Happy Saturday, Burpees to Bubbly readers! I hope you’re all enjoying your day… I know I have been! Here’s a peak!
Month: May 2013
Greetings from Maine!
Hey everyone! Greetings from Maine! I drove up to Maine after teaching my kickboxing class last night. I had to get a sub for my SHRED class since I had a late conference call:( I’ll be honest, though, as much as I missed my SHRED class (always love the chance to get some extra strength training in), it was nice going into my kickboxing class with full energy, perhaps too much energy. It was funny- as I was leaving the gym, I thought about my Wednesday and Thursday classes that I taught this week and I actually said to myself “wow. those were really hard classes. Why do I do that to myself?” Low and behold, I wasn’t the only one feeling that way:
Don’t get me wrong, I love teaching a hard class, but sometimes I actually question myself while sucking air and trying to yell at everyone (for some reason, YELLING was my theme this week), “What was I thinking when I created this workout?!”.
In Wednesday’s UXF class, we did weighted burpees, weighted jump squats, monkey curls, crab walks and planks w/triceps extensions, just to name a few. Yes, you read that correctly: weighted burpees and weighted jump squats. They are not fun, I’ll be the first one to say it! (I thought I might have been dying from my treadmill run before class, but after overhearing some convos in the locker room, it definitely wasn’t just me!)
Needless to say, dinner at Life Alive was a well deserved reward for my hard work this week! Plus, I had a leftover balance on the gift card that my sister got me for Christmas, so it was a no brainer to swing by there before making the trek north!
The ride north was fairly smooth, except for the massive amounts of fog as I reached Maine. Luckily, I made it! Mom was even waiting up for me when I got home and had made my bed and turned the sheets down for me- I’m a lucky girl!
As for today, I am working from Maine and then my mom asked me to go meet her in town for a walk before the teachers weekly Friday night drink gathering at the Back Street Grill. I seriously love meeting up with my mom and her friends on Fridays at the BSG- they are a super fun crowd and the wines are only $3. That’s basically stealing, in my eyes! I was also happy to hear that dad is going to cook his “fish night” for me tonight, too… can’t wait to see what he picks up this week!
Being home is such a treat, especially when my sister isn’t with me;) I like being spoiled!
Questions for you! Have you taken any REALLY hard classes this week? Have you ever been to Life Alive? What do you order if you have been there? What’s your favorite thing about being home?
April Arms Challenge Recap
Hi, hi, hi! How is everyone doing? Now that the April Arms Challenge that my friend Athena lead is over, I thought I would take some time to reflect on how the challenge went! Now, as I mentioned in my birthday post, I am not big on setting goals and doing challenges; in fact, when presented with a challenge, I usually lose interest in what is at hand. I am so internally motivated, that I prefer to do things on my own time, on my own account and when I feel like doing them (selfish, much?), not just because someone is challenging me or because there is a prize at the end (although, don’t get me wrong, I am the biggest sucker for free things). And, I have a fear of not succeeding, or better yet, failing (there, I said it. After Friday’s post, I feel like I can/should share that stuff with you guys). Needless to say, when Athena hosted her January Abs Challenge, my response was “I wish I had time, but with all the teaching I am doing, I don’t want to add another thing to my plate.” Okay, this is partially true- taking on any sort of “challenge” certainly would add more to my already busy schedule, but I could’ve fit that in. No doubt about it.
This time around, I went for it. Now that I have been teaching for almost a year and have been strength training more consistently throughout that time, I’ve noticed an all around difference in my body, but I knew there could be more. I’ve always wanted those arms. You know what ones I’m talking about: toned, defined, not too stick thin and you can tell they workout. I thought that maybe if I took a month and put extra focus on working out my upper body, I could be closer to having those arms. And, you know what? It did! So much so, that I have decided to not only repeat the April Arms Challenge this month, but I have also started the January Ab Challenge. Bathing suit season is just around the corner so I know I’d love to tone up a bit and my class members probably feel the same way!
Here are some before and afters (not bragging here, just showing that there was a difference and that doing something like this WORKED and was really easy to fit into my normal routine).
Before & After
Before & After
And, not just by pictures, but in class when I am teaching, I notice more of a definition in my arms and I LOVE it. Now, I will never have those arms because I think that is really more genetics than working out a lot (some people are naturally graced with better arms or legs or stomach or back, etc. and no matter how much working out you do, if you were not naturally graced with those good features/body parts, they will only look so good. I could be all wrong here, but I really believe this.), but I feel like I have made great progress with the type of definition my body is capable of producing.
(Incorporating different AAC workouts into my classes- win win win!)
I cannot do justice by trying to explain how organized Athena was throughout this entire challenge, but I will say that I was totally impressed. She created workouts that were short and manageable for even people like me with a crazy teaching schedule, she incorporated a variety of moves that worked our muscles in all sorts of different ways (and, gave me loads of inspiration for my classes!), she showed wonderful modifications so that the workouts could be tailored to fit everyone’s levels and she kept it fun with prizes at the end!
The workouts were designed in the following format:
-
Sunday Circuit- This workout incorporated cardio, upper body and core (usually), so it was easy to make this into a fully body workout if you repeated it 2 or 3 times.
- Monday- Pushup Pyramids, increasing the number of reps each week (or, she had us to a 1 minute pushup challenge to see how many we could do).
- Tuesday- Triceps Tuesday! My all-time favorite day.
- Wednesday- Biceps Blast- A close second for my favorite day.
- Thursday- Tabata Thursday- I loved to hate this day, as did my classes!
