. My favorite knee is the knee number 2 side in Striking knee, also known to some as the Michael Jackson knee.

Kali:
Wow we went to the next level. Instead of dealing with strike with say a hunting/scissors and just one strike. We deal with the incoming strike with a 7 count that changes levels, and distances due to us using Espada y Daga/sword and knife. Then we did that same thing of the 1 -5 strikes and a knife attack coming at us where we outside deflect and diss arm the assailant.

So much fun tonight.

Friday 03/06/2020: 1 hour of Muay Thai

1 hour of Muay Thai training. I stayed home yesterday cause my body was tired.

We started with 2 rotations of these:
1) 2 to 3 shadow box hits with a jiu jitsu sprawls
2) wide stance burpees
3) traveling lunges
4) hip thrusters on the floor
5) walk out from squat, (squat and walk hands forward into plank)
6) crouched bouncing squats (bounce on the balls of your feet, letting your butt hit your heels)
7) super men
8 )bear crawl
9) in and and out push ups

Muay Thai training:
1) Walking kicks in the pads all the way down the gym and back
2) double leg kicks where you have to travel a little to close the distance between the rapid kicks on pads all the way down the gym and back
3) lead teep to flying elbows all the way down the mat and back ( I was getting air on those)

Then we sparred. I notice for me sparring after the Thai test is so different. It feels more like play to me. Pow pow pow 💥, loose and fun. Not have to get kicks or knees in I can just look for openings or draw openings out of my opponents. So yay!

Video is one of my trainers Tony listen to how hard he hits, also look at how smooth his movements are. Goals to get more like him and Khun Kru K. This is the measuring stick I measure myself by. I put up my videos of myself and I am not near this level yet.

Thank you 🙏 for the awesome class Tony.

Saturday 03/07/2020: 1 hour of Muay Thai

1 hour of Muay Thai. I taught the class today.
Thank you JD for the help. My thoughts at the bottom.

Warm up:
1) Jump rope 3 min
2) Shadow box 3 min

Thai:
1) Lead to rear 4 count
2) Rear to lead 4 count
3) Boxing 20

Cool down: abs
1) Frog style hip thrusters 1 min
2) Swiss ball pikes 1 min
3) Swiss ball crunches butt hanging off targeting upper abs 1 min
4) Swiss ball crunches but abs leg on ball upper body hanging off targeting the lower and upper abs 1 min
5) Concentric sideways walking planks down and back

I have noticed that there are different types that come to any classes I teach. In cake and pastry I command the class because I know what I am doing. I have been in the business for so long.

However, in Thai class I changed up what I was doing to make a person happy. I am new to teaching Muay Thai. So I feel like I should honor requests. However some people are kind of bossy. 😆

I am learning as I go. Even if I make lots of mistakes teaching.

Looking back on my week, I see when we tested and how much time we took off or did not take off. That is why I write this down, and document it. Sometimes if I take a look back I realize why my body is doing what it is doing. I can then be more forgiving of to my body if I understand.

If you read this far, thank you for reading. I hope you have a great week ahead, and keep working on being the best person you can be. Tomorrow starts the new week of training. I am going to have to figure out a way to get a run in at least 3 days a week.

SHEFIT Bra Review: Are the Ladies Locked and Loaded?

This is not a sponsored review. This is just a review of a bra I tried, and hoped would finally be the answer. I bought both of these bras.

Here is a link to the website. SheFit Apparently you get a coupon for $10.00 off. That is nice.

Here is the short answer. I tried both the High Impact bra and the Medium Impact bra. I LOVE THEM!

If you don’t know, I lead an active lifestyle, I practice Muay Thai, and other martial arts, I run, I weight lift and am always doing something. I needed a good bra to keep the girls locked and loaded.

Now if you want to hear the why love them, please keep reading.

What was I looking for?

I was looking for a bra that was supportive. Yes but what does supportive mean to me? When I exercised I did not have to wear 2 to 3 at a time. I did not have pain when jumping or plyometrics. I wanted one that would fit my cup size and my band measurements. Believe it or not we women are not all made the same, and sometimes we are even half sizes, in band measurement and cup size. So this was an ongoing search for me. I assume an ongoing search for most women.

Did this bra meet the above criteria?

Yes! Yes, yes, yes… it really did.

