Knight Strong Training

Check out my full week of training, eating, sleeping, and skating here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1JnVCqX4yMnby1mYjFUSnB2alE/view?usp=sharing

Regardless of how busy I am, heading to Angel City for training is always fun and I always leave feeling revitalized.  Coaching and skating is what I love to do.  And on Monday last week, I got to introduce quite a few women to Wall Balls for the first time!

I'm thankful I got Training Yard to myself even if only for 2 minutes while class was outside putting in their work because I got some muscle ups.  I have mental blocks around gymnastics and my inconsistencies play out in weird ways.  Apparently that day, I could do MU's with no one watching.

Thursday night was spent taking pictures for an exciting project coming up in the Knight household.  More to come on that soon but this was our view.  I didn't get to workout because of this, but the payoff will be worth it :)

I made up for a lack of training in the gym on Friday and Saturday:

A video posted by Laci Knight (@laciknight33) on Jul 10, 2015 at 7:39pm PDT

A video posted by Laci Knight (@laciknight33) on Jul 12, 2015 at 1:52pm PDT

After putting in a lot of work at Training Yard, we had a lengthy and difficult practice on Saturday with the Scarlets.  We are in game prep as we prepare to take on the Minnesota Rollergirls on Saturday 7/18!

You can find my full week of training, eating, skating and sleep here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1JnVCqX4yMnRDhjRnBJMDBlSzQ/view?usp=sharing

I'm a day late posting, but man has it been busy!  So much going on for Roller Derby, Training and Coaching, it's a very exciting time.  I feel like it's appropriate to start off discussing last week by sharing a conversation I had with a Co-Worker.

She asked me how my 4th was and if I allowed myself to have any fun.

I think this is an appropriate representation to show how good of a time I had last week :)

It still baffles me that people believe I can't, or won't allow myself, to have a good time just because I also enjoy working out and eating well.  Being able to let go not only helps me de-stress but keeps me in check.  I enjoy the balance of discipline, fun, hard work, and relaxation. 

I continued my gymnastics work last week while also taking class regularly at Crossfit Training Yard. 

But I also got to share and promote my amazing friend's (Micki Krimmel) kickstarter for Superfit Hero.  Check it out here: http://superfithero.com/kickstarter

Full Superfit Hero outfit below:

My eating is way off right now.  I've simply run out of time to plan ahead.  I'm eating out a lot except for the days when my husband is able to make me something that I can take with. 

I've also really just been eating whatever I want when going out to events, celebrations and restaurants.  I think I'm ready to start reigning it back in though.  I do miss the stability and the way I feel when eating more regularly.

My favorite day of training was actually on July 4th because we got to do a Hero WOD:

You can see my full week of sleeping, eating, skating, and training here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1JnVCqX4yMnYkpGQ0MzTUtVRTQ/view?usp=sharing

Just about a week past the end of the Healthier You Challenge at Crossfit Training Yard and I've fallen back into my habits of desert, drinking, and improper meal planning.

Sometimes I sacrifice meal planning to be more efficient with my time in training and sleeping.  But it does mean my temptations are higher and I often succumb to them because I really enjoy these things!  I mean who doesn't enjoy desert, cocktails and beer.

So you will notice if you take a look at my eating that I'm all over the place with eating out  more, having a beer or two late at night and having cocktails at some favorite restaurants.  I honestly don't feel too bad about it though as long as my training doesn't suffer.

Not much to report on this week other then starting out the week with Camp Scarlet on Sunday where I decided to lift in between classes.  Lots and lots of gymnastics work throughout the week and some after practice snatch work on Saturday. 

The one thing I FINALLY added back in was swim training.  Planning to make this a 1x a week addition to my training schedule.  I was never really taught how to swim so it's challenging, helps with my conditioning and breath control and feels great on my shoulders!

You can see my full week of training, eating, nutrition, and sleep here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1JnVCqX4yMnanlaak5ZazB5RXc/view?usp=sharing

I started off last week with competitive play followed promptly by fun time on Sunday.  We had our 3rd game of PAC Destruction on Sunday early (11am) which met when the game was done, the rest of my day was free to unwind...which I did :)  I ate relatively clean at the warehouse (not counting the beers had there) and then continued the fun at the after party later on where I had your typical party fare of burgers, wings, and of course, more beer!

Come Monday, it was back to training.  In retrospect, maybe I should've rested on Monday after a 3 game weekend.  I don't think I was mentally ready to start the week hard, but alas, I did and I honestly feel like I'm still paying for it this week. 

Tuesday was an especially hard day since I seem to have mentally blocked myself on ring muscle ups again.  But, I shook it off soon after since it was Geoff and I's 8 year anniversary.  We went out for drinks and food close by us with a friend of ours and kept it low key because we had a formal dinner reservation at Alma the next night.

