Alpha Conditioning with Amanda

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In the heart of a pre-work Monday morning at Lifetime downtown, I took a detour. This time, I found myself at 7:00am's "Alpha Conditioning" – just an hour shift from last week's habitual routine. Amanda, my familiar guide from the Intro to Dynamic Personal Training, was leading. I was happy to see a familiar face.

"Alpha" arena echoed memories of the previous week's "Alpha Strength". To a newbie like me, the differences seemed minute, overshadowed by one constant emotion: the relentless challenge.

We started gently, a warm-up setting the day's tempo. Soon, Phase 2 rolled in. Sumo squats and dumbbell chest presses. My struggle with those squats? Painfully obvious. Amanda noticed, pointing out my reluctance to open the hips. Throughout, her affirmations echoed, especially her heartfelt, "I'm proud of you."

Then, MetCon. I jokingly dub it 'metabolic torture'. The menu? A dizzying mix of 1-arm kettlebell press-ups, farmers walks, swings, and an intense finale with rowing sequences. A few wrong moves, especially with those kettlebells and rowing, and my lower back wasn't shy about its complaints. Did I overreach? Choose weights too ambitious? Or perhaps, I'm just being a tad theatrical.

As I sweat and grunted, a spiral of thoughts consumed me: Why this effort? Why document it? But as the minutes ticked away, clarity – or at least its pursuit – emerged. The journey, though grueling, persists. And if there's even just one devoted reader out there (hey, Mom), that's reason enough.


All the best,

Fred

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