Ok so the fabric and the manufacturing is such that it holds you tight and does not move once you are cinched in. Now this may sound band but it is not. Because of he manufacturing and the fabric I don’t feel the need for multiple bra’s.

The bra adjust in the shoulder bands, and around the under bust, or chest band. So you can adjust it to your body. It works for half sizes, quarter sizes and everything in between.

A picture of the directions on how to adjust the bra to your dimensions

For lack of better terms the mass of your breasts move with your body, not counter to your body movements.

What did I buy?

1 high impact bra, and 1 medium impact bra

For reference I am a 38 D. I chose the 1 Luxe size for both the high impact and the medium impact.

  • front high impact
  • back high impact
  • zipper covers
This is the high impact bra, in black. The girls are locked and loaded.

If you look closely the high impact bra has extra darts across the breast. This is added structure and form to keep everything locked down. There is a zipper cover for both the top and bottom of the bra. Great addition to the bra. Normally I see only one zipper cover on the bottom of other sports bra brands.

The high impact bra is the most supportive sports bra I have used. This bra is fantastic for running, HIIT, and any other high impact sports. This bra holds you in tight. Does not have a lot of give.

  • front medium impact
  • back medium impact
This is the medium impact bra, in black. The girls are still locked and loaded.

The medium impact bra does not have the extra darts/fabric across the breast. It has the same zipper covers. The support for their medium impact bra is what the competition say is the high impact.

This bra is great for running, and HIIT. The medium impact bra is great for martial arts. It has a little more give, so I feel I can move around better.

My Notes

Both:

  1. Come with their own garment washing bag. Very quick turn around. 2 business days.
  2. Packaged well.
  3. Use the same adjustment and cinching/sizing
  4. They both come with a mesh washing bag so that you can wash your bra properly in the machine without it getting damaged. The mesh bags were each different from the last one. I only bought two but both were different. So out of my sample size 100 out of 100% different.
  5. Fit true to size chart on website.
  6. Both came to me in about 2 business days, so super fast shipping.
  7. Both came with a tape measure if you have any problems with your sizing so that you can measure and send back your bra to get the correct size. If you don’t need it you can gift it to a friend to use and it has coupon for them to get some money off their first bra.
  8. Both came with a hair tie that had positive affirmations on it.

Medium Impact:

  1. The medium impact is as controlling as a high impact bra from other manufacturers like Champion.
  2. The medium impact is great for every day wear.
  3. Smoother silhouette.
  4. Buttery feel on skin.
  5. More range of movement

High Impact:

  1. High impact is fantastically built.
  2. Can be stiff at the beginning but it conforms to your body after a workout.
  3. Great for HIIT workout, for running, for high impact sports.
  4. Felt more confining which is what you need in an high impact bra, so less range of movement.

The Verdict

Would I buy this bra again? The answer is yes. A million times yes. It does everything I need it to do. Your girls will be locked and loaded, front and center. No more pain when jumping, no more errant breast flesh flying. It does what you need it to do. Nothing can hold you back from being the warrior women you are, and want to be.

Let me know if you liked this review or if you have any questions. Thank you for reading, and keep working to be the best you that you can be.

Below are some more pictures of the packing.

  • two mesh bags they came in
  • first order
  • inspirational hair band
  • inspirational hair band
  • tape measure
  • shipping packaging
  • other side of tape measure

Martial Arts 02/20/2020: Mr Miyagi was mostly right! He just need spend some time in Thailand.

This is my last week to train up before the big test. To say I am worried, even scared I will fail is a bit of an understatement. Everyone will be watching, but I am going to keep training, and try to be as ready as I can.

I have a week of training ahead of me, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. After this week it is active rest till Thursday of the next week. My trainer said she wants us to take a break before the test so that we are fresh.

I have been training for months for this test so here is hoping. I know that the test is designed to be hard, and to test you. It is physically challenging, mentally challenging when you get hit, and modulating yourself when the adrenaline dumps is going to be tough so you don’t gas yourself on the first round. I am going to do my absolute best, and put everything else out of my mind.

Tuesday 02/18/2020: 3 hours of Muay Thai and Kali

3 hours of training Muay Thai and Kali. Woot what a fun night. Thank you Khun Kru Krysta for two great classes.

