But almost died on Tuesday with Julie.

My body was still in recovery mode from a weekend of heavy partying so I thought I was going to take it easy on Julie’s CrossFit class on Tuesday.  She had other plans.  I must confess that my brain was still working only at about 50% as a result of the weekend festivities, so I’m not too sure if I was counting my reps properly (sometimes I did more, some less). Read the rest of this entry »

Rinat Kamaletdinov thought core muscle training sounded a bit boring. But he was in terrible pain and couldn’t walk more than half a block at a time so he was willing to give Elisse Miki’s approach a try. Rinat has Sciatica from an old injury and last fall he had a nasty flare up. After a couple of months of constant pain and treatment, it was suggested to him that he find a personal trainer who specializes in rehabilitation. That’s how he ended up at Precision training with Elisse.

Elisse and Rinat have been focusing on strengthening his core muscles.

He’s been working with her three times a week since February. She started him slow with very low weights and small ranges of movement. Even then Rinat saw a positive effect quickly. As his core muscles grew stronger his pain came under control, and he was able to do more. In addition to his three training sessions he now also does low impact cardio on his own twice a week: walking, rowing machine and swimming.

Elisse and Rinat have been focusing on strengthening his core muscles.Elisse and Rinat
Rinat learned that rehab training can be a slow process, by necessity. Once training started moving a little too quickly and the sciatica flared up again -but he and Elisse went back to a gentle approach for a few weeks and got things quickly under control again. For Rinat the experience “proved that the training was indeed what had got the sciatica pain under control in the first place.”

“I’d done weight training on my own before my big flare up last fall, but had thought I wouldn’t be able to do any more until I’d dealt with my Sciatica; not only was I in pain, I was frustrated that I couldn’t be active” says Rinat. “I started training with Elisse because I wanted to get the sciatica under control, but I saw what a huge improvement core training had on my overall well-being, and that it would allow me to continue to build the body I wanted, which hadn’t been possible while I was in pain”.

For Elisse, clients like Rinat are one of the reasons she became a personal trainer: Rehab combines her love of fitness with her academic expertise. She loves to help people, so a dedicated client who appreciates the difference training can make and enjoys the process is very rewarding.

Warm up:
0.15 mile run
30 squats
10/10 mountain climbers
15 push ups
*repeat 4x*

Exercise:
Deadlift 5-5-5-5-5

Workout:
For time
Run 1200 meters
63 kettlebell swings
36 pull ups
Run 800 meters
42 kettlebell swings
24 pull ups
Run 400 meters
21 kettlebell swings
12 pull ups

Precision Athletics recommends attending their Vancouver CrossFit classes to learn proper technique in these circuits prior to attempting unsupervised. Our staff will provide modifications and scale the workouts to each class participants abilities and fitness levels.

Urgh, that first step towards the door on my way to work out on a Saturday morning is always the worst, but I just think about how good I feel after a workout and I’m on my way. Read the rest of this entry »