On Wednesday, we did a full tasting and wine pairing menu at Alma in downtown Los Angeles and enjoyed our night out dressed up.  But, because we're both very active adults, unfortunately the full tasting menu wasn't enough food so we had to go get MORE food after at a nearby late night restaurant called Ledlow.

This all leads up to the end of Crossfit Training Yard's "Healthier You" challenge on Thursday.  8 weeks ago we got our body fat tested and we got it re-tested on Thursday after 8 weeks of our attempts to be healthier version of ourselves.  Which means drinking 64 oz of water every day, getting 8 hrs + sleep a night, eating "clean" / no processed foods, and taking class at our box.  We traveled a lot and had fun weekends over the course of the 8 weeks, but really tried to keep to this as much as we could.  Sleep is hard for me because I tend to wake up naturally between 7-7.5 hours.  Water is easy - I always drink that much every day.  And the eating/drinking was better then it was before.  I was getting in the habit of having a beer or 2 every night and desert 4 - 5x a week. 

Taking on the challenge was difficult for me because I struggle with what it means in our society to look too lean and muscular as a girl.  I also know if my body fat gets too low, it messes up my hormone levels and can throw of my menstruation cycle.  What I did learn through this whole process is that by eating better, I could actually gain lean muscle and put on a bit of fat.  Which I actually wanted because under 15% is considered risky for women.  It's not uncommon for very physically active girls, but I definitely don't want to go below 10%.

Last but not least, I ended the week by participating in OUTWOD at Brick Crossfit.  A fundraiser for the LGBT community.  Happy to report my partner Jill King and I took 2nd in the Rx Women's division and had a blast!  The workouts were fun and sweaty and the community of participants was super fun to be around.

You can check out my full week of coaching, training, nutrition and sleep here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1JnVCqX4yMnek40R3pJMnV5QUE/view?usp=sharing

So much Crossfit, Skating, and Coaching this week.  Not to mention the mental and physical prep needed to prepare for the Hollywood Scarlets biggest weekend yet, PAC Destruction.

Because I coached Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at the track and then had Hollywood Scarlets practice on Wednesday, I switched up my training to be all morning sessions this week.  Except for 1 night of League Off Skates training which I participated in on Monday night instead of coaching because who wouldn't want to do this:

https://instagram.com/p/3tmwZJTChB/?taken-by=angelcityfitclub

 I contemplated getting one more training session in Thursday morning, but decided 2 full days of rest would be warranted for the physical intensity that I knew Saturday's games would bring.

I also started extra gymnastics conditioning courtesy of my amazing coach Becca Voigt at Crossfit Training Yard, which includes awesome stuff like this:

I kept my eating pretty clean / mostly paleo except for some occasional meals adding in rice.  I did not plan out my meals well on Sunday last week though and ended up being vary calorie deficient that day.  I was ok with it because I got to check out an LA Reign Practice (part of GRID) and see awesome things like this:

A video posted by Angel City Fit Club (@angelcityfitclub) on Jun 8, 2015 at 10:31am PDT

I have to thank my husband Geoff though because it it weren't for him, I wouldn't have had the time to eat well this week.  He did most of the meal prep and I did most of the clean up.  It's our system and it works well for us.

Thursday and Friday were my rest days to prep for PAC Destruction.  I only did Crossover Symmetry and shoulder PT on Thursday, and Friday I got a massage.

Game days are always tough to ensure I get enough to eat.  Shakes are my friend.  Specially when there is such a tight turnaround between games.  I ate a solid breakfast on Saturday before leaving the house and pretty much survived on shakes and one small meal in the middle of the day until I got home that night.  We ordered in Sushi and then promptly went to bed.

And a big thank you to whoever you are that gave me this lovely reminder of the day's games on Saturday :)

Full week of Training, Skating, Nutrition and more here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1JnVCqX4yMncjY5S2k4bTJvQm8/view?usp=sharing

Started out the week in Mexico and had a fun day of swimming and good times with friends at a local attraction close to the resort.  We did a lazy river and some scuba diving, and managed to get a group shot of us doing Handstands at the top of some stairs.  What could go wrong?

We tried our best to eat well on Monday even though we were in Mexico and at the resort most of the day but a few margaritas and tacos still found their way in somehow…

It was back to reality on Tuesday though and thus began our attempt to stay pretty low carb the whole week.  Geoff and I generally have a smoothie every morning with fruit, veggies, protein and healthy fats but we decided to forego that for this week and try to eat a real breakfast everyday focused on protein and veggies.  We also kept most other carb sources out and kept it pretty paleo. 

Training Wise, I’ve decided to focus very heavily on rehabbing my shoulder and building a more solid foundation of gymnastics.  Which means I’m doing Crossover Symmetry pretty much every day (http://crossoversymmetry.com/) and really focusing on skill work instead of just banging out reps. 