Pad rounds before class

Thai class:
1) Jab, cross, rear kick combo
2) Jab, lead horizontal elbow, rear side in elbow, rear inward knee, teep
3) Catch kick combos, return quad spike, knee to hamstring, cross stomp the knee, side kick the leg.
4) Catch kick combo, with leg pass and 4 count afterwards.

Kali class:
We worked on open box, to open box flowing into what ever disarms we could get through the flow. I like the 7 arm bar series personally. And the kumbiata switch to leaver on shoulder and smash trachea/chin.

Then we worked on sword and shield. Took a video of it we have not worked on this in a few months. But it came back to us and it was super fun.

What a great night.

Thursday 02/20/2020: 3 hours of Muay Thai

2 hours of Muay Thai practice. Thank you 🙏 Tony for the great class.

Pad rounds before class

Thai:

We warmed up with- 3x each exercise
1) high knee opposite punches
2) mountain climbers
3) jumping jacks

(This is assuming both people are orthodox fighters, if one of them is south paw then the logic differs, on which catch to do to protect the liver.)

1) jab, cross, rear teep, lead teep

2) catch a incoming rear kick with lead arm and a small step onto your rear foot instead of a slide, pass it and return a rear kick

3) catch lead kick with your rear arm, lateral back with your lead leg, turning your body away from the kick, (this distributes the force along your lower back and hip, saving you liver), pass the kick and return a rear kick from your temporary south paw stance?

4) rear knee, lead knee, rear flying knee

5) lead teep, rear teep, fake with lead teep to execute rear aerial knee called Hanuman Climbing the Mountain.

The break through with the last rear aerial knee for me was, that I realized it is like the crane kick like Mr. Miyagi taught just instead of kick you did a knee. Still need to work on it, and practice, practice, practice. =) So Mr. Miyagi was mostly right.

Cool down and ab work-
Shadow boxing

Crunches
Flutter Kicks
Crunches
Scissor kicks
Crunches
15 Clockwise and 15 counter clockwise double leg circle

Friday 02/21/2020: 1 hour of Muay Thai

1 hour of Muay Thai training. I am about as tired as this picture looks today. Thank you Tony  🙏 for the class.

Warm up:
45 seconds rapid kicks on the bag
15 sec rest
45 seconds teeps on bag
15 sec rest
45 seconds rapid kicks other leg on bag
15 sec rest
45 seconds teeps on bag
15 sec rest

45 seconds left and right leg kicks in the bag
15 sec rest
45 seconds skip knees
15 sec rest
45 seconds left and right leg kicks in the bag
15 sec rest
45 seconds skip knees

Drills:
Step in jab, cross
Jab
Lead teep
Flying switch knee

Jab, cross, hook
Catch incomming rear kick, Return a jab
Shrug off and let go of leg pushing opponent back into ropes
Immediately throw a flying knee into opponent on ropes

Then we did rounds of sparring just boxing first, and then legs and punches

Saturday 02/22/2020: 2 hours of Muay Thai

2 hours of Muay Thai practice. Thank you 🙏 so much Khun Kru Krysta for the test prep and the really fun class.

Test:
Technique demo
Thai 15 count
Boxing 20 count
2 x 3 min test rounds with 30 seconds rest ( goal is 60 kicks 40 knees minimum for each round) (all the while the feeder is kicking and hitting you back)

My numbers for test rounds:
first round – 76 kicks 46 knees
second round – 77 kicks and 45 knees

Class:
We worked on the entire Inosanto 18 count. I don’t have the permission to publish, and I would want to ask first anyway. But it involves knees, elbows, kicks, and punches in a flow.

Whew I am exhausted now!

9 hours of training this week. Next week is our test. It has been highly recommended by our trainer/coach to rest up the next few days. So we will rest Sunday and Monday, we will train lightly Tuesday, and then we will rest Wednesday, just so we can be fresh for Thursday our test.

I feel better after our last training session and our test rounds. Here is hoping I am ready. =)

Thanks for reading. I hope you all have a great weekend. As always please feel free to ask questions, if you like it like, and subscribe if you want to hear more of my rambling, recipes, and product reviews.

Martial Arts 02/11/2020: Crazy Ups Flying Knees

New week new training. WOOOOOO… nah… this week did not start like that. I like everyone, I assume, have off weeks…. Er lets say off days. I try not to let it color my entire week. When I feel like I don’t want to be there, for what ever reason, I still get my butt into the gym. Barring a injury that requires rest or some horrible plague that has taken me down. But the general doldrums I don’t let dictate my training.

