Day 1 GUA Trip - Antigua

Yesterday we flew from SEA to LAX to catch a red eye flight into Guatemala City early this morning.  Once landed we went through customs, collected baggage from baggage claim and had to wait for customs to match everyones bags to their ticket from the whole flight. We then were picked up by 16 person Coaster Bus (or Turisimos) that we rode into Antigua to our Hotel for the night. Once everyone had their room keys we dispersed to drop of baggage and meet up to head downtown for a late breakfast. 

The conditions here are not as extreme as other cities and not near what I am told it is like in the villages, our team leader describes Antigua as a tourist stop. It still is rural in itself though, the road beds are built of cobblestone from the early 1500s to the conquistador time. The buildings are just as old and you can find many ruins throughout the city, either abandoned or in use still in terrible condition. I have taken photos of some parts of day 1 mainly on my camera and will have to wait to post them later this week, but you will get to see some of the conditions I'm writing about.  This city is full of history and I wish I spoke and could understand Spanish better so that I could converse better with the locals, but without it still is extremely interesting.

  

After taking two flights to get to Guatemala City my amputated leg was fairly swollen from the pressure with many altitude changes. With that in mind, 1/2 mile walk to downtown was pretty uncomfortable for my body, but I was able to return to the hotel after brunch to rest.  I propped my right leg up and put a compression sock on my left limb and propped it up as well for my 2 hour nap. I woke up feeling better and ventured onto the roof of our hotel building to check out the view of the two volcanoes Antigua lies at the base of, Agua and Fuego. My Freshman and Junior year at CWU I actually debated on changing my Major to Geology to become a Volcanologist, but my love for Physical Education was too strong. The Volcan De Fuego is currently erupting so I hope to see the view at night before we leave if the sky is clear enough. I then joined our group for our devotional meeting where we ran through our itinerary and game plan for teaching at the school in Cotzal.

Following our meeting we ventured out for dinner, as the group walked myself and one of our leaders took a Tuk Tuk (like a very tiny scooter/taxi cab). That was a pretty crazy experience, no street lights, no separated lanes, people every where and vehicles every where, it was intense.  

So I may be crazy, or not, but I decided to not bring my crutches on this trip and solely rely on my prosthetic leg for the 10 days in a foreign country. I brought my charger with me so I will be charging my knee every night just to be safe, but there is one large danger for it! WATER DAMAGE!! My prosthetic is not waterproof and Guatemala has many random flash rain storms.. So I found so waterproof pants tonight after dinner that I hope will help me keep my knee safe!

Now the plan for tomorrow, up for breakfast at 7:30 with devotion to follow at 8:30 where we are studying 1 John 1:9, 3:6, 4:4, and 5:13. After we will be on the road by 9:30 for Nebaj and the day will consist of travelling! 

-Stay Tuned Y'all! 

Lifting 4 Limbs T-Shirt Order in 2 Hours

All right here is the updated order list for Lifting 4 Limbs T-Shirts

I am ordering today in 2 hours from now so if you would like to add to the email me or message me as soon as you can! 

Robert Pease- 2 L Blue

Adam Johnson- 1 Blue XXL

Dominic Santini- 2 S Pink, 1 XXXL Blue

Sage Way- 1 S Pink

Mark Horner- 1 L Blue

Steve Atlas- 1 M Blue

Andrew Reese- 1 Pink XL

Randall Harris- 1 Blue XXXL

Natalya Gall- 1 XXL Blue

Kaitlyn Mclaughlin- 1 S Pink

Orajin Somjai- 1 M Blue

Scott Newsome-  1 L Pink, 1 XL Blue

Noah Greenwald- 1 M Blue, 1 L Pink

Kevin McFadden- 1 XXL Blue

Dan Amadee- 1 XL Blue

Stacie Pomrening- 1 S Blue, 1 M Blue

Ashley McMahan- 1 S Blue

Kyle Willet- 1 M Blue

Jonni Hill- 1 M Pink, 1 M Blue

Annemarie Kemmerer- 1 M Pink

Angela Teal- 1 XS, 1 S

Ron Horton- 1 M Blue

Aly Pederson- 1 M Blue, 1 XL Blue

Cathy Belben- 1 S Pink

Ken Gack- 1 XL Blue

Colleen Hamilton- 1 L Blue

Rob Stenger- 1 L Blue

Workout Shirts to send Ali to Guatemala

 I finally have the order sheets ready for everyone to put in their orders for Lifting 4 Limbs Workout T's  attached to this post, fill out and email to my account that's on the form.
 I was able to lower the price to get these made with the help of two great sponsors, RABfitness out of Kennewick, WA and PrettyStrong Powerlifting out of Georgia. Thank you so much Vanessa(PSP), Roger and Ally for your support!! If your looking for personal trainers and/or bodybuilding coaches Roger and Ally are elite, knowledgeable and experienced coaches, RABfitness Facebook Page.
If you are a young woman, older woman, amputee woman, etc.. looking for female support in the realm of health, lifting, exercise, physical fitness, etc. PrettySTRONG Powerlifting is a great group for support throughout all, PrettyStrong Webpage.

