Never judge a book by its cover. Or: a week back in Germany

"I've got fire for a heart, I'm not scared of the dark, never made it look so easy [...] Nobody's gonna drag me down" 

(One Direction - Drag Me Down)

This has been the soundtrack to my first week back in Germany. How has life in Germany treated me so far? The answer is, I'm not sure. It still feels like I'm only on vacation. I mean, yeah, I've been working five days within the last seven days, but work doesn't feel like work. It's strange to think that I get money for giving people food and taking their money. It's pretty physical, yes, but fun, too. And our team is just great. I love the fact that people are talking Russian and Turkish left and right, even though I understand neither. But yeah, it's kind of surreal that I get paid for this.

Then I started following the youtube-account "Yoga with Adriene" and the accounts "30 Days of Yoga"-videos, meaning I've been doing yoga every day for at least 20min, which is astonishingly addictive. Or rather: I notice how I feel worse when I don't down-dog and plank and stretch it out. 

On the gym side of things, I've been a little lazy, only going to the gym every other day. Went to Grit Plyo on Thursday and boy, the instructor was...for lack of a more sophiaticated word...hot. And he knew what he did. which made him even hotter. But yeah, was a great Grit.

Saturday I went to a Combat class. The fourth Combat class I've attended in Germany at Superfit this far and for the first time I had an instructor who knew what she was doing. For the first time an instructor that could be compared to the ones in Finland. I'm a spoiled brat, when it comes to this because I'm used to instructors on a really high level. Good-looking, fun, nice instructors that are really good at what they're doing. Which brings me to the topic at hand: yesterday I went to BodyStep and BodyPump at Superfit Mitte and there was this dude on stage that looked a little like a charicature or Goofy as an instructor: he wore one of those 80's sweatbands on his forehead and short shorts and his hair looked funny and I was just like: "You kidding me?!?" But I thought that it'd be better to do some uninspired training with him than just leave and go later in the day. 

And right I was. Partly. It was a good decision to stay. And I was wrong; the classes were far from uninspired. Actually, they were two of the most fun and rad classes I've been to in Germany. One of the greatest BodyStep-classes overall. And not in spite of but because of his quirky personality that was paired with a great deal of knowledge about technique and anatomy. He gave great pointers and made me laugh more than once during the two hours that just flew by. He still reminded me of Goofy, but by the end of Pump-class it didn't matter any more, because he won me over. In spite of my previously made decision that no one is ever gonna be as great as the instructors at my Finnish gym. 

Another one that really got to me was the BodyAttack instructor whose class I already went to in August. She's not funny like Goofy, but she gets me to do stuff. She's efficient. And nice to look at. I'm not into girls, but if I were, I'd definitely crush on her. 

When it comes to MMA/BJJ, it's still rather boring, because I did not have the peace of mind to go and set up the contract with the gym. Also, there's a shitload of stuff ahead right now. The next two days, I'll be out of town and then it's the weekend and they're closed and then my mom's here and then it's almost October again. Ugh. And there's my five day work week next week, because I only have one day this week. But after me mom's gone, I'll be putting some effort in there, too. But right now, I got drive and I'm unsettled and I got itchy feet and wanderlust and yeah. I'll keep you posted about my ex tempore stunt that's gonna happen this night. 

Grit Summer Games - To puke or not to puke that is the question

So, today our gym held a nice little event called Grit Summer Games. I've been talking about Grit before, Les Mills' own HIIT-series with focus on either basic strength, explosive strength or cardio. I was a little nervous beforehand, because we weren't told what exercises were awaiting us at the gym. All we knew was that there'd be 9 different exercises and we'd have 45sec per exercise during which we had to perform as many reps as possible. Then 15sec rest and on to the next exercise. 

The exercises were: 1. Clean-and-press (20kg for women, 30kg for men), 2. sumo jumps from a step-board, 3. burpees (of course there were burpees...), 4. bent over rows (again 20kg women, 30kg men), 5. lateral jumps across a step board, 6. c-crunches with a plate (5kg women, 10kg men), 7. squat to overhead press with a 5kg plate, 8. push-ups and finally 9. my least favourite exercise in the history of ever: the jumping lunge. I even prefer burpees to the jumping lunges, which is mostly because my legs are about to give out 3 reps in on a good day.