As strict with my kiddos as I am, I do the same to myself. So I tell myself to get to it, and get to work.

Enough blathering on. On to the training.

Tuesday 02/11/2020: 2.5 hours of Muay Thai and Kali class

We started off with pad rounds. I held for H, and he held for me. I drug my butt up off the mat and made myself focus on my martial art.

In Muay Thai we worked more on the knee counter strikes. We started last week with, the arm posting on the bicep of opponent, then we did the shielding the knee. Today we worked on the ball room dancing dump off of the lead knee from opponent.

Ball room dancing dump:

When opponent knees you with lead knee. Step deep into their box, grab knee with rear hand, grab their lat around back with lead hand. Like you are hugging them with one arm. Then twist them over your leg that is behind their rear leg.

If done right this will dump them on the ground. It is pretty fast when you get the flow in.

We also did a drill that was fun. I was able to get a head kick regularly.

Jab, lead knee, cross, lead head kick.

I was repeatedly getting head kicks in! Head kicks! So that is a thing. I never thought I would be able to do a head kick. Not in a million years. Because you know… I am short. Vertically Challenged as some of my friends say.

Kali we worked on the high box and disarms, to take downs. Also…never snake a blade! It’s a good rule of thumb. (snake is when you disarm a person only using your arm and hand instead of the vin where you use the weapon to help you disarm the opponent)

She mentioned with the high box you strike, move it, strike it, move it. It was a great way to think about it.

Thank you Khun Kru Krysta for the great classes.

Thursday 02/13/2020: 1.5 hours of Muay Thai

I have my gyms level one test coming up. This includes a technique drill, Thai 15 count, Boxing 20, and the 2 x 3 minute rounds of 60 kicks and 40 knees each round. All the while getting kicked and hit by the feeder.

I have trepidation about this test. It is designed to be hard, and to test your abilities and resolve. I have been training for it. However, I don’t want to fail. I really want to pass.

We did pad rounds with Tony before class. With only 15 seconds rest time. He liked my hooks, lead and rear hooks. I felt good, flowing through kicks, knees, elbows and punches.

Muay Thai Training:

  1. plus sign foot work with jab cross
  2. Opponent throws a jab, you parry, cross you parry, a switch knee, you post on their bicep, you throw a cross, you throw a rear kick
  3. Elbow check the body kick 3 times and on the third one you step in and eat the kick but at their knee level, and return a cross to their chest simultaneously. Followed by a lead to rear 4 count.
  4. Clench over under, with a off balance, and knee

Friday 02/14/2020: 2 hours of Muay Thai

2 hours of Muay Thai training today. Thank you Tony Kap Kun Ka for the fantastic class.

Today was all about the mad ups. We started with conditioning with kettle bells, then knees to flying knees, and then finished with abs.

So I have only done flying knees once before. I went from barely getting off the ground today to some mad ups. Pictures and video so I could see.

Kettle bell conditioning:

40 seconds for each exercise with 20 seconds rest between. Do all exercise in three rounds.

  1. Kettle bell swings
  2. Kettle bell goblet squats
  3. Push ups
  4. Right arm tricep rows
  5. Bicycle crunches
  6. Left arm tricep rows
  7. Jump lunges
  8. Double thrust burpees

Thai:
Drill #1
1) jab, rear leg kick
2) jab, cross, rear leg kick
3) jab, cross, hook, rear leg kick
4) rear uppercut, lead hook, rear leg kick

I was so tired after our conditioning warm up. My shoulders were burning trying to keep my hands up during this drill.

Drill #2
Two walking knees, then a flying knee, followed by a flying knee burn out for last 30 seconds.

Thank you Khun Kru Krysta For working with me.

Ab workout: 40 seconds each for two rounds
Pike ups
Reverse crunches
Flutter kicks
High flutter kicks

Whew!

Saturday 02/15/2020: 2 hours of Muay Thai

2 hours of Muay Thai Training we got to the gym and I sunned myself while I stretched, then Khun Kru Krysta had us practice the skills test, boxing 20, Thai 15, then the two rounds of testing with thirty seconds of squat jumps between.

Then we worked on catching kicks, follow up Striking of catches kicks, and countering opponents catching your kicks.