There are two colors available, blue and pink, as well as sizes up to 5XL. Sizes XS-L are $30 and XL-5XL are $35.

Single Leg Deadlifting Posters and photos are available too, pricing list is attached below.

I leave for Guatemala June 9th and will be putting the final order in June 7th. Once I return I will be sending them out to you and I only ask you one thing once you get your shirt..  to take a great workout picture with your shirt on and send it to me!

Thank you again for all of your support and I will be journaling and blogging about the lives I touch and those who touch mine while in Guatemala!

Stay tuned for the next fundraiser later this summer!

Days 32 - 35 Week 8

Monday--Presidents Day--No School

Day 32 -- Tuesday
Periods 1-3 I taught the same workout for each:
Dynamic warm ups in the auxiliary gym, transfer upstairs on a jog to the weight room.
BWC- 3 rounds
10 strict pull ups or 10 kipping pull ups
-bar technique work in between rounds with body bar or PVC
BBG- New St.- hang power clean & split jerk 3x3
Old St.- squat clean (from floor) & split jerk 3x3
WOD- 5 rounds for time benchmark workout BARBARA
20x pull-ups
20x push-ups
20x AB mat sit ups
20x Air Squats
-most students finished between 8-14 minutes so there was a pretty broad difference with their muscular endurance. We'll be using this test again at the end of the quarter to see their improvement!

For 5th and 6th period today we had our 3rd day of our Pickleball tournament.  The kids who were already eliminated still played against each other and helped warm up teams that were still in the tourney.  Everyone thoroughly enjoyed today, but we still weren't able to finish the tournament unfortunately so we'll have to finish it before I finish student teaching.

Day 33 -- Wednesday
Periods 1-3 I taught the same workout for each:
Dynamic warm ups in the auxiliary gym, transfer upstairs on a jog to the weight room.
BWC- 3 rounds
15 second palanche lean holds
-bar technique work in between rounds with body bar or PVC
BBG- Front Squat 4x4
WOD- For time:
5x pull-ups
6x power snatches

4x pull-ups
5x power snatches

3x pull-ups
4x power snatches

2x pull-ups
3x power snatches
Bonus- 3 rounds of 5 T2B

Today for 5th period we combined classes with another and played a huge game of blob tag.  We played that until the we could see the kids get a little bored and switched it into a different game.  We then changed to laying down link tag with a twist, the student that was it had to hold a swimming noodle and tag people with it. Once they tagged someone they dropped the noodle and ran to link up before they got tagged by the next person it.  Since we had combined classes we were able to have to people "it" with noodles at the same time which helped them in catching the faster kids by closing in on them together.  The kids loved it, so we played in 6th period as well and the period went great!

Day 34 -- Thursday
Periods 1-3 I taught the same workout for each:
Dynamic warm ups in the auxiliary gym, transfer upstairs on a jog to the weight room.
BWC- 3 rounds
15x strap push-ups + 5 close push-ups
-bar technique work in between rounds with body bar or PVC
BBG- Hang Power Clean 4x4
WOD- For time- 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2:
Hang squat clean & power jerk
8 count body builders
Bonus- 3 rounds
right/left side plank holds x 20 seconds each
Dynamic stretch.

5th period and 6th period we were in the weight room so we had a barbell circuit that we did in both classes:
3x10-Deadlift
         High Pull
         Front Squat
         Push Press
Then in between as their partners were working on the bar they had the options of sit ups or push ups.
5th period I was able to allow them to complete the workout on their own after I went through demonstrations of all the lifts.  6th period was too out of control to let loose and complete the workout on their own so I ran the workout all together.  After we made it through the first 2 exercises I let the class finish the workout on their own.

