Hello Ronan, Lorenzo and Monique
OMG! I've just done my Week 12 AMRAP test :) Thank you for hearing me on our last live call. I wasn't going to send this in and yet the results of the AMRAP test have galvanized me to write to you. I can't believe them. I just HAVE to share with you my whole story so that you can see how remarkable 10x has been for me and I want to say THANK YOU.
A thousand times THANK YOU.
Goodness, I'm a bit emotional right now, I did not expect that.
A few tears came as I wrote thank you. I am THAT thankful - my gratitude made me cry!!
So why is this?
I kid you not that on Jan 2nd of this year before 10x started, I was lying on my sofa clinically depressed (on anti-depressants) and back to recovering from yet another severe relapse of ME/CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). I also have asthma and had also had an increase in severity of that. I have been journeying with ME/CFS for 15 years. With the ME/CFS I have literally been bedridden at times unable to walk, read, watch tv, or cope with light or sound. It's not always been like that the whole time.
There have been times I have had much more capability. My last major relapse was 6 years ago and I haven't worked since.
I worked for 20 years in mental health as a psychotherapist before then. My big "bogeyperson" was always exercised. I tried many things including trying "coach to 5K", cycling, and swimming. But it was always the same. I managed for a while (sometimes only a day, sometimes a few weeks) but then either injury and/or relapse would follow. It was so devastating at times. As a result of all the relapses over 15 years my muscle tone was very poor and the thought of doing push ups or pull ups was a far away dream. As a result I think I had developed a bit of a phobia to exercise. So there I am lying on the settee (feeling crap) in January this year, having a word with myself. I was saying "I have to do things differently this time". "I can't keep on repeating the same old things and getting the same results (as in relapses)". And so I decided to give 10x a try. I had been walking in the mornings and using my rebounder for about four weeks before 10x started and that was helping.
However, you can imagine that the concept of strength training to "muscle failure" was almost an anathema for me. I knew full well what "muscle failure" felt like (grin) it meant lying in bed unable to move for weeks at a time - and you wanted me to train 2-4 times per week "to muscle failure" ????? To say I was slightly alarmed was an understatement! That said - I wanted to give it my all and so I began. To put it in context - my first AMRAP test was 6kg kettle bell squat = 6 reps; Banded pull lat down = 6 reps; knee push up = 3. I needed a full two minutes rest between each and was exhausted for two days afterwards! Yet, that in itself was amazing.
That test began the mental shift I also needed. I realised that despite the relapses I actually did have some strength! So all my previous efforts were not completely in vane! Go me :) It has been challenging - there have been times when I thought it was making my ME/CFS a lot worse and I wondered about stopping and I have needed to give myself A LOT of emotional and mental support to get through it.
My husband is in Ireland and we have not seen each other since last November (due to covid and travel restrictions) and all my home gym equipment is over there. So I am here alone (in the UK) and what better way to use the time? So I did buy some resistance bands and borrowed as much as I could. I am not sure if my form is completely there but I am working on it daily and I am giving it my best shot as I go along and trust this will continue to improve with time and practice. As an aside - even though we repeat the AMRAP and Work Capacity Test, I am wondering if we could have a basic questionnaire about our "mental fitness" and things like creativity, self confidence and joy?
I did not expect any of those to increase in the way that they have for me. You would laugh out loud if you saw some of the ways I have added load. Amongst other things, I only have one each of 1kg and 2kg dumbbells so needed to create a second one of each. One of my best was a 2kg bottle of water, covered in a large woolly sock with a belt looped round. I needed the sock because the belt kept slipping off!
My self confidence has grown so much. Both in my body and what it is capable of but also in general. And I mentioned on the call how every day living is so much easier and joyful and I do not underestimate that at all. Using a manual coffee grinder with ease ("intense coffee grinding :) :) ) instead of it being really hard and taking ages - it's a joy. Being able to run up stairs and realise I am at the top and I got there really easily - and "wait a minute - did I just run up?" - it's a joy. Walking and realising I am going at a much faster pace and it's easy - that's a joy. There are so many of these and to be honest this is more of value to me coming from ME/CFS than my weight on the scales or even how much weight I can lift.