Key things to remember when catching kicks:

  1. Step offline
  2. Mid calf
  3. Posture
  4. (For me to remember- cinch up on the leg)

Strikes to do when you have caught a kick:

  1. Knee the hamstring
  2. Spike elbow the quad
  3. Cross Stomp the opponents supporting leg/knee
  4. Side kick the opponents leg
  5. Round house to the thigh
  6. Outside cross to step to dump them
  7. Pass/Throw leg, return a 4 count
  8. Spinning back elbow, while holding onto the leg

Counters to do when some one catches your round house:

  1. Walk out – turn your knee down and walk your foot out
  2. Foot Jab – turn our knee and foot jab on hip bone
  3. Weave – weave foot inside and push with knee
  4. Clench/climbing downward flying elbow –
    • if they catch closer to your knee, clench up, jump up and while pushing all your weight down into their arm, come down with elbow.
  5. Superman punch

Whew I am exhausted!

8 hours of training this week. Whew I feel it. My body is tired, and I am looking forward to the rest days. I had a great week. I started off not so great, but it turned around. I was able to get mad ups and actually do a flying knee. I can do it! Woot!

I honestly saw the set up of the flying knees that my coach wanted us to do, and I did not think I could do it. I kept working at it till I did. Then we went home.

As always thank you for reading. I hope you had a great week. I hope you keep trying, and I hope that you don’t let a bad day color your week. You never know when you are going to learn how to fly through the air like a freaking ninja. If you want to like, comment, and subscribe to hear more about my training and fitness journey.

Martial Arts 02/04/2020: Best Early Valentines Day Present New Gloves

This is the start of a new week of training, and what a start to it. Khun Kru Krysta came back from Thailand and training there. H gave me a the best Valentines gift I have ever gotten, and even though I started the day not wanting to training. It ended up being one of the best days.

Tuesday 02/04/2020: 2.5 hours of Muay Thai and Kali class

What an amazing start to the week of training. I have to say I came into the gym not really feeling being there. But I like to practice what I preach as it were. So I was there. I was going to put time in on the mat, was going to train even if I was feeling crappy.

However, what a turn around… I got a chance to work with my coach Tony. Then Khun Kru Krysta came back from Thailand and her training in camps there. I was so happy to see her. Then my husband apparently worked with Khun Kru Krysta while she was in Thailand to get me some new gloves, because mine were dying on me. He present it to me as an early Valentines Day present. We don’t normally celebrate Valentines day, but it is the best V day present I have ever gotten. I squee’d so loud the whole gym heard me. Below are pictures of the new gloves, and the gloves I have beaten to death.

Both Tony and H said I put many miles and many hours of training in on those gloves, and it was a great sign of hard work. I like to think it shows hard work, dedication, and love for an art.

We talked about what to do with the retired gloves. I could hang them up/display them. I could donate them to needy kids in Thailand who would be happy to have them. Or I can do like my predecessors did, and when I find a person that I see potential in, or I have made a connection with, I can give it to them. Kind of a passing on of honor and tradition. For now I guess I will retire them and place them in a place of honor.

On to what we did for training. Enough of my prattle for one day. I just had a fantastic day, when I thought it was only going meh.

For the following drills, we worked both orthodox and south paw stance.

  1. foot work drill – plus sign foot work with knee
  2. 1 – 4 counter knee drill:
    • 1) counter/stop knee with hand on peck muscle
    • 2) counter knee with cross shield
    • 3) catch the knee, and off balance toward the knee caught for a dump.
    • 4) catch the knee, and off balance over your own leg/knee, while lifting their knee for a dump.
  3. Counter switch kick – teep the incoming switch kick with lead teep to stop, teep with rear teep to push.
  4. Counter punch after you pocket kick an opponent – pocket kick with knee across belly/chest, then you push off with leg to avoid being hit with opponents hands.
  5. Response to leg kick – check leg rear leg kick with lead leg, and return lead leg kick right away
  6. Response to leg kick – check lead leg kick with rear leg, and return a rear leg kick right away
  7. catch torso kick (we worked both orthodox and south paw stances)
  8. catch rear torso kick, throw leg caught, and do a spinning back elbow following the leg
  9. catch rear torso kick, spin and catch thigh with other arm, then return spinning back elbow.
  10. counter kick catch with flying elbow -pocket torso kick, that some one catches, you lean in on climbing up, grab behind their head, and drop an elbow.