- Friday- Friday “Fives”- the workouts varied greatly on this day, but they always incorporated 5 different exercises. These were a bit longer and I usually incorporated some cardio intervals between doing rounds of the Friday Five workout to complete my entire workout for the day.
- Saturday- REST:)
So, there you have it! I can’t believe how much more I enjoyed the April Arm Challenge than I thought I would. It’s fun to have a plan and it makes it easier some days because you don’t have to think or plan out what you want to do for a workout. If/WHEN ( 😉 ) Athena does another challenge, I highly suggest that you sign up! Athena, thank you for taking the time, energy and knowledge to plan such a fun month of upper body-focused exercises.
Questions for you:Have you ever participated in an online workout challenge? Are you externally motivated (ie: more apt to follow through with something if there is someone pushing you along)? What is your current favorite workout move?
I Went To A Class! That I Wasn’t Teaching! (And, a UXF Inspired Workout)
Happy Wednesday! Two posts in one day… how do you feel about that?!
So, last night, I did something I haven’t done in a long, long, LONG time. I went to the gym. For a class. That I wasn’t teaching! Can you believe it? Back before I started teaching, I would go to the Wellington BSC 6 or 7 times a week for classes and for my own workouts. On Tuesday’s, I would go to Mary Beth’s Kickboxing IT class at 6:30. For those of you who have been reading for a while, you know that Tuesdays used to be my go-to rest days since I was teaching Mondays and then Wednesday-Saturday. Now that I don’t teach on Friday’s anymore and am only teaching every other Saturday, it gives me the option to workout on Tuesdays if I want, which is kind of fun… and also why I went to the gym last night. It was SO good to see all of my instructor friends at that gym… boy have I missed it!
Although Mary Beth’s class is quite different than how I teach, it was really nice being able to workout for ME. I didn’t have to worry about sounding like I was sucking air as I was giving cues and pointers in my mic, I didn’t have to worry about watching everyone and checking form, I didn’t have to worry about remembering the next move. As much as I LOVE teaching, last night was a reminder that I need to get back into the gym to TAKE classes, because I really love that, too.
Post workout, I went home, watered my flowers and made a quick and easy dinner, using leftovers from Sunday’s Cinco de Mayo meal.
(from Instagram. Are you following me yet?)
All I did was take the leftover “chili” mixture (it thickened up in the fridge) and put it in a honey wheat tortilla (Fiber One- love them!), added some cheese and grilled it up. Quick, easy, delicious.
Workout
Ok, let’s get to that workout that I promised you, ok? As most of you probably know, I teach a UXF Burn class for the Boston Sports Club once a week. As much as I love the workouts, I get bored quickly and need to change-up the format sometimes. While the basis of the workout is consistent with the “Keep It Moving” format, I changed it up in that we kept the 60 second time intervals for the strength portions throughout the whole workout (instead of dropping them down to 45 seconds, 30 seconds, and then 2 tabata rounds).
In the Keep It Moving, the workout is set up in the following format:
1. Lower body
2. Upper body- pull
3. Core
4. Compound Movement- RIGHT
5. Compound Movement- LEFT
6. Upper- push
7. Compound Movement- both right and left together
8. Core
90 Seconds of Cardio
Although, I kept the moves somewhat consistent with how the format is laid out above, I did change it a bit in that I used moves that were not on “the list”… tisk, tisk, I know!
I had a really hard time trying to explain moves for #’s 3 and 4, so refer to THIS post for a better description, but it sort of looks like this:
If you have any other questions, please let me know! A couple of members told me that they really liked the exercises I chose for this workout, so try it out and let me know what you think!
Questions for you: Instructor friends- think it’s easier or harder to take a class vs. teach it? Do you like leftovers? Ever taken a UXF Burn class?
Also! Check in tomorrow for a special recap of the April Arms Challenge I participated in last month:)
What Are You Thankful For?
Hi there! So remember how I said I was in a bit of a funk on Friday? I was talking to someone about it last night, and he gave me some really good advice. He told me that what has helped him when he’s been going through a rough time, is to make a list of everything he is thankful for and try focusing on that. Well, I did that last night and you know what? It totally helped! Unfortunately, I think we tend to focus on the negative and the issues at hand, rather than focus on the positives. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in being angry or frustrated or sad, but sometimes all we need is a reminder that there are so many happy things to think about and focus on and be thankful for!
With that being said, here is my current list of things I am thankful for:
1. My family and their never-ending support.
2. My friends- college, home, high school, work, fitness… I’m so blessed to have so many!
3. A flexible “real” job that pays my bills.
4. The ability to have a second job that is all about my passion.
5. Being able to teach a variety of classes.
6. My body, and all that it allows me to do.
7. Being able to be a source of inspiration and motivation for people in my classes (and maybe even some of you who read my blog?!).
8. Burpees to Bubbly. ‘Nuff said. I love this little hobby and love all of you who read and support me!
9. My health (knock on wood!).
10. Wine. Again, ’nuff said.
11. Cooking and trying new recipes.
12. Being from Maine.
13. Working in Boston.
14. That spring weather seems to be FINALLY showing it’s pretty little face.
15. Ice cream and cookies.
Ahh, even just writing them out and reading back through them makes me feel so much better! I could go on and on, but those were the first 15 that popped into my head today.
Your Turn!! You tell me- what are 5 things you are thankful for right at this very moment? I’d love to hear them, and I promise you’ll feel so much better once you write them down!
Burpees to Bubbly 