Learning about the nutrition has also been a game changer. I have done WildFit and know quite a lot about nutrition and IF but I was never quite confident with what I was doing. Now I have grown in confidence with that too.
I eat my last meal at 5pm in the evening (to maximise sleep) and eat my first meal at 9am. I don't even feel like I am fasting at all.
Thank you Ronan for your You Tube Videos. I have been watching those alongside 10x. I do my 10x about 11am before I eat my second meal. It is working beautifully.
My sleep still needs some improvement in length and quality but this is a life long issue for me and so I remain hopeful that this will come in time.
Thank you for including these aspects as part of 10x. So there you have it, I don't have any photos because I really tried to take some myself and they did not turn out so well.
With being in isolation I could not ask any one to take them for me. I know that photos can speak a 1000 words so I do hope my words have conveyed the amazing journey that 10x has taken me on?
Oh and did I say that I'm 54 years of age and that I am now up at 4:15am every morning; for the first time I have a daily 30 min yoga routine (I'm on day 22) which I have never been able to sustain before; walk a minimum of 30 mins per day and meditate 30 mins twice a day?
Oh and I am not taking any medication anymore either. I did say what better way to use my time whilst I am still in lockdown!! Another huge aspect is all three of you.
The way you have designed and delivered the course has been a HUGE part of my success and also for many others I am sure. Thank you for doing the LIVE calls each week. They have added so much too. This has been a total MIND-BODY TRANSFORMATION!
Oh and the AMRAP retest I did just before leaping to the computer to write to you all - would you like to know the results??? Kettle bell Squat (6kg) = 19 reps to failure (was 6). Banded lat pull down = 20 reps to failure (was 6). Knee push ups = 12 reps to failure (was 3). With no rest in between apart from moving from exercise to exercise (was 2 minutes between each and exhaustion for 2 day).
Since doing the AMRAP Test I have been fine! Perhaps now you know why I just had to write to you and say THANK YOU!!!! With so much love and appreciation Bal -Saoirse De Buitléar
OMG! I've just done my Week 12 AMRAP test :) Thank you for hearing me on our last live call. I wasn't going to send this in and yet the results of the AMRAP test have galvanized me to write to you. I can't believe them. I just HAVE to share with you my whole story so that you can see how remarkable 10x has been for me and I want to say THANK YOU.
A thousand times THANK YOU.
Goodness, I'm a bit emotional right now, I did not expect that.
A few tears came as I wrote thank you. I am THAT thankful - my gratitude made me cry!!
So why is this?
I kid you not that on Jan 2nd of this year before 10x started, I was lying on my sofa clinically depressed (on anti-depressants) and back to recovering from yet another severe relapse of ME/CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). I also have asthma and had also had an increase in severity of that. I have been journeying with ME/CFS for 15 years. With the ME/CFS I have literally been bedridden at times unable to walk, read, watch tv, or cope with light or sound. It's not always been like that the whole time.
There have been times I have had much more capability. My last major relapse was 6 years ago and I haven't worked since.
I worked for 20 years in mental health as a psychotherapist before then. My big "bogeyperson" was always exercised. I tried many things including trying "coach to 5K", cycling, and swimming. But it was always the same. I managed for a while (sometimes only a day, sometimes a few weeks) but then either injury and/or relapse would follow. It was so devastating at times. As a result of all the relapses over 15 years my muscle tone was very poor and the thought of doing push ups or pull ups was a far away dream. As a result I think I had developed a bit of a phobia to exercise. So there I am lying on the settee (feeling crap) in January this year, having a word with myself. I was saying "I have to do things differently this time". "I can't keep on repeating the same old things and getting the same results (as in relapses)". And so I decided to give 10x a try. I had been walking in the mornings and using my rebounder for about four weeks before 10x started and that was helping.