Kali –

Single stick, snakes and vines drills. Snakes are unassisted disarms, vines are assisted with weapon disarms.

  1. equise drill, low back hand high back hand
  2. inside deflect, snake and plus sign disarms
  3. outside deflect, to snake, plus sign, and equals sign disarms
  4. Sparred with single stick.

Thursday 02/06/2020: 2.5 hours of Muay Thai and Kali class

2.5 hours of Muay Thai and Kali practice! Woot. I got a chance to work with both Khun Kru Krysta and Tony my trainers before class.

Muay Thai- Then we learned (counters to knees), (catching torso kicks to kneeing opponents caught leg, to pushing it off and kicking their sciatica nerve in the back of the leg), (over under clench grip, off balance, to knee to opponents face), (pocket kick to push off)

Kali – we worked on snakes and vines from inside deflect, and outside deflect, kumbiata switch to chokes, and learned a new attack which was a outside deflect to vine and then a trap smash. Woot!

So after we did rounds before class, and were waiting for class to start. Tony my coach said he could see a difference between when I first started Muay Thai pictures and now. How I have trimmed up and slimmed down. I told him thank you. I am getting better at just accepting the compliment. I did tell him I just don’t see it. But I decided to go back and look at the pictures. So here they are two pics from June of 2018, around when I started and this month. ☺️

Friday 02/07/2020: 3 hours of Muay Thai

3 hours of Muay Thai training with some conditioning at the end. Thank you Tony for a great class.

We hit pads before class started. We did 30 mins of sparring just punching, then 30 minutes of kick boxing sparring, then 30 minutes clench sparring, then we did a conditioning workout.

Five rounds of each exercise as fast as we can: (Note: 35 lbs is the heaviest KB I have done so it’s a PR for me! Woot!)

1) Kettle Bell clean walks (L and R side) (16 kilo = 35.27 lbs)
2) 10 x burpees
3) 15 x Kettle Bell squats 15 lb
4) 18 x Kettle Bell swings (16 kilos =35.27 lbs)

We put the time in on the mat and it will show.
Sparring: constant light play lets you feel out the range and what you can get in there.

Saturday 02/08/2020: 3 hours of Muay Thai

3 hours of training and getting ready for my test at the end of the month. Thank you so much Khun Kru Krysta Scharlach for working with me and H.

We worked on technique demo, then boxing 20 and Thai 15 drills, then she held for test prep rounds 2 x 3 minute rounds with 30 seconds rest between. We worked on Ajarn Chai’s Family Wai Kru as well.

Then we worked I Muay Thai drills, catch the jab, long guard the knee, perry the cross, high elbow cover an incoming head kick.

Then we worked I Muay Thai drills, catch the jab, long guard the knee, perry the cross, lean back/ride back to avoid the head kick, return a cross hook cross.

Then we worked I Muay Thai drills, catch the jab, long guard the knee, perry the cross, to avoid head kick – kick the opponents rear leg

Pop the leather three for three punches.

Lead and rear leg 4 counts.

Whew I am tired!

Well I got super busy during the weekend and forgot to post my blog entry last weekend. I did not even remember to finish it and post it till I was training today, halfway through class, and thought. Wow I forgot to post. c’est la vie… it is what it is, and I am posting now. I felt bad, but what can I do.

It was a great week of training. Even though I could not go to Wednesday training cause I had to teach a class of my own, in cake decorating. I still clocked in 11 hours of training. Wow!

I got brand new gloves brought to me from Thailand by my trainer Khun Kru Krysta. H and She got together and secretly got the gloves for me. I had a great week of training, and I got to train for my up and coming test.

I am posting this today, it is Tuesday, and the start of a new week in training. After this I will jot down my thoughts and then shower this sweat off. Pass out if I am lucky and start the day over again.

Thanks for reading. Have a great day. As always, if you want to like, comment and or follow that would be awesome.

Martial Arts 01/28/2020: Your Punches are Crispy

Sunday I had the opportunity to go to a seminar with Nakapan. I wrote about that in a separate blog.

But Tuesday marks the first day in my training week. It is crazy to think that my training week tends to be 8 to 13 hours a week. That is a crazy change from 2 years ago when I started this Martial Arts journey. We were only do 2 days a week at most 4 hours total.

