Steph's 2nd Trimester Update (18weeks pregnant)

Well, dynamic-fam, pregnancy has taken an extreme toll on my (aging!) body. I am currently 18 weeks pregnant... and I have only just today completed my first workout since I was 5 weeks pregnant (ie: the week you miss your period). Which means, it has been FOUR MONTHS since I have done a workout. As many of you know, I have hyperemesis gravidarum or 'morning sickness on steroids'. There have been times I couldn't sit up without vomiting, multiple visits to hospital, a few different types of drugs to try to keep anything down so I could stay hydrated, etc. etc. etc. I'm faring MUCH better now, and I am starting to use exercise as a way to encourage my body to remobilise and energize.

Don't forget, in all of this, I am a pre & post-natal trained PT, so I have a great background knowledge on what to look out for. I have also been SO SICK, I will not push myself too much. Now that I have given you that disclaimer...

My workout today was entirely seated (hi upper body!) as, much to my extreme chagrin, I have already begun to develop abdominal separation - known medically as diastasis recti - which will further prevent me doing any abdominal specific 'six-pack' work until I have healed following post-partum work. I won't lie, this is a mission I'm already not looking forward to. So- every move now becomes a core exercise (now where have I heard that before?). One thing about the pregnant body is that the new imbalances and adjustments of organs to make room for baby causes every movement to be core work. Nothing extra in terms of ab work is necessary for me during these next 5 months.

I'm keeping a detailed log of what I'm able to do, how my diastasis looks, and how my body feels. The grace to allow for exhaustion and remembering that as I gain weight I don't need to hold extra dumbbell weight keeps for a great maintenance phase of my programing. Aside from a healthy baby and birth, my biggest fitness goal is to be able to keep our gym tidied, grab your weights between sets, and not need a nap every afternoon (maybe just every other afternoon, haha!).

If you have any questions for me, or if you know any pregnant or post-natal women who have questions, please reach out! The dynamic support network is a strong and mighty one.

More updates soon, but I can't wait to see you all in the studio soon!

Ross @ Half Ironman Nice

Here is a little summary of my A-race of 2022…

It was an amazing weekend and a great way to kick off the Stag Do for Ironman Pro Joe Skipper!

Swim (1.9km)

Wow! What a place to race!! The sea is an amazing colour of blue and the temperature is perfect.

I was travelling as light as possible so this was my first ever non-wetsuit swim. It meant it was slower but it still felt good. The sun rising over the mountain was stunning ☀️

Time - 37:14 (av 1:59/100m)

---

Bike (90km)

The course was described by Ironman as ‘hilly’. They were not wrong! The col de vence was so tough in the heat - we just don’t have hills like this in Norfolk! Luckily, as I was slow in the swim I could keep overtaking people on the climb which was super motivating.

The decent was incredible - so fast and technical. You had to be switched on 100%

I clocked up a max speed of 60kph and it felt awesome!

Time - 3h 02 (av 30.1kph)

---

Run (21km)

The run along the promenade was brutal! So hot and the wind kicked up incredibly. I had a target of 5min/km before the race and I tried to stick with it with all the energy and effort I had!

I was very pleased to see the turn into the red carpet! I tried to turn on a sprint but my hamstrings said no - I left it all out on the course

Time 1:42 (av 5:03/km)

---

OVERALL TIME - 5h 31

33rd out of 183 in my age group

234th out of 1,419 male finishers

Ross' 40th bday challenges

The last decade I found my love of triathlon and as I love a challenge I thought I’d set myself 3 challenges before I turn 40 - 1 swim, 1 bike, 1 run….

The Swim

I have got loads better at swimming over the last few years. Mostly thanks to my dolphin-like wife Sarah and my mother-in-law Jane, who have both grown up swimming. I also joined local club EAST for a season and it was amazing to see how fast people are when they swim regularly. Unfortunately my legs still seem to sink but I am trying to improve that every session!

This challenge is something I could never have done 2 years ago and it’s going to be very tough going every 2 minutes…

The Challenge

40 x 100m efforts (every 2 mins)

*If you want to join me you can join in on any of the 100’s - it will be great to have more people in the lane

Date - Sat 9th Apr

---

The Bike

I have biked everyday since my Mum sent me off my bike to CNS and I love it. Cycling has provided me with so many memories over the years - from climbing hills in Italy, flying down the Rocky Mountains in IRONMAN Canada and especially the rides to the pub! (Gunton Arms is the favourite).

