Wednesday Workout: Strength to Core & Cardio Blast Workout

July 10, 2013July 9, 20134 Comments

Hey there! Happy hump day:) The first few days after a long weekend/mini vacation are always the hardest, right? The one thing I do like about the week back after some time off from my regular schedule, is my motivation to get back on track with workouts… anyone else feel this way? I taught this one 2 weeks ago in my UXF Burn class and everyone seemed to like it. Some of the moves may seem funny or confusing, but that’s just because you haven’t seen them on here! I try to keep things fun in class and one way I do that is bringing in “new” moves that hopefully most people haven’t done before!

Here are some notes on some of the “new” or “different moves:

1.A- Squat with heels on weights & holding a weight overhead: take 2 dumbbells and place them end to end on the ground. Place your heels on the hand grip area of the weights and point your toes together. Your knees will naturally also touch (or come close to touching) since they like to be in line with your toes! Squeeze your knees together as you squat low (you can also squeeze a small ball between your knees if you have one! Extra inner thigh work is never a bad thing.). While you’re doing this, hold 1 weight over your head for a nice, little shoulder burn! Here’s a picture of me doing this a while ago in a class I took:

2.A- Push-ups with opposite arm and leg raise: Perform a regular push-up and when you come back up into your high plank starting position, find your core balance and extend your right arm and left leg out. Repeat on the other side. If you’re not comfortable with doing push-ups on your feet, you can do this on your knees and still get the full effect!

2.B- Plank with leg pulses: Start in a high plank, squeeze your right glute and lift up your right leg. Keep the tension and pulse that straight leg. Repeat on the other side.

3.B- In and out and up: We’ve done these a bunch of times in my classes. While seated, lean back a little and bring your knees into your chest, push them out to straight (about 6 inches from the ground), and then lift them up (coming almost into high boat position). Repeat!

4.B- Weighted V-Sits: One of my most favorite core moves at the moment! I love v-sits, but adding a weight to them is a nice change. Grab 1 weight and hold it with 2 hands over your head when your come up into your V.

Let me know if you have any other questions or if you give it a try; I like to know if you guys think it’s worth me posting these weekly workouts and if anyone actually does them!

Questions for you: Have you learned any new takes on old/standard moves? What are you currently loving for an exercise or cardio burst?

4th of July Festivities Continued

July 9, 2013July 7, 20134 Comments

As I mentioned yesterday, my 4th of July festivities continued throughout the weekend, which was awesome! Everyone at home was either retired or had Friday off in addition to Thursday, so we were all in “vaca mode”. Originally, I hadn’t planned to be around Maine all weekend since I had to teach my kickboxing class at 10am on Saturday, but my other plans fell through and the heat wave was still in full effect, so I decided to just come right back to Maine after teaching. For me, in the summer when it’s really hot, I can’t think of any place I’d rather be than in Maine- either at the beach, at the lake or at the pool.

I met mom and Danielle, the Jean’s, Colleen and Emma at The Backstreet Grill for beers and lunch. The BSG has a summer series going where every Saturday a brewery sponsors the afternoon and there’s a band playing and everyone hangs out on the patio. Saturday the brewery sponsoring the afternoon was Shipyard, so I was handed a Shipyard Summer immediately upon my arrival- loved it! We hung out there, listening to music, snacking on food and gabbing until about 2:30 when Danielle and I headed up to the lake to go out on the boat with Sara and Amy (and the rest of the gang).

There’s nothing like an afternoon on the lake! Especially when we get to snuggle the little Zeke love-bug!

He’s just too sweet for words! Once everyone had had enough of the lake, boating and tubing, we headed back to shore. My parents were already at Chris’s “pre-gaming” for the BBQ. Ok, they weren’t pre-gaming, but they were enjoying cocktails on the deck waiting for all of us to arrive.

I wasn’t far behind them with the cocktails- mom is so good at pouring me a wine right away!

Chris left for a vacation on Monday, so she wanted to have all of us over to help her eat all the food she had in the fridge. She was the grill master! We literally had a little bit of everything- my favorite way to eat!

Too stinkin cute! Almost as cute as this little one

I FINALLY caught him with his eyes open! His little green and white striped outfit was too cute for words. He looked like a little frog when he was sleeping! I spent lots of time with Zeke so Sara could have some time to eat without a baby in her arms- it was fun playing mom for a little while, but I am certainly not ready for my own!

What a fun night! We ate, we drank, we danced, we made s’mores. The perfect ending to an already wonderful 4th of July “vacation”. Monday was a rude “reality check”; I was not ready to jump right back into the grind of working. Whomp, whomp.

