We had a fantastic morning with an incredible show of 30 people attending the workshop and over E500.00 Euro raise for such a wonderful cause, to help people and their families deal with metal illness and the prevention of suicide.

We all know someone or several people who suffer with this illness so I was delighted to be able to devise this workshop for such a worthy charity.

A big thanks to Anita Kondrat for her assistance with teaching  and also thank you to Aoife Price for her assistance in demonstrating exercises, both very much appreciated with such a large crowd.

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and bless you all for your kindness,

Joanne

10th October 2015

So here goes… I had been away a few times over the summer with fitness conventions & holidays, as always I was training and eating clean. A gang of us had signed up to do hell & back on 13th Sept so we were training hard for that and it was a great day!

I obtained advice from professionals who had done these competitions before. It is very important to do your research and know what is involved in a commitment as great as this. I was delighted that I had friends taking part in the same competition for the first time and we were able to confer on a weekly if not daily basis. A support network is vital as some days are very tough and you do need to have someone to bounce things off. My partner, family, friends and clients were a fantastic support (without which I feel training for this would have been near impossible!!).

Lots of people have been asking me what I ate and drank, and how I trained for this competition, so here is an insight to it all. I must state that this dietary protocol was designed for my weight, height and the level of training I was doing.
Note: This is not to be followed without proper instruction from an exercise and nutritional professional.

A day in my dietary regime: (Example medium carbohydrate day)

My daily calories ranged between 1450 – 2000 and my intake of fats / carbohydrates and protein depended on the length of my work days and training regime:

Carbohydrate rotation is important – 2 days high, 2 days low and 3 days medium – you must co-ordinate these with your training regime.
For my body weight this was 150gms high / 100gms medium / 50gms low – but everybody is different.

High carb days sync these with your tough training days i.e. bigger muscle groups – legs / back
Med carb days synch with chest/ shoulders / arms
Low carb days – on your rest days – steady state cardio only

Depending on the carbohydrate day my protein ranged from 110-140gms (on the guide line of 1.7 – 1.9grams per kilo of body weight for building muscle) and my fats ranged from 35-50gms per day

A weeks Training regime:
Monday to Sunday 40 minutes of steady state cardio in the morning on an empty stomach, keeping your heart rate in your fat burning zone – mine was between 110-125BPM. You can do this in the evening but it suited me better to do it first thing. I either went for a power walk or to the gym before I started work, took my book and read on the stepper or x-trainer which I found quite therapeutic.
I did my weights 5 days a week in the afternoon.

I boxed off a slot every day and I highlighted in my diary the times for food during the day so I had it all mapped out. I slotted my clients in around my training. This is something I have kept up as I find it works very well for me.

I have included one of my week workouts (see below) – it is important to change the set, reps and exercises regularly within a programme so you are always challenging the body.

Keeping an exercise and nutritional journal is vital – I call it the food, mood, bowel movement & exercise journal – you need to keep track of your progress and see what works well and doesn’t work for your body. If your bowel movements change for the worse – i.e. constipated, become too loose or are discoloured – you know there is something disagreeing with you. You need to track these to make sure your detoxification pathways are all open and you are not holding onto any toxins.

The weeks coming up to the competition are vital, you need to get as much rest and sleep as possible and really mind yourself. I had regular epsom salt baths, did dry skin brushing to help with any excess fluid retention and I also did some mindfulness meditation to relax my mind and to keep me focused.

For a competition like this they are looking for a lean, healthy even look with no muscular striations.
You need to be competition ready 2 weeks before you step on the stage! You need those 2 weeks to build confidence and to really work on your poses, routine and stage presence. I spent 30 minutes 3-4 times a week prancing around the studio (at lunch time when fewer people were in the gym.. haha!) I got some of my colleagues to video-record me so I could see what I needed to improve on before the big day.

My weight in Dec 2012 was 60kg and my Body fat was 17%. I took my time and slowly lost 6kgs (1lb per week) and 6% body fat, but I have to say if I was to do this again I would do it in the summer months as in the depths of the Irish winter you do need that extra bit of insulation – I was freezing!!

On the day of the competition I weighed in at 54kg and I was 11% body fat. Although this weight is still within my BMI range for my 5’4 height, it is not sustainable and is an unsafe body fat for females to maintain. I am currently at 58kgs and 16% body fat, which is a comfortable weight and a safe body fat for me. I said to myself from the start that I wanted to see how far I could push my body and if I saw any signs of hormonal changes i.e. Amenorrhoea (absence of menstrual period) I would pull back. I did notice that because my diet was so clean any menstrual PMS and discomfort I had before was decreased significantly.

I used some natural supplements to aid my recovery and to make sure I had enough nutrients to sustain my days. When exercising the nutrients are burned up quickly, so it is important to make sure to replace the depleted stores and assist the body with revitalization.

Note: It is important that you get a qualified practitioners advice on supplementation as you must not exceed the therapeutic dose of supplements.

Supplements used:

For more details contact www.guidedogs.ie

Make-A-Wish Ireland has one simple aim – to grant the wishes of children aged between 3 and 17 years living with a life-threatening medical condition to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.

For more information contact http://www.makeawish.ie/

Barnardos’ mission is to challenge and support families, communities, society and government to make Ireland the best place in the world to be a child, focusing specifically on children and young people whose well-being is under threat.

For more information contact http://www.barnardos.ie/

The Olive Foundation is an organization dedicated to raising awareness and improving the treatment of Cystic Fibrosis in Ireland. They aim to improve the lives of people who suffer from the disease and their families.

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited condition that affects many body functions such as breathing, digestion and reproduction. The lifelong condition becomes more severe with age and the majority have respiratory and digestive problems. According to statistics in the annual report of the Cystic Fibrosis Registry of Ireland, we in Ireland have the highest incidence of cystic fibrosis in the world and also the largest proportion of families with more than one child suffering from the condition.

Knowing some people with this disease we decided to organize the10k run and also take part in climbing Kilimanjaro ourselves.

On the plus side, we raised funds for this charity and assisted in raising awareness of cystic fibrosis in Ireland.

http://olivefoundation.ie/