For this challenge local professional IRONMAN Joe Skipper has offered to pace me. I am super grateful to Joe to fit me in with his training schedule as he builds up to the World IRONMAN champs! Joe Skipper

The Challenge

40k time trial (as close to 1hr as possible!)

*Come and join on the back of the peloton (lead by a pro athlete!)

Date - Sun 20th Mar

---

The Run

Ever since I can remember I have loved sport - my main sport over the years has been Korfball, which involves short sharp running intervals. I have always enjoyed team sports chasing a ball, then as I got older I just enjoyed running for running. I love the challenge it gives you, exploring nature and getting the endorphins afterwards!

I have always wanted to run faster than further so I am going to attempt a speed challenge…

The Challenge

10k in 40 mins (25 laps of the track)

*I am going to book the UEA track so if you want to join me you can pace me round a few laps

Date - Sat 16th Apr

HAPPY PANCAKE DAY!

Try this healthy pancake recipe… 

Banana Oatmeal Pancakes 

Ingredients in banana oatmeal pancakes 

These gluten free banana pancakes are easy to make, SO delicious and happen to be an awesome post-workout breakfast because they’re packed with healthy complex carbs and 12g protein per serving. They are naturally gluten free and contain no flour or added sugar. Here’s what you’ll need to make them:

Bananas: super ripe bananas give the pancakes their natural sweetness. Make sure they have lots of brown spots! 

Eggs: you’ll need 2 eggs in this pancake recipe. 

Milk: add moisture with any milk you’d like. I typically use unsweetened almond milk. 

Oats: instead of using regular flour, these healthy banana pancakes are made with rolled oats! Feel free to use gluten free rolled oats. 

Pancake staples: you’ll also need baking powder to allow the pancakes to get nice and fluffy, plus some cinnamon, vanilla extract & salt for flavor. 

Blend the ingredients. Yes, you’ll literally add all of the ingredients to a blender, and blend on high until smooth! 

Please let us know if you make it by sending us a comment. Feel free to tag us at @dynamicfitnessnorwich of any pictures of the recipe. 

We would love to hear from you and it helps encourage others to make the recipe too! Enjoy! 

Vic x

21 day Healthy and Balanced meal plan

This 21 day plan has been created by our new PT Victoria.

It helps you to form new healthy habits so that you can incorporate them forever and afterwards.

You can purchase the plan below and Victoria will contact you directly within 3 days to start your plan!

21 day nutrition plan

Sale Price:£15.00 Original Price:£30.00

Quantity:

Add To Cart

Ross @ The European Triathlon 2021

Sat 25th Sept 2021 - Valencia

Intro

After 6 months of focused training I went to the European Triathlon in Valencia. It was an amazing experience, and as a lot of you kind people have asked me about it I thought I would do a quick report from my race.

This is the first time I’ve qualified for Great Britain as an age group athlete and I was competing in the 35-39 age group. The event was made even more special as my mother-in-law Jane also qualified for her age group too, so we made a family holiday out of the event.

Swim

It was an early start and the sun was rising in the marina for the start of the race. The water temperature was so warm that wetsuits were banned so it was my first non-wetsuit swim. I knew this was likely to be the case so I had been practicing trying to get my ‘sinking legs’ higher!

The other difference for this race was that it was an optional dive start (like at the Olympics). All of the athletes in my wave decided to dive so I got stuck in too!

It was a beautiful place to swim and I settled in to a pace I could maintain. I was never going to be fast without a wetsuit but it felt controlled and strong.

Distance 750m, Time 14:14, Pace 1:54m/100m

Bike

This was a strange looking course around the Marina and into the City. It was full of sharp turns, chicanes and U-Turns which made it very technical. There was also some water on the road from some rain the night before so it had to be ridden well. There were some serious crashes and luckily I was not involved with any.