Questions for you: What was the best part of your 4th of July weekend? Any good BBQ’s? Did you see the fireworks? Do you like to burn marshmallows or slow cook them? I like to eat then “raw”, meaning I don’t like to cook them 🙂

Weekly Workouts- {Hopefully} Back At It

July 8, 2013July 7, 20136 Comments

Hey everyone! How was your long weekend? Was it just me, or did it feel like the 4th of July festivities went on and on and on? Not that I am complaining, it was just a long string of celebrations! It felt great to have some time off to be home with friends and family- just what the doctor ordered (literally).

Although I was sick at the beginning of the week, and therefore couldn’t work out, by the middle to end of the week I was feeling good enough to bring in some light workouts to my schedule. It felt great. It’s amazing how much I need workouts for the mental aspect in addition to the physical aspect. Don’t get me wrong, I love the feeling of sweating and leaving the gym physically exhausted, but I really love the feeling of a clear mind after my workout and feeling great because of all the endorphins flowing through me. Who else feels this way?

Last Week’s Workouts

Monday- Nothing. I had to cancel my visit to The Studio Empower because I had a sinus infection and was severely dehydrated. What a bummer!
Tuesday- I went for a 2 mile light walk after work. Tuesday was one of those days were I NEEDED exercise mentally more than anything.
Wednesday- I went for a 2 mile light jog in the morning and then went to Jackie’s Ballet Barre class with my mom at 5pm.

Thursday- I got up and did my 4th of July Workout before my 2nd workout, which consisted of candy sprints at the parade.
Friday- I got up and did Athena’s Red, White and Blue workout. It felt great to get some lifting back into my schedule (since mom only has 5lb. weights, I doubled them up for the upper body exercises and did unilateral lifting).
Saturday- I tried to get a last minute sub for my kickboxing class in Brighton since I had decided to stay in Maine for the weekend, but I couldn’t get one so I made the trek to Brighton, taught and then drove back to Maine. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be and there were 25 people in class so that made it worth it!

Sunday- Nothing. I thought about working out but decided that since I had a hectic weekend (lots of driving and sunning and BBQing), it was probably a better idea to rest, especially since I had 4 days in a row of good workouts. I shopped around Kittery a little bit because I wanted to get a new suit since I am doing a lot of work travel this month (Stowe, VT, Toronto, Canada and Atlanta, Georgia).

This Week’s Workouts

Monday- Jess and I are filming July’s “Mommy’s Moves” workout during my lunch break and then I am finally going to get to The Studio Empower for the class they invited me to take. Can’t wait!
Tuesday- I am going to try and get up and run or do something else since I have plans with someone to get drinks after work.
Wednesday- I think I will finally be able to get in my own cardio session before teaching UXF Burn- it’s been a while!
Thursday- Teaching SHRED and Kickboxing at the Central Square BSC- missed my classes last week because of the holiday so I’m pumped to be back!
Friday- Attention Allston BSCers: I am subbing my old class this Friday!! 5:30pm at the Allston BSC- please come so it can be like the good ol’ days!
Saturday- I don’t have to teach, so I am going to go to BodyPump in the morning- I really like taking a day to focus on weight training!
Sunday- Probably a rest day or active rest day.

Feels great to look at a full schedule again!

Questions for you: Were you able to get in any workouts during the 4th of July? Is it hard for you to keep your schedule when you’re traveling or going home or away for the weekend? Do you like BodyPump classes? Ever been to The Studio Empower?

Slowing Down, Maine, Ballet Barre, 4th of July Festivities, Beach Day

July 6, 2013July 5, 20135 Comments

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great 4th of July, and week, for that matter! Last time I wrote posts, I was planning out my weekly workouts. Well, I ended up waking up on Monday still feeling quite sick, so I called my doctor and was able to get in right away- perfect. 20 minutes later, it was confirmed that I had a sinus infection and was told that I was “severely dehydrated”. Now, how that happened is still beyond me; I drink at least 100 ounces of water a day, but apparently when you’re sick, your body needs even MORE. The doctor said that the humid weather also takes more out of you, hence why I got so dizzy last weekend. Needless to say, I did not take the Studio Empower class that I was scheduled to take. I spent a lot of time on the couch sleeping and just trying to relax- much harder than it would seem!

Tuesday I worked in the office, but was allowed to go home early which was perfect since I knew I was heading to Maine later that night. I went for a 20 minute walk to shake my legs out and, more than anything, needed some “me” time to think and clear my head. After my walk, I packed up Charlie and headed north. Luckily, traffic was non-existent and I was able to get home fairly quickly!