I will generally get all the strength training I need by taking class or when I’m working out with my team at the track, so my pre and post class work at Training Yard will be focused on gymnastics for awhile. 

Our treat for the week was 2 fold - Friday Geoff made homemade sorbets of Kiwi, Dragon Fruit, Banana and Mango mixed with Coconut cream and a dash of salt after a delicious meal:

We then decided to go out for dinner Saturday night at our favorite place - Boneyard Bistro.  They focus mostly on smoked meats and BBQ and they make some amazing cocktails.  It was a nice break from super strict eating most of the week. 

Last but not least, I ended the week on Saturday with an amazing day at the track!  We had a great workout pre-scrimmage followed by Scrimmage with my Hollywood Scarlets, then our All-League Scrimmage which is always LOTS of fun. 

BONUS for the week - a BIG Push Jerk PR at 195#!

Last week was a bit of a whirlwind.  View the full week of eating, sleeping, nutrition, fitness and skating here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1JnVCqX4yMncEM3SjF0NE81Z2c/view?usp=sharing 

Geoff and I returned home from San Diego late Sunday night after watching Day 3 of the Crossfit Super California Regionals.  We celebrated with our Crossfit Training Yard Box after the event since both of our coaches (Becca Voigt and Julian Alcaraz) qualified for the Crossfit Games. 

The next 4 days were devoted to clean eating and working out in an effort to reset from the weekend’s events. 

I decided to try the events of Day 2 from Crossfit Regionals on Monday (Memorial Day) instead of the annual Crossfit tradition of doing “Murph”.  Not only was it challenging but a good perspective on where I’m at in comparison to the top 40 females in all of California.  I did Event 3 at Training Yard, then Events 4 & 5 at Angel City’s Warehouse before practice about 2 hours later.  Gymnastics continues to be my biggest weakness and something I struggle with on the regular as I was only able to get 90’ of handstand walking in the 3 min timecap.

Doing all of day 2’s events on Monday left me sore and not fully recovered for the rest of the week’s workouts.  I didn’t feel like myself and definitely felt weak - more then likely from the 100 GHD sit ups in Event 3.

Geoff and I traveled to Cancun Mexico on Friday for the wedding of our friends Kelvin and Stisha.  This was an all inclusive resort and we planned on just enjoying everything the resort had to offer and not concerning ourselves too much about what we were eating and drinking.

We managed to get a hotel workout in on Saturday and also played around on the beach with some handstands and handstand walking, but the activities of the weekend left us unmotivated to do any more working out while we were there. 

 The food and drinking drove my energy levels way down and left me feeling bloated and swollen.  But, we had a fantastic time and neither of us were worried about how we felt since we knew it was short lived and not typical of our routine.

Looking forward to getting back into a normal routine since the last 3 weekends have been filled with travel and events. 

How often have we all looked at someone we admire and said to ourselves, “Well, that’s just not possible for me.”  or “I wish I could be that good, but I just don’t have the time to train like they do.”  or, “If I had a personal trainer and a personal chef, I could look like that too.”

I’m here to say “F that”.

Why impose any limitations on yourself?  Why tell yourself that in order to be great, you no longer can have fun?  Or that you have to have money and time to be a better version of yourself?  Why make it even harder than it already is?

I to have asked myself those same questions and wondered how I could ever achieve the goals I set for myself.  I’ve had many moments where I just couldn’t see myself accomplishing the task set before me.  Who hasn’t?  

And after many years of hard work, dedication, and exploration, it makes me sad that I now have people saying to me that they are just not able to do what I’m doing.  That they’ll never do a pull up, or be able to do a hockey stop, or give up bread and sugar.  They question and drill me on my routine and then say right after, “I wish”, or “That’s just not possible for me”.

So, in the spirit of Brutal Honesty and to show to anyone interested, I’m making a committment to show what my routine is on a weekly basis.  In it you will see that I do train a lot, but I also like to drink and I like to eat dessert.  I don’t have a lot of free time and my training on and off skates is somewhat sporadic depending on my schedule.  I cook but I also like to eat out.  

I will share this with this Caveat: this is what works for me and my family. This is the balance I have found for myself.  My only goal in sharing this is to show what this one woman does on a day to day basis to keep fit, healthy, have fun, and be the best derby player I can be.  

If it helps you in any way, that’s a plus.

Me in 2008 (195#):

  Me in 2015 (165#):

Week of 5/17 - 5/23:

Lots going on this week.  It's the week of Crossfit Regionals in Del Mar, CA.  Which means my 2 coaches who primarily coach at Crossfit Training Yard weren't available to coach since they were both competing, so I covered the 6am class Wed-Fri at our box.  Then Geoff and I attended the event Friday through Sunday.  Training and eating were put aside over the weekend to enjoy the event and cheer on our amazing coaches.  But, I found a way to fit in 5 solid days of training and 2 days of skating with Angel City and the Scarlets.