Exercise

One of the biggest aspects of my life is fitness and exercise. I have to be the strongest and most athletic that I can be to be able to compete at a very high level in athletics. Division one is very very demanding and it took so much work to get where I am today, yet I still have so far to go. When I was in about seventh grade my parents started me in strength and agility classes to give me an edge in the sports that I played. Ever summer I worked out three or 4 times a week on top of playing basketball and softball. It was one of the best decisions and completely changed my life. I used to be overweight, slow and not that agile. I was naturally gifted but by getting in shape I was able to excel even more. Weight lifting is by far my favorite form of exercise. There is a certain feeling that you get when you are lifting that motivates you and pushes you to want to work harder. It is my favorite way of stress relief and being able to escape everything from school and homework to things going on in my daily life. I have worked with several strength coaches at our gym, the Rochester Athletic Club (RAC) that specialize in different types of lifting. One coach is very into lifting heavy, getting deep in your range of motion and trying to make us sore. Another it more focused on plyometrics, agility, stamina. This means that we will do a lot of cardio along with lifting in a very high rep range. There are three rep ranges that people will lift in. The highest is for tone and stamina and typically has between 12 and 15 reps. The middle zone for stamina as well as building muscle is between eight and twelve. This is my favorite zone to lift in because you are still doing a lot of reps but you can lift heavier weights. The low rep range is from three to six. This is very heavy weights that you will barely be able to lift the three to four times. You typically lift in this rep range at the end of your program when you are getting close to maxing out. Maxing out is finding the highest weight you can do with good form from a certain lift. For softball this year we maxed out in squats, bench, and cleans. In high school I maxed a lot of other lifts but we only focus on certain ones here at NDSU that we base most of our training around. I really don't like cardio very much so I tend to bike, elliptical, or do the stair master when it comes time to build up some stamina for conditioning. Working out has changed my life and my habits. I eat so much better because I want to get the most out of the workouts that I am doing. I have learned so much about how to eat, portion control, and the importance of meal planning. Exercise and good eating will always be in my life even after I finish my softball career because it is just something that I have to do anymore it is a lifestyle.