Today was not a good day, I might add. Firstly, I am still sore from all the stuff I've done all week, especially grappling on Friday and Pump+Combat on Saturday (yeah, I know, I should have rested, had I taken this seriously. But this was for fun). And secondly, well, just try doing jumping lunges after already being so far beyond your lactate threshold that all you want to do is hug your toilet bowl close and your triceps' have already failed you and your quads are burning. 

What I want to convey: it felt great, even more than great afterwards (as most HIITs), but during the thing, I wanted to quit, scream, puke, quit again, throw myself onto the ground and cry. I did nothing, but go on. I tried to think of nothing but the next rep. Clean-and-presses are one of my favourite exercises, and I got 17 of those, already feeling slightly winded, and there was a little burn already, because normally I half-ass them with 15kg (I never realised I half-assed them until today). The sumo jumps are usually not my kind of thing, I like them, but - as with the jump lunges - my legs don't really like 'em, meaning I start strong and after 15sec my legs are on fire. But the competitor across from me and I pushed each other through this and I got 39 of those, too. Severly winded it was burpee time. And cue the sickness. I'm quite good with exercising at a high intensity, but as soon as we take it to the ground, I get really sick and a little dizzy. Something about lactate acid, I was told. Halfway through the bent over rows, my left triceps failed, but I tried to do as much as possible with my back. Still, the last few reps where a bit lopsided. The lateral jumps were a whole other thing, because you need some kind of coordination to land on the step board and at that point, I was already so tired that this seemed a Mission Impossible. Again, my heart rate soared and it was down to the ground. Serious retching going on. But the crunches went fine. Not well, but okay. Then the squat jumps in itself were okay, but then again, almost none of us did them with the right technique or movement range in the beginning and that made them a loooot meaner. Thank goodness, my triceps recovered at least a little until it was time to do push-ups, but I still did those ten at a time, short stretch into child's pose. I actually got quite far with this technique. 39 push-ups in 45sec is not too bad. But yeah, the lunge jumps were horrific. I only did 29 of those and all the time I was afraid my legs would give out any second. 

Still, this was a fun and interesting experience and I know where I have to push a little more. Next time I'm doing something like this, I will get at least 45 push-ups in those 45 seconds. And I will work on my burpees. I got to have some goal now, because moving tomorrow (effectively the day after tomorrow), I have to switch gyms and one of the reasons I never had to think about going to the gym was that I knew certain instructors' classes would be fun and missing them would be a pity. Now I need some internal motivation again, until I know the who's who of my new gym. So, yeah. (I also have to lose about 8kg before the competition season for MMA starts...but that's a whole other story)

Anyhow, I believe the Grit Summer Games have been A) an incredible success, B) fun, C) a possibility to overcome oneself and get out of this comfort zone nobody likes these days and D) a great way to wrap up summer and effectively my membership at Gogo. I'll still be pretending that it doesn't end tomorrow, as I'm going to take one last class with one of my favourite instructors. After that I got about half an hour to get to my train to the airport, so that hopefully realisation only hits when I'm sitting on this train. 

MMA and Grit Strength 13 - or: Hearteyes, baby

Yesterday, I had a more relaxed training day, after Monday had been kind of rough. And by relaxed I mean... only 2,5hrs training. MMA and Body Balance. After Monday MMA was hard; we did a lot of hooks and upper cuts and my shoulders were sore from Body Combat and Body Pump the day before. Now, our coach always likes to send us back into the world with a grueling last exercise, yesterday it was jab-cross-tabata. We did jab-cross-combos (either fast or heavy) for a minute and got 20sec rest. Then again combos and rest. We did five rounds of that. Our coach actually took a video from that last set. I'm back there in the white Bad Boy-shorts and my technique is way off, I'm so tired. I wasn't even able to raise my hands properly:

MMA training

But. Today. I finally got to try Grit Strength 13 and I loved it. I did a "light" Body Combat class before and was already pretty done with the world, but I had to prove a point. To myself. Best decision ever. 