Day 35 -- Friday
Periods 1-3 I taught the same workout for each:
Dynamic warm ups in the auxiliary gym, transfer upstairs on a jog to the weight room.
BWC- 3 rounds
45 second high plank hold (top of pushup position) + 5 normal push ups
-bar technique work in between rounds with body bar or PVC
BBG- High Bar Back Squat 4x3
WOD- 5 rounds for time:
5x cobbler squat&press
5x man/woman makers
5x close grip bench press

5th and 6th period today we had our large circuit within the main gym and auxiliary gym. 5th period it was just 1 other class with mine so it was very spread out and easy to monitor. 6th period we had 2 other classes with mine so there was a ton of students at each station, but it still went great.  Overall good day and great week.

In Need Of Help!

After my accident I found myself in a rut where I felt like I was missing something in my life, but just couldn't figure out what I was missing.. besides my left leg of course ;)! I fell deeper into this rut as time went on and I buried myself with school work and athletic goals that I worked terribly hard to meet. About a year ago, still unhappy not knowing what to do, I had a friend reach out to me. She was part of a group at our college called the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She invited me to come with her sometime and I did, and I loved it. I made me realize what I was missing, family from living so far away from mine, tradition, great friends, and love. Well I found all those important things by becoming apart of this group, but most importantly I found the importance of having God back in my life again. Since I have been the happiest I've ever been every since before my accident. This new life in God has allowed me to relieve myself of all of my pain and anger towards certain parts of my life and I've naturally found a humble side of me I never knew I had. This group has helped me so much that all I want to do is somehow repay them, which I began last week. I gave my testimony and motivational talk to the Ellensburg High School FCA and I will be giving another at the Othello FCA in early March. There's more though..
Our CWU group has been talking about going on a mission trip to Guatemala to help rebuild a community and teach at their primary school there hopefully this June if we can raise the funds.
This is an opportunity of a life time and for me it's my last chance to experience my first mission trip with the same group who saved me a year ago.
So I'm calling on all my family members and all of my friends out there to help not only me, but also help my FCA friends who are also in college with me and do not have the funds to go. If you are unable to financially help us that is okay because you can still help us by sharing the link to our fundraiser page:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-send-cwu-fca-to-guatemala-with-wind-of-god-np-org
At this page you'll find all of the information about the trip and the village we are going to. You can also donate directly on that site, please help us as much as you can, share share share.
I've also attached photos of the village we are going to, the school house we are teaching in, and a picture of the kids that we will be helping!!

Days 27 - 31 Week 7

Monday Day 27

Periods 1-3 I taught the same workout for each:

Dynamic warm ups in the auxiliary gym, transfer upstairs on a jog to the weight room.

BWC- 3 rounds 

Bar dips or chair dips x 7 + 10 close push ups

-bar technique work in between rounds with body bar or PVC

BBG- Strict Snatch Press 4x3

WOD- 3 rounds for time

7x Hang Squat Clean

15x American KB Swings

10x 6 count burpees

Bonus- 3 rounds

Knees to chest + feet to ceiling x 10

-All 3 periods were great, just had to keep motivating them through the WOD since they were tired from the weekend.

5th & 6th period we had our second day of our specific muscle group exercise work sheet.  I gave them 4 muscle groups to choose 1 exercise they hadn't performed and logged yet from the previous Monday and reminded them to log they're weights used and setsXreps. 

For 5th period I had my 3rd observation from my university supervisor and I was a little nervous about since my afternoon classes are so different than morning classes. She got to see how I adapted my teaching to the different classroom dynamic and turned out to be an overall great day.

Tuesday Day 28

Periods 1-3 I taught the same workout for each:

Dynamic warm ups in the auxiliary gym, transfer upstairs on a jog to the weight room.

BWC- 3 rounds 

9 x dead hang pull ups

-bar technique work in between rounds with body bar or PVC

BBG- High bar back squat 4x2

WOD- EMOM (every minute on the minute) for 12 minutes

6x towel pull ups- no kipping

3x deadlifts 

Bonus- 3 rounds

Tuck L-sits x 15 seconds

-All 3 classes were great again no behavioral problems at all, truly getting a great routine with the students going!

Periods 5 & 6 we began a 16 team double elimination Pickleball tournament, which the kids loved. I let them pick their partner and make up an appropriate team name and the entree class was really motivated and focused the whole period while having a fun, positive, and competitive time.

Wednesday Day 29

Tuesday night I fell very ill and had a fever throughout the night that didn't allow me to sleep at all. As 7 am rolled around Wednesday I could barely speak, so I called my supervising teacher to inform him. He instantly told me not to come near the school and to stay home to rest up for teaching the following day. I slept most of the day and spoke with my university supervisor later in the day when I was more awake and she advised me to stay home during our meeting that night as well. I spent the rest of the night in bed hoping to feel better the next day to get back to the school.

