Getting it Done

Here I am in Pune, and only the gods know for how long. In the middle of intense training, teaching yoga, and trying to build up my relationship with the Fitness community in Mumbai, I was suddenly called to Pune to help out at the Bikram studio there. I had to leave the IFBB show early, and take a loooong 5 hour car ride up into the mountains, (2 hours spent just threading through traffic to get out of Mumbai itself!). I arrived at 2 am to a staff condo with no bedsheets, 20 mothballs in the room, (unbearable to even breathe), garbage on the floor, no toilet paper and no way to cook my food…welcome to Pune Michelle! Luckily for me, I am half Shiva, and the next morning I tore through that place, getting gas ordered, (black market no less), throwing all the garbage around the place out, and I didn’t even have to have a talk with our sweet cleaning lady. When she stepped into the condo, she knew things had changed for the better, and now our staff accommodation is sparkling, clean and fresh! Today I taught her some yoga, and she taught me some Hindi…Where there’s a will there is a way! Next order of business: finding a gym where I could do a decent workout. The first day I really didn’t have any left over energy to go wandering around town, so I skipped across the road to the Oakwood Residences, and did a fairly solid shoulder/back workout. The assistant manager was pretty helpful, and it was fun to have him asking questions, (after I got him to stop counting every single rep I was doing!!!). But I knew for my leg day, I would have to find something better, and he suggested I try the local Gold’s Gym. Here I am on my leg day with a pretty awesome trainer, Sagar Chaugule. He actually helped me with my dead-lifts, noticing I was shifting to my toes at end of the movement, the thrust, and he totally barked his head off at me during my 5 x 5 squats. He even guessed when I headed over to the Smith Machine with a step that I was going to do Calf-Raises. Pretty cool. He got me to push myself further than usual, piling on the plates in my Leg Presses, and again barking at me to keep squeezing out the reps during my final drop set Leg Extensions. I wish I could bring him back to Mumbai with me, (that is, if I ever get to go back).
All in all, I am again thankful for the combination of Bikram Yoga, (Determination) and Bodybuilding, (Nothing is Gonna Get in My Way) to help push me forward towards the goal at hand, which is to continue to train, follow my nutrition, and stay on point in the off season, no matter what curve-balls are thrown my way!
~Michelle