Guest blogger - Mari

Hello everyone!

I am Monica’s Norwegian friend Mari.I have always sworn to myself that I would never in my life post something in a blog or blog about whatever. But, when I got the chance to write about training on Monica’s blog, I changed my mind as Monica has helped me a lot with my training and I wanted to share this with people. Personally I love sports and exercising; football, running, swimming, hiking,……you name it=) For the past year I have studied for my masters degree at the University of Leeds, and since it was only one year, there was a lot to do, and the days were quite busy. In the beginning, I was able to go to the gym for some classes and went running in Hyde Park. However, after Christmas it was crazy, and for over 2 months I could not find time to do any exercising at all. My back was hurting, I started getting cramps in my legs and my ass felt FLAT, and at night I had to sleep on my tummy to stop it from hurting!!!

Anyway, I got to know Monica when I moved to Leeds and realised she had a lot of experience in writing and planning training exercise programs, so I asked her for help and advice. I did not really know how much knowledge she had. She surprised me and gave me 3 perfect workout programs for my needs. I told Monica about my situation; that I needed to be able to work out, but not be dependent to go to any sports centers (to save time!). I told her the equipments I had at home, and she came up with three workouts not lasting for more than 1.5 in total, with strength and conditioning for the whole body. After a few weeks, I had less back pain, better sleep, (still a hurting ass, but it did not feel flat anymore=)). Below are some videos and pictures of some of the workouts.

PS: I am aware that my choice of footwear is not ideal on these first photos:)

My curl and press exercise

Halfway on my curl and press exercise

Front plank

And of course the lovely press ups!

I am now back in Norway, and have just started my new job. As my fitness level has now increased, I have decided that my next goal is to participate in Norway’s toughest marathon on the 2nd June 2012.

Monica has offered to help me make me get the most out of the preparation for the marathon and we have decided to share my journey here on the blog. Watch out for videos of exercises and pictures along the way.

See you later,

Mari =)

Lunch suggestion – Chicken and Egg Salad

As my friends and family probably know I am far from Gordon Ramsey in the kitchen. However as I moved out from mum and dad nest, and was unable to be spoiled with my mum’s lovely cooking I realised I had to start making an effort in the kitchen unless I wanted to live on spaghetti, mince and ketchup for the rest of my life! That was actually my “favourite” dish through my University life, and I know Will was pretty unimpressed the first time we had a meal together and I cooked my speciality for him! I still don’t understand why?:)

Anyway today I decided to mix together an easy Chicken and Egg Salad which is easy to prepare and takes hardly any time at all. The only things needed for 1 person are:

• A handful of lettuce

• 2-3 small cooked chicken fillets (I used Piri, Piri Chicken)

• ½ pepper

• 2 cooked eggs

• ¼ cucumber

• (I would have used sweetcorn as well, but realised after I started preparing it that I didn’t have any left)

This is how I did it:

1. Before you start chopping the vegetables, boil the eggs for 7-8 minutes (but this depends how hard you want them).

2. Whilst the eggs are boiling clean lettuce, pepper and cumber under water and chop the vegetables and chicken into small bits and mix together

3. Once the eggs are boiled, put them under cold water and peel off the skin. Cut the eggs into small pieces and mix with the rest of the salad



MMMM:)

Voila! Bon Appetit! Try it on day and see what you think:)

Website Recommendation - Brendan Chaplin

Hi guys,

As always I like to start the day reading the latest news on my previous mentor Brendan Chaplin's website. It is thanks to Brendan I got involved with Strength and Conditioning coaching and I learned a lot in a short period of time whilst working with Brendan. Brendan has got a lot of experience in the S&C industry and has worked and is still working with several great athletes.Today I thought the video he posted was a particular good one showing knee prevention/reduction exercises so I wanted to share the link to his website and the video here on my blog :

http://www.brendanchaplin.co.uk/bulletproof-knees-series-simple-stuff-that-works/



From next week my friend Mari will share her thoughts on how she got back into training and how she decided to start training for a Marathon for the first time! We will follow Mari's preparation and training her on the blog to see how she is doing. Something to look forward to!

This is me and Mari from a wedding earlier this year

Have a good Wednesday!