Month: October 2014

This Week: Workouts, split workouts and things I’m looking forward to

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Good morning and happy Monday. If you’re lucky enough to have today off, please don’t tell me… I’m very jealous. I don’t know if it’s because work has been a little stressful lately or what, but I feel like I’m in major need of a day off. Unfortunately, today is not that day for me- oh well!

Do you guys ever split your workouts up based on time? For instance, run in the morning and lift after work because you don’t have enough time to do your full workout in one sitting? I don’t generally do this, but I’m not opposed to it because I think that if you have certain goals you’re working to that requires you to be doing “X” amount of cardio and lifting in a day/week, sometimes it’s necessary to split up your workout to get it all done. I’ve heard of people splitting up their miles if they are training for a marathon so that they run 10 before work and 10 after since they don’t have enough time to do 20 at once.

Last week, I didn’t split up my workouts by doing part before work and part after, but I did split them up by days… does that count? I totally ate sh*t during the New Balance Girls Night Out run last week and tore up my knee quite a bit. While it was an external injury and not an internal one like a twist or anything, it was still rather painful on Thursday. I was so annoyed because otherwise, I felt physically ready for a tough workout; I didn’t feel like I needed rest. But, since my knee was swollen a little and it hurt to bend it because the skin was so raw, I physically knew I couldn’t do anything that required any bending. I ended up doing a 20 minute walk with 10 push-ups, slow mountain climbers & flutter kicks at the benches in the park as I approached them and then did a series of upper body and core super-sets back in my apartment. On Friday, I did the cardio I had wanted to do. Does this mean I didn’t “rest” as much as I’ve promised myself? Technically, yes, but since I worked entirely different things between the days and it was a circumstance where I didn’t feel like I needed extra rest, I think it’s ok. Thoughts?

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I did some push-ups and crunches during the day and then I went to a class at Flywheel. Christina was amazingggg and I left there feeling beat!
  • Tuesday- I went to the Lynnfield BSC for a quick strength session before teaching a stations workout at my bootcamp. We all agree class flew by- I’ll post the workout for you this week hopefully.

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  • Wednesday- I had a sub for my UXF Burn so I could finally attend one of the New Balance Girls Night Out events. So happy I did- it was such an awesome night! I ran with Sarah of Blonde Bostonian and we covered 4.6 miles. I totally wiped out at the end of the run. Woof.

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  • Thursday- As I mentioned above, I really wanted a tough workout on Thursday, but my bum knee had other plans. I did some upper body/core super sets and went for a walk.
  • Friday- My knee was still not great, but it wasn’t as swollen or painful as the day before so I headed to the BSC during my lunch break and ran 3 miles. As I mentioned on Instagram, I wasn’t sure if I needed retail therapy or a workout to help relieve some stress/anxiety and since spending money would probably just add to those two things, I chose the gym. I felt so much better after!

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  • Saturday- I finallyyyy taught my kickboxing at the Oak Square YMCA. It was a smaller crowd, but it felt good to be back. I was SO SORE on Sunday from it… I don’t usually get sore from kickboxing, but I think since I hadn’t taught it in 3 weeks, my muscles weren’t used to it.
  • Sunday- RM and I went for a nice 40 minute walk since it was so beautiful out.

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This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I’m subbing the 6:30pm Cardio Kickboxing class at the Watertown BSC. If you’re around, come join me!
  • Tuesday- I’m teaching my bootcamp in Wakefield.
  • Wednesday- I’ll probably run before I teach UXF Burn at Central Square.
  • Thursday- I’m holding a bonus bootcamp since