However, you can imagine that the concept of strength training to "muscle failure" was almost an anathema for me. I knew full well what "muscle failure" felt like (grin) it meant lying in bed unable to move for weeks at a time - and you wanted me to train 2-4 times per week "to muscle failure" ????? To say I was slightly alarmed was an understatement! That said - I wanted to give it my all and so I began. To put it in context - my first AMRAP test was 6kg kettle bell squat = 6 reps; Banded pull lat down = 6 reps; knee push up = 3. I needed a full two minutes rest between each and was exhausted for two days afterwards! Yet, that in itself was amazing.
That test began the mental shift I also needed. I realised that despite the relapses I actually did have some strength! So all my previous efforts were not completely in vane! Go me :) It has been challenging - there have been times when I thought it was making my ME/CFS a lot worse and I wondered about stopping and I have needed to give myself A LOT of emotional and mental support to get through it.
My husband is in Ireland and we have not seen each other since last November (due to covid and travel restrictions) and all my home gym equipment is over there. So I am here alone (in the UK) and what better way to use the time? So I did buy some resistance bands and borrowed as much as I could. I am not sure if my form is completely there but I am working on it daily and I am giving it my best shot as I go along and trust this will continue to improve with time and practice. As an aside - even though we repeat the AMRAP and Work Capacity Test, I am wondering if we could have a basic questionnaire about our "mental fitness" and things like creativity, self confidence and joy?
I did not expect any of those to increase in the way that they have for me. You would laugh out loud if you saw some of the ways I have added load. Amongst other things, I only have one each of 1kg and 2kg dumbbells so needed to create a second one of each. One of my best was a 2kg bottle of water, covered in a large woolly sock with a belt looped round. I needed the sock because the belt kept slipping off!
My self confidence has grown so much. Both in my body and what it is capable of but also in general. And I mentioned on the call how every day living is so much easier and joyful and I do not underestimate that at all. Using a manual coffee grinder with ease ("intense coffee grinding :) :) ) instead of it being really hard and taking ages - it's a joy. Being able to run up stairs and realise I am at the top and I got there really easily - and "wait a minute - did I just run up?" - it's a joy. Walking and realising I am going at a much faster pace and it's easy - that's a joy. There are so many of these and to be honest this is more of value to me coming from ME/CFS than my weight on the scales or even how much weight I can lift.
Learning about the nutrition has also been a game changer. I have done WildFit and know quite a lot about nutrition and IF but I was never quite confident with what I was doing. Now I have grown in confidence with that too.
I eat my last meal at 5pm in the evening (to maximise sleep) and eat my first meal at 9am. I don't even feel like I am fasting at all.
Thank you Ronan for your You Tube Videos. I have been watching those alongside 10x. I do my 10x about 11am before I eat my second meal. It is working beautifully.
My sleep still needs some improvement in length and quality but this is a life long issue for me and so I remain hopeful that this will come in time.
Thank you for including these aspects as part of 10x. So there you have it, I don't have any photos because I really tried to take some myself and they did not turn out so well.
With being in isolation I could not ask any one to take them for me. I know that photos can speak a 1000 words so I do hope my words have conveyed the amazing journey that 10x has taken me on?
Oh and did I say that I'm 54 years of age and that I am now up at 4:15am every morning; for the first time I have a daily 30 min yoga routine (I'm on day 22) which I have never been able to sustain before; walk a minimum of 30 mins per day and meditate 30 mins twice a day?
Oh and I am not taking any medication anymore either. I did say what better way to use my time whilst I am still in lockdown!! Another huge aspect is all three of you.
The way you have designed and delivered the course has been a HUGE part of my success and also for many others I am sure. Thank you for doing the LIVE calls each week. They have added so much too. This has been a total MIND-BODY TRANSFORMATION!
Oh and the AMRAP retest I did just before leaping to the computer to write to you all - would you like to know the results??? Kettle bell Squat (6kg) = 19 reps to failure (was 6). Banded lat pull down = 20 reps to failure (was 6). Knee push ups = 12 reps to failure (was 3). With no rest in between apart from moving from exercise to exercise (was 2 minutes between each and exhaustion for 2 day).
Since doing the AMRAP Test I have been fine! Perhaps now you know why I just had to write to you and say THANK YOU!!!! With so much love and appreciation Bal -Saoirse De Buitléar