I was going well on the 1st lap when all of a sudden I saw the end of the bike course! - somehow I had missed the sign for the 2nd lap!! I quickly turned around and saw a couple of others had done the same. Luckily we got back on track and didn’t lose too much time.

With the slight detour and all the corners I was still very close to hitting my target speed of 38kph average.

Distance 20k, Time 32:16, Speed 37.2kph

Run

My main target here was to go sub 20. The heat was building up and I knew going under 4 mins every km would be a good challenge after the bike.

I settled in to a good pace early and keep focusing on increasing my cadence. I knew if I turned my legs fast enough and kept a good form I would run well as I was always going to give 100%

I had a perfectly paced run and even finished with 3:38 on the last 1km!

Distance 5k, Time 19:33, Pace 3:55/km

Summary

My overall time was 1:08:22 and this put me 18th out of 27 in my age group. As I have never competed at this level before I am really pleased with that, and I have to say that it felt very good to don the GB Tri Suit!

This was my last event of the year and my next big event is having our 2nd baby! So over the winter months i’ll keep the training ticking over when I can, and just train because I love it.

Finally, I am happy to say that next year I have qualified for the World Triathlon! There are 2 separate events - one is Montreal and one in Abu Dhabi.

Decisions, Decisions ….

12 Days of Christmas Workout (Intro)

Sweet Crusted Baked Salmon

One of my favourite ways (and simplest!) to cook salmon is to bake it. Here’s a delicious recipe for a quick, high-protein dish. If you feel confident in the kitchen, use the base of this recipe (salmon in tin foil in the oven) and then go wild! While I’ve provided an easy dressing here, I also am known to dress the salmon with whatever’s in my fridge- sometimes fresh squeezed lemon and grated garlic, tomatoes and basil from the garden with balsamic vinegar, or even just a glug of sweet chilli sauce and into the oven it goes!

This particular version is particularly special because the brown sugar crystalizes into a lovely crust atop the mustard marinade which gives lovely texture and helps cut through the dijon really well. It also lends itself well to a multitude of side dishes, but we love roasting broccoli and potatoes on the same tray with a little olive oil and garlic- cooks at the same temperature and in the same amount of time. Easy dinner in under 30 minutes with little prep. (Pictured here with caraway carrot kale slaw & roasted broccoli). 

Ingredients:

salmon fillets

2 tsp dijon mustard

2 tsp olive oil

2 sprigs fresh coriander, chopped

1 clove garlic, grated

Juice of 1/2 lime (and keep the empty rinds)

2 tsp brown sugar

course Sea Salt, to taste

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. 

2. Line a baking tray with tin foil (parchment will also work), gently roll up the edges so no liquid can escape. Place the salmon fillets onto the centre of the foil, skin side down.

3. In a small bowl, use a fork or small whisk to combine the dijon mustard, olive oil, coriander, grated garlic, and lime juice.

4. Using the fork, a pastry brush, or even your fingers, evenly slather the dressing across the fillets.

5. Sprinkle the brown sugar across the fillets (this is what will ‘crust’ the salmon). Sprinkle sea salt. Place the empty lime rinds and even some extra coriander if you like near the fish.

6. Create a parcel by using another piece of tin foil or parchment and scrunching the sides together so that a little ‘steam room’ is created for your fish. Leave a small gap so that a little air can escape, but no juices.

7. Bake for 20 minutes (or until the inside of the fish is cooked through).

8. Enjoy your deliciously moist and flavourful dinner with your side dishes of choice! 

Extra Green Cucumber Salad

Serves up to 10 (depends on if a side or a ‘main’), but makes a lot!

Keeps for 2 days if stored in the fridge in an airtight container.

Ingredients:

Dressing:

75ml apple cyder vinegar

Juice of 1 lime (about 1tbsp)

1 tsp soy sauce (or tamari if gluten free)

1 tsp maple syrup

4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp white sugar

Salad:

2 large cucumbers, quartered and sliced

1 head romaine lettuce, julienned

½ bunch coriander, fined chopped

½ tsp sea salt

1 Tbsp Zaatar (optional)

41g pistachios, chopped small

32g toasted sunflower seeds

Method:

1. Make the dressing: in a small bowl combine the vinegar, lime juice, soy sauce, maple syrup, olive oil, and white sugar. Whisk until emulsified.