Tuesday 01/28/2020 – 3 hours… Muay Thai and JKD

I got a chance to do 3 x 4 minute rounds with Tony. He said the week off being sick was great for me. I was able to train faster than before.

He was able to push me harder. Woot! We worked on Lote Teep or bicycle/car teep, in class. We also worked on mirror drilling and immediate response.

The in JKD one of the things we worked on was a figure 4 wrist lock it was super fun to learn and execute! Then you step through and get the arm bar.

The pictures above where I have H on the ground is the figure 4 wrist lock. It is terrible on the opponent, great for me. =)

Wed 01/29/2020 – 2 hours… Muay Thai trianing

2 hours of Muay Thai Training and conditioning. Do you know how hard it is to get a selfy when your hands are shaking cause of how tired you are…whew I do!

Tony kicked my behind today. We did kettlebell conditioning today, then after my arms and shoulders were dead he drilled me on pads and had me work my punches, jab, cross, hook, body hooks, upper cuts.

When you are super tired that is when it is the hardest to keep you hands up/guard up, and to perform the strikes keeping your form correct. Ask me how I know. That is when muscle memory is built. When you are so tired, that you body wants to quit, but you push through. It makes you muscles work harder and condition to this. But Tony said my punches were landing great. That they were “crispy”! Woot! Crispy = Meaning tight, solid, and hitting home correctly.

We worked the bags and then we did a cool drill where we played. There is this concept in Muay Thai where they play lightly when training. I forget the word right now, but will try to get it. We played where we are trying to just touch each other’s shoulders. But bob and weave, abound your opponent touching your shoulder. So it’s playful trying to get strikes on your opponent and avoid strikes from them.

It was fun and now I need to pass out. Also i love fruit as an after workout snack.

Thanks for a great class Tony it was fun

Kettle Bell Conditioning:

Do these in a ladder, Starting with 20 reps of each exercise, and going down to 19, 18, 17 excetera

  1. Sumo kettle bell squats 33 lbs x 20
  2. Kettle bell swings 20 lbs x 20
  3. Kettle bell halos kneeling with one foot out at 9 degree angle 10 reps one side, then switch feet 10 reps going the other way.
  4. Cross knee mountain climbers x 20
  5. Bear crawls across the mat.

Muay Thai Training:

  1. 3 x 4 minute pad rounds, working on jab, cross, hook, cross, upper cut, round house kicks, body hooks,
  2. Bag rounds, jab, cross, hook, kicks, double kicks
  3. ladder kicks on the bag 1 – 10 and back down again.
  4. Play training, shoulder touches, head and body/shoulder movement to avoid contact

Thrusday 01/30/2020 – 1 hour… Muay Thai trianing

1 hour of Muay Thai training. Coach Tony took it easy on me today, and had me help demo and teach. Tomorrow he is going to kick my booty.

We worked on distance management and drawing your opponents actions out so you can counter them.

Lead leg feign kicks to teeps, feign lead leg kicks to knees.

Entry on jabs to clench to knees, entry on jab,cross, hook to knees.

And finally turning leg in to stack hips drill.

❤️❤️❤️ I love Muay Thai!

Friday 01/31/2020 – 2 hours… Muay Thai trianing

2 hours of Muay Thai training. Thank you Tony for a great class again. We warmed up on the bags, then went to 3 x 3 minute pad rounds with 30 seconds rest between each.

Then we did sparring just boxing, and sparring kick boxing, then clench sparring. I started the class with crazy D.O.M.S. Soreness in hamstrings and shoulders, but now I am good after class. We will see how I am tomorrow.

Saturday 02/1/2020 – 2 hours… Muay Thai trianing

D.O.M.S. so much better for training on it after really sore. Yay. I was feeling good muscle wise today.

2 hours of Muay Thai practice. Guess who has two thumbs and ended up teaching the class with the help of H and JD? Yup… I bowed them in and because we had new people I just stuck to standard 4 counts then 4 counts with teeps at the end. We worked on Thai stance, pivoting, rotating hips, and some distance management. Woot!

I was the substitutes back up, cause our sub called in sick.

10 hours of training total this week. Woot! I had a blast and loved it, even through the pain. I got to teach a class. I died my hair red. I had a blast. For the next several weeks I will be missing the Wed classes. I have classes to teach for cake decorating.

Thank you for reading.