I woke up on Wednesday feeling much better, thankfully! Since the temp had briefly cooled down, I headed out for a nice and easy 2 mile jog. I didn’t want to push it too much, so I told myself that if I was feeling tired or sick, I would stop and walk. The 2 miles flew by and I felt great, besides sweating A LOT. Once I got home I made myself a festive yogurt-bowl breakfast.

After my run, I worked from my parents house and called it a day around 4:30 since my mom and I had plans to go to Jackie’s Ballet Barre class at The Mind Body Studio which is only 5 minutes from our house- perfect! Jackie and I have connected so much through teaching and classes and all things fitness (and blogging!) and it’s been a blast. Unfortunately, since we live in different states and both teach a lot, we can’t really make it to each other’s classes, but my mom is an avid-Jackie follower (party dance class- say what?!). Anyway, it worked out that I was home and available to go to her Ballet Barre class. I brought mom with me and we had a blast! So many squats and leg lifts and planks… I was a happy, happy girl. For anyone who is in the Shapleigh area, Jackie teaches this class on Wednesdays at 5:45pm and Saturdays at 8:30am and has an affordable drop-in rate, so I highly suggest checking it out!

Wednesday night, I met up with my very good friend Jason. Fun fact: Jason and I dated back in high school and throughout most of college and have still maintained a really great friendship ever since. We grabbed dinner and drinks at the local hangout: The Backstreet Grill. It was fun catching up, but even more fun that we could see the fireworks from the parking lot on our way out. I LOVE fireworks and all things 4th of July!

4th of July

My family loves the 4th of July, parade and parties that go along with it. I woke up and whipped out my 4th of July Workout before heading to the parade. Even with a 5 minute warm up, I was finished in 20 minutes- perfect! It was almost silly to shower, though, because I was sweating within seconds of running for candy at the parade. Yes, you read that correctly: I am 28 and still fight children for candy run for candy at the parade. I don’t know what it is, but I LOVE the thrill of running out and grabbing as much candy as I can. And, the thing is, I don’t even eat the candy after I get it! I have issues. Sara’s step-daughter, Grace was egging me on, though, so I blame her this year! We did a superb job and got a LOT of candy.

It was fun having all the Shapleigh girls together, and little Zeke!

After the parade we headed up to Sara’s house on the lake for a few hours since it was 90* and the pool party we were going to didn’t start until 2. It was hard leaving the lake, but at least we were headed to another body of water; the temps this week made it really unbearable to be outside if you were not in or by the water.

The Mahoney’s was a blast, as always. So many little babies to play with!

I didn’t drink much this year, only because I was afraid of getting dehydrated since it was SO hot out. I did have a new Sam Adams summer beer which was delicious! As well as a fun cocktail that my sister found from Health.com: champagne, Grand Marnier and pomegranate juice- wow was this good!

Yesterday, my mom, sister and I went to the beach. I got up and did Athena’s Red, White and Blue workout before packing up for a day at the beach with mom and Danielle. I was afraid it was going to be TOO hot at the beach, but we were pleasantly surprised! There was a nice beach breeze that kept us from getting too hot. We packed lots of snacks, waters, seltzer and wine & beer- mom is the ultimate beach queen!

That stupid bag rig thing was the death of me. I took over bringing it down to the beach and by the time I got to the beach I wanted to throw it in the water. This is how it looked when we got home:

Anyway, the beach was lovely and we ran into lots of people we knew (small world, right?!). After the beach, we met up with Sara, Amy, Chris and Zeke for cocktails at Barnacle Billy’s.

And Zeke snuggles!

When the six of us get together, it’s like no one else is around, and like nothing has changed since we were little kids… except now we drink with our moms 😉

So much fun! After Billy’s, mom and I headed home since I knew dad was cooking up some ribs for me. I’m not a huge rib person, but dad had been raving about the ribs he had made last week I asked if he’d make me some. Let me tell you, they did NOT disappoint!

Wine and ribs.. classy 😉

All in all, it was a really great little getaway from the craziness that Boston brings on a day to day basis. I tried to get a sub for my class today, but it was too last minute. Since the heat wave is here to stay and my other plans fell through, I’m unfortunately driving BACK to Maine after I teach my kickboxing class. I just can’t even think about how sad I would be being in the city alone in the oppressive heat, so I’ll do the trek back to Maine for the day and night. I mean, there could be worse things to worry about, right??

Questions for you: How was your 4th of July? Get in any workouts? Do you like parades? What’s your favorite beach?

PS- I want to wish my friends Jessi and Josie a very happy birthday!!!!

Happy 4th of July!

July 4, 2013June 30, 20132 Comments

I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July, today, and are able to spend it with friends and family! I can’t wait for the parade and the Mahoney’s BBQ and pool party after the parade! Be safe and have fun 🙂