2. In a large bowl, place diced cucumbers, julienned lettuce, & coriander mixing well with a wooden spoon to combine.

3. Sprinkle the sea salt & zaatar on top and mix again. 

4. Whisk and then pour the dressing over top and again mix with a wooden spoon to combine. 

5. Add the pistachios and sunflower seeds and give a final mix so all ingredients are evenly distributed. 

6. Serve with any protein of choice (we went for a lemon roasted chicken! YUM!).

PullUp out of Lockdown!

WEEK 1

Team Dynamic:

Hi, my name is Steph and I'm your PT who can't do a pull up. Don't get me wrong, I used to be able to do them - loads as well, and a mere 6 years ago. The thing is, you stop doing pull ups, even for a week let alone 6 years, you lose it. (An aside: the reason I stopped doing pull ups is I could no longer keep up with lifting the weight gain of my pregnancy!).

So I'm challenging myself this lockdown: 30 days to 1 full pull-up. Can it be done? Eh, I may be pushing it a bit, but that won't stop me trying (and progressing!) and it definitely won't stop YOU all from holding me accountable! I'll post my home workouts here- simple ones that pack a punch. Since I am working from home, it'll be a bigger challenge to use my body weight for progression (no cable machines for those lat pulldowns, for example!).

Want to join me? What's the one exercise you've always wanted to be able to accomplish? Is it a full press up? A low squat? A headstand? 1km run? A centre split? Let's take these 30 days and dedicate 5 minutes a day towards that goal. Reach out to your PT for guidance if you need.

It's just 30 days. Let's raise (to) the bar! We got this.

WEEK 2

Week 1 under my belt, and my set-up is working... I think? Pull ups are a funny one because you can't do one until you can. Because I don't have resistance bands to change (green to orange in the studio, for example), I'm relying on how 'hard' it feels. Which, dependent on the time of day I'm doing these pull-ups, definitely varies.

Biggest surprise for me this week is... I don't feel stronger. Logically, I know pull-ups take their sweet time to build up to, but it's another mental push to continue with something so hard when I don't feel any different today than I did yesterday. The slow build will be worth it, but sometimes it's hard to remind myself of that. Thanks for keeping me in check, Team Dynamic!

WEEK 3

Another week down, and 140 more pull-ups done! Below is the routine I followed, taking out my initial cardio plan (which I've been getting via walks with the dog since my knee gave up early on in lockdown for much more).

Here are some things I've noticed:

1) I'm still nowhere near doing an unassisted pull-up

2) I can connect to the lower half of the pull-up exponentially better than I ever have been able to with a band assist. I'm fairly confident that I'll have the bottom half of a pull-up nailed before the upper 50% with this method, which is awesome because that's always been the harder part for me as my brain couldn't seem to make the right muscles work at the right time.

3) It's REALLY EASY to abuse my power and just smash through 20 pull-ups with a heavy assist from my legs, but it's also SUPER rewarding to feel that connection mentioned in no. 2. I've started using the first 10 to max capacity and then doing 2 sets x 5 reps to finish off at whatever speed I want.

These negative pull-ups in the tabata are also a bit laughable after doing 20 assisted. I don't think I've yet to make it past 5s- which does indicate I'm giving a pretty good level to my assists!

One more week (and a bit) to go! I'll check in with you guys again next week!

WEEK 4

Things I LOVED about using the chair assisted pull up method this month:

1) I mentioned before, but it's so much easier to feel that lower half back connection and transition

2) My posture has improved. I think stretching myself lengthways every day has benefits.

3) I could just KEEP GOING. If I had wanted to do a set of 20 (or even 50) I could have, I just transferred more power into my legs.

Things I didn't like:

1) I felt like I was always doing pull ups.

2) I had too much opportunity to cheat and use my legs to lift.

3) I have blisters on my hands, and it's from being on that bar for 5 minutes a day every day this month!

Overall, I reckon it would take me 3-4 months using this method to get to a pull-up, but since I'll be back in the gym, I think I'll be more likely to incorporate a banded or TRX technique to continue working back up to the pull up!

Have you all tried this method? Let me know what you think!
steph@getdynamic.co.uk