Thursday Day 30

Thank goodness for the rest day I was granted because I woke up feeling better enough to head to school bringing only soup, dayquil and vitamins to help me maintain throughout the day.

Thursday and Friday was another CCR day so 1 & 2 period were Thursday with 3rd on Friday, but they did the same workout:

Periods 1-3 I taught the same workout for each:

Dynamic warm ups in the auxiliary gym, transfer upstairs on a jog to the weight room.

BWC- 3 rounds 

5 bar dips or chair dips + 10 clapping push ups

-bar technique work in between rounds with body bar or PVC

BBG- New St.- Hang Power Clean 4x3

Old St.- Power Clean (from floor) 4x3

WOD- For time:

20x close grip bench

60x squat and press

70x American KB Swings

Bonus: 1 round

T2B-Rest 1 min.-Front planks-Rest 1 min.-Leg lifts

-Both class again were great, but needed consistent motivation throughout the WOD due to it's intensity!

5th & 6th I began to hit my wall of health so I did my best to make it through the last two periods.  We had a huge game day were we played Lying down Link Tag, then Standing Link Tag, and Touch and Pass until we had to switch to the Weight room for the 2nd half of both periods. In the weight room we did a short light weight bar circuit with deadlift, high pull, front squat and push press.

Friday Day 31

I only taught 3rd period on Friday which was awesome because I was still feeling very weak and ill, but the class went great! Once I was done I stayed for the CCR session with the senior group my cooperating teacher had and I was allowed to go home after since we didn't have any after school meeting that day!

Days 22 - 26 Week 6

Monday Day 22
Periods 1-3 I taught the same workout for each:
Dynamic warm ups in the auxiliary gym, transfer upstairs on a jog to the weight room.
BWC- 3 rounds
single leg squats x 8 each leg - do supported if needed
-bar technique work in between rounds with body bar or PVC
BBG- 6x2 Deadlift
WOD- 3 rounds for time:
10x bar muscle ups or pull ups + 10 chair dips
20x close push ups
20x leg levers
Bonus: 3 rounds
15x strap push ups
Dynamic stretch
-My favorite part of explaining todays workout to each class was demonstrating the single leg squats at the beginning. In the front center of the room i stood on one of the tall boxes and demonstrated what they should look like without support.  I held my prosthetic out in front of me and squatted down until my butt touched my heel, held it for 4 seconds explaining how they need to break parallel with their knee and hip then squatted back up and the kids were in "AWE." A couple came up to me and asked about how I was able to do that and it was pretty funny.
-The only issue I had in my morning classes was 3rd period with my first full class teaching them I have 2 wrestlers that were 15 minutes late. I took them aside as soon as the arrived and gave them an opportunity to explain why they were late. Once lied and said he was helping another teacher, so I told him to leave class and get a note for me from that teacher, but he said he didn't want to waste anymore class time so he didn't want to. I then told him he had one more chance to tell me the truth and he admitted he was lying and then said he was waiting for the other late student to come to class. The other student said that he was getting dressed for 25 minutes.. pretty fishy so I gave them both their first verbal warning and told them I expected for ten to be on time and honest for the rest of the week.

4th I had planning and lunch which I just used for catching up on TPA work and journals.

5th & 6th period I ran a dumbbell, body weight, and weight machine circuit, which we'll be doing every Monday.  The students were given a sheet that had exercise options separated under main muscle groups on one side and a weight/exercise log on the other side for them to track their performance. Both classes did pretty well.

Tuesday Day 23

Periods 1-3 I taught the same workout for each:

Dynamic warm ups in the auxiliary gym, transfer upstairs on a jog to the weight room.

BWC- 3 rounds 

5 normal push ups + 4 close push ups + 3 wide push ups + 2 hindu push ups + 1 one arm push up

-bar technique work in between rounds with body bar or PVC

BBG- 6x2 Push Press

WOD- 5 rounds for time

7x squat clean thrusters

15x T2B (toes 2 bar)

Bonus- 3 rounds

single leg planks @ 30 secs ~ 15 secs per leg

-All 3 classes were great with the exception of 1 group of 3 students in my third period. In that group there's 2 students who are a little more physically challenged for some of our exercises so I do 1-on-1 teaching technique with them everyday. Well today their 3rd partner was helping them out, but he was teaching them the incorrect way to perform the exercise so I interjected and began to help the students. The 3rd student then interrupted me and said not to listen to me and to listen to him. I then kept my cool and told him to focus on his own workout and to get to work, which didn't give him the option to continue talking. I then helped the students very quickly with focusing on a few easy cues to remember and they instantly got the movement down. At the end of the class I asked the 3rd student to stay back for a minute so I could talk to him. Once the class dispersed I then explained to him why I asked him to stay back followed by explained to him that it's my place to teach technique not the students to do so (mainly because this stupid didn't know how to teach his peers correctly). I then asked him not to teach under or over me in the future, but to help myself and his friends by listening to the simple cues that I give them to assist them in the progression of correct technique and help them out by telling them the same cues. Overall the talk went well and he agreed to letting me teach and helping out with the same ideas I teach.