I love the new choreo. There's a new move in there: 

New Move

And it's coming up in Track 2 already. As always, track 1 is warm-up. Track 2 is 3 sets of two different moves you do for 30sec first. 3sec break. 10sec reps. 3sec break and a last 10sec rep round. The first move is squat to push press with a bar bell, the second is this new move. 

Track 3 is fun, because you get a little movement into the otherwise static set up: you have two teams facing each other, one does high knees for 30sec, the other upright rows to shoulder press. Then the teams change moves. After two rounds, the teams get new moves. Team 1 does jumping lunges (if there's anything I hate more than burpees, it's jump lunges...*sighs*) and team 2 moving press ups. 

Track 4 was 45sec for each set, first set 7 upright rows and 7 rows, as many rounds as possible. Second set 7 burpees (aaand there they are) and 7 press ups. After you're through with both sets, you do the same, but the rep count goes down from 7 to 5. 

Track 5 was the one minute challenge, where you took your weight plate, did a squat and one squat jump. Then one squat, two squat jumps and so on for - as the name of the challenge says - one minute. As many rounds as possible. I got to 7,4 today. 

And then it's core. And let me tell you, after these last few days, my core was incredibly sore. Actually, I can feel the muscles moving beneath the skin these days, which feels a tad weird, to be honest. I have never been an athletic child, so being an athletic adult still feels strange to me. 

But that's it, that's the new Grit. And I love it, because you can really push yourself to your limits (especially after a Body Combat-class). Came close to barfing today. But that's also the fast level changes, when doing stuff in an upright position and then going down to do a press up or sth of the sort. Does anyone of you know the feeling? It's not even being exhausted, but the fast level changes. 

And tomorrow my best friend is coming to visit for my graduation ceremony and we'll have a blast. She'll be here all weekend, so you'll probably not hear from me in a few days. Have a nice one, guys! :)

movie post: Mad Max: Fury Road

Oh, what a Fury Road it was, indeed! I was beyond impressed; a film about oppressed women reclaiming their right to bodily autonomy and self-determination without colouring every single male character as the enemy while still keeping its validity as an entertaining (and totally deranged) action flick (yes, there are still some issues, but humour me)! And as a balance to the female rights talk: Nicholas Hoult <3 (and Tom Hardy :3).

I liked the character of Nux, who - starting out as a firm believer in the system - began to question it the more he learned about the fate of the wives, and especially after realising they were actual people, persons. Charline Theron as Furiosa was a hero. More so than the movie's name sake Max. She was a loyal ally to the women who needed her. The wives fighting for their freedom and their right of self-determination, but also being afraid of the unknown future ahead and the old women who helped Furiosa, Max, Nux and the wives to reclaim what was rightfully theirs. Women in this movie are shown as nurturing (the seeds they carry with them will help regrow the plants), but fierce. Men are mostly displayed as a destructive force of nature, but Max and Nux are both shown as caring. Max is driven mad by visions of people he could not help. He is being dehumanized and used as a human blood bag against his will, only to reclaim his bodily autonomy, too, and deciding to sacrifice his blood to save Furiosa. Nux, first to be conceived as a headless, mindless follower, is being shown as cunning and clever. They are all great role models in one way or another. Multi-layered characters going through character developement (also note that the further the wives get from their oppressor (physically and psychologically) the more clothes they are wearing) are one of the many things that make this film entertaining. Also, to me one of the main points was the thing Max said when they want to run away as far as possible, something along the lines of "you can run a hundred days in this direction and will achieve nothing, or you can go back to where we came from and fight through one day. It will be hard, but at least that way we'll be able to... together... come across some kind of redemption." and "Hope is a mistake. If you don't fix what's broke, you'll go insane." I love how he is a "Face your problems and do something about them even if it's hard and will probably break you"-kind of guy.
The fact that it also has more epic car chases and action sequences than a "Fast and Furious"-flick and is more disturbed in some ways than a Tim Burton movie, make it interesting and entertaining to the last second. A unique blend of sometimes blunt, sometimes subtle social commentary and action that's really worth watching. Plus some really great actors and actresses. Loved it.