Bad ass 70's ankle weight are adjustable and super effecive

      Those of you that work with me know that I've had a stupid neck/trap knot for about two weeks on and off. And you also know there's no way I'll take more than three days off the gym for anything. So after a massage from the amazing Marcos, and an anterior chain workout, I slugged myself to the condo gym for posterior chain. Grabbing the heaviest dumbbells we have I set out to deadlift (we have no leg curl, I'm very limited on hammy exercises). Set 2 I could feel the warning signs. I stopped, urged myself to relax the upper body and focus on thrusting my hips forward and letting the work be done by glutes and hams and hips. I thought about contracting the correct muscles and the neck felt great! I also dropped my rowing weight from 35 to 20 and kept the neck in neutral positions. No excuses. You can find a way to get things done.
      I try to stress to my clients that the weight they lift isn't necessarily important, but their technique, form, and recruiting the correct muscles is the number one priority. You don't need to risk an injury to lift your one rep max. Train smart! I ended up having a blast using ankle weights and medicine balls to work the hams and glutes, and practiced some exercises I haven't done in a while (superwomans!) so that I can better instruct my new clients. I think it's time to revisit some old but goodies. Check out my facebook to see Michelle MacD's awesome ab exercise  video which I also tried out today and will integrate into people's programs! The gym in my classroom, happy training!