5th & 6th period we played pickle ball, had them break up into pairs and work on forehand drive and backhand drive for half the period.  For the remaining half I gave them free play time to work on rallying with their partner or playing doubles.  Their were quite a few boys in both classes that were distracted, but I found that I have to let them be a little crazy to get i tout of their system then they're great for the rest of the class.

Wednesday Day 24

Periods 1-3 I taught the same workout for each:

Dynamic warm ups in the auxiliary gym, transfer upstairs on a jog to the weight room.

BWC- 3 rounds 

15 hollow rocks + 10 tuck crunch

-bar technique work in between rounds with body bar or PVC

BBG- New students: Hang Squat Snatch 4x2

Old students: Squat Snatch (from floor) 4x2

WOD- 4 rounds for time:

10x American KettleBell Swings

8x strict pull ups

10x DB Hang Clean and Split Jerk

Bonus- 3 rounds

5x strict leg levers

-1st period I had my 2nd observation by my university supervisor, who is always a pleasure to have in my class.  She loves watching how hard my class works and compliments me on how she can never pick out even one slacker ever.

-3rd period my same 2 wrestlers were late to class again, I pulled them aside again and gave them their second warning for the week followed by informing my cooperating teacher of their misbehavior.

5th & 6th period we warmed up outside then played separated games of touch and pass. Both classes behaved well and had a great time during the games.

Thursday Day 25

Periods 1-3 we had an active rest/game day, which the kids love since they work terribly hard during every workout we have. I gave the classes options of what games we'd play and all 3 wanted to play Touch and Pass.

-3rd period I had just one of the two wrestlers come late (the other was on time), for his 3rd time in the same week I had to pull him aside again. I was glad it happened on the game day though because I was able to have a longer more in-depth conversation with him standing next to the game so I was able to monitor the entire class during. I asked him nicely to explain to me what was going on, he told me he didn't have to explain anything to me so I then told him well I am your teacher who gives you the grade for your participation in this class. I explained why he's been docked three times this week and as I continued to talk to him he then turned his back to me and walked away. Unfortunately, due to his actions I then had to follow the schools disciplinary protocol to send him to the office until the end of class. He left, then came back 10 minutes later without permission to and asked if he could now participate in the game with the class. I told him he has lost that privilege with his previous actions and sent him back to the office. Instead of going to the office he went up to the weight room and worked out, which I did not know until after class. After class I went to the office to find that he was not there, I then went up to my cooperating teachers office to explain the situation to then find out from him of the students whereabouts. My cooperating teacher then advised me to follow the protocol, meaning that my next step was writing the student up through the principal. I did not enjoy writing the student up, but I had to follow the disciplinary plan.

5th & 6th period I had 36-38 students in the weight room, so I ran a light weight circuit for them to get as many rounds finished within 12 minutes. Before beginning I had all the students practice the technique of each exercise giving them an easy warm up and teaching them to perform it correctly. I notice with these two classes that I have to keep them moving to keep them focused so the circuit was perfect for them to be busy during the whole class.

Friday Day 26

Periods 1-3 I taught the same workout for each:

Dynamic warm ups in the auxiliary gym, transfer upstairs on a jog to the weight room.

BWC- 3 rounds 

8x strict chin ups

-bar technique work in between rounds with body bar or PVC

BBG- New st.: Hang Squat Clean- 4x2

Old st.: Squat Clean (from floor)- 4x2

WOD- 4 rounds for time:

25x KB sumo deadlift high pull

6x hang power snatch

10x HSPU or pike push ups

Bonus-

7x bar dips or chair dips + 5 clap push ups

-All 3 periods were great and the student that I wrote up in 3rd period actually dropped my class, pretty sure it was because I wasn't going to let him misbehave.

5th & 6th the school hosted a wrestling tournament so the gym was closed off to us. Instead we walked around the track outside for a free day and just relaxed instead which went pretty well.