Intermezzo

by Janet Rifkin, Ph.D.

I was going to write about our rafting and hiking trip in the Grand Canyon where I put Scott’s program into an action-packed adventure. But before I do that, I thought a more immediate update would be in order. Having been “in training” with Scott for the months of September, October and ½ of November, I needed to head back to Massachusetts for 5 weeks which meant that I would be without my trusted guide. I had made lots of progress in those weeks with Scott-improving cardio-vascular conditioning, improving flexibility (I have already admitted in previous posts that I have the tightest hamstrings and calves on earth,) and had also begun-at Scott’s suggestion, a nutrition/exercise program (with an amazing woman named Teri Tom)  that would help me lose those 8 pounds I had gained while sitting behind my desk as a college dean (By the way, for the record,  I am 62 and don’t want to look like I’m 40 or 50, but I don’t want to look like I’m 80.)

All was going amazingly well before I left California. I was disciplined, committed and focused. But how would it be when I left this environment without my support team. More importantly, how would I do on my own, over Thanksgiving where I would be hosting a feast for 15 people, cooking all the traditional stuff that people want and expect, and wanting to start drinking early enough in the day to temper the inevitable tensions of large family gatherings?  So, here’s how it went. Let’s just call it a “good news/bad news” outcome.

The Good:

1. I went to my local gym 4-5 times a week and kept up with my cardio.

2. I followed Teri Tom’s nutrition plan pretty well, and didn’t eat too too much on Thxgiving.

3. I kept in touch with Scott via email and text which made me remember that he was still an important part of my world, that I would be seeing him again soon and that I’d better not let him down because that would be disappointing myself.

The Bad:

1. I didn’t focus enough on stretching and my tightness is in high gear.

2. I am slouching more than I did before I left LA

3. The afternoon drinking (couldn’t help it) on Thxgiving didn’t stop family craziness (although-still it was mostly fun.)

I’m headed back to LA in a week and already have scheduled multiple sessions with Scott. Let’s see what his reaction is when we start-up again….

This entry was written by scrawford, posted on December 4, 2009 at 10:52 pm, filed under Fitness, Hiking, Life is Fitness, Los Angeles, Nutrition, Outdoors and tagged Bodywork, Fitness, happiness, Hiking, Holidays, Janet Rifkin, Los Angeles, Nutrition, training. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

THE PROGRAM

Part II: The Program

by Janet Rifkin, Ph.D.

So Scott began to work with me. He started by asking me to articulate the goals I had for myself. I had a lot of trouble answering his questions. I knew a few things: I wanted to stand up straighter, lose what I saw as the “humpification” in my upper back and lose the 8 pounds I had gained during the 8 years I was working as Dean of a College in Massachusetts. However, what I really wanted to talk about were my fears-my fear of not having a professional identity, my fear of looking like an old bag and my fear of falling into the abyss of the Grand Canyon where I was going in 10 days time.

Clearly, my most immediate need was to get ready for my upcoming rafting trip which involved a 7 ½ mile hike down the Grand Canyon carrying a 30 pound pack and daily hikes climbing over boulders and traversing narrow ledges. Scott had his work cut out for him. His first challenge was to stop me from chatting incessantly. People tell me I ask too many questions. My sons call me “the interrogator” and given that I once was a trial lawyer, cross-examination comes naturally. During our first two sessions, Scott let me chatter. Maybe it helped him to get to know the person, as well as the body he was training? Maybe it was to make me feel comfortable with him? Maybe it was because he was entertained? Whatever it was, by session three, he began by telling me that I wasn’t allowed to talk so much. I laughed but he was serious. More importantly, he was right. I needed to focus on what he was trying to teach me. Talking too much was a way to protect myself from feeling awkward and uncomfortable.

So Scott worked with me to open my hips-to move them front to back, side to side and to “twist.” I did this as I was stretching my calves and my Achilles tendon. Remarkably, the bump I had in my right Achilles got smaller and the pain that I was feeling abated. Every session with Scott ends with body work which “opens” the tight areas. To be honest, the work he did on my sore Achilles wasn’t a barrel of laughs. It hurt-a lot. But it worked and I now look forward to the end of every session when he works on me, finds tightness I didn’t even know I had and releases areas of tension and strain that have building for years.  But we also did more than this. He started me on a regimen of lunges, of abdominal crunches, of pullies, of push-ups and more. He even let me start talking again-of asking questions most of which he answered. He gave me a plan for what I should to on the days that I wasn’t working with him, most of which focused on building up cardio-vascular capacity.

After 10 days, I felt mentally prepared for my rafting trip. I was excited and no longer felt I was going to fall into the depths of the Canyon. My husband I left LA early on the morning of September 26 and got to Flagstaff 8 hours later. The next morning, we met our group and headed to the South Rim where we would begin our hike the next day at 4:30 am and where I was eager to start putting Scott’s program to the test.

This entry was written by scrawford, posted on November 16, 2009 at 10:40 pm, filed under Bodywork, Experiences, Fitness, Hiking, Life is Fitness, Outdoors, Pilates, Santa Barbara and tagged Bodywork, Cardio, Pilates, rafting, SOMA GET FIT, training. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.