[DanceDiva]

During stage 1, I discovered a new love/appreciation for my body's way. My focus was nurturing my body so that I would not experience intense discomfort. Well, my body still experienced discomfort but in a manner that let me know that it was adjusting to its new experience.

Body imbalance can be a very subtle occurrence, however, the use of dumbbells and barbells in a total body program is sure to find them. I have an old injury (2006) where I was in hero's pose (feet under butt, knees forward) and got up off the floor FAST. The inside of my right knee immediately bruised, swelled, and was tender. I went to an orthopedic surgeon for PT in 2007 as my knee ached after a long period of approx. 30° inflection and was told it seemed like I have a minor case of meniscus irritation in addition to hyper-extended knees. I was told to strengthen supporting muscles in leg. Now I no longer experience inflection aching, however, knee aches after squats and lunges (just not as long). I think that this, in addition to, the right side being my dominant side is why my aching in my connective tissue on the right side is more noticeable than the left.

I believe I have now found why my body did not respond the same to only dancing as it did to dancing & exercise. When I just danced, I focused on getting the movements in order and right. When I started going to exercise classes, I didn't focus on getting the move right all the time. Therefore, I moved with more intensity. The more I did something, it never seemed to get any easier. I realize thats because I never stopped moving intensely in exercise class. Therefore, even though I haven't been doing as much cardiovascular movement, when I do it, I still can do it intensely.

We are told that in order to preserve the body through old age we have to do purposeful strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular movements. In completing this stage, I've found that I've put less focus on the flexibility and cardiovascular movement. I had to purposefully add in much more flexibility movement than I used to need to and my muscles (especially hamstrings) required more nurturing. Every time I focus on one aspect of fitness, one of the others is suffering.

Weightlifting is just like any other exercise activity. I must make it fun in order to continue. I know I need music. However, I love looking at my logs and determining what the challenge will be in the next workout. Then making adjustments given my body's state at the time of the next workout. It's like a good logic puzzle with dynamic feedback.

Strength wise, I'm sure I have gotten stronger. However, I like that it appears to be incremental gains. I'm aiming to incorporate weightlifting into a balanced space in my life, therefore, as I adjust to focus on all aspects of fitness, I don't believe that I will be distraught from losing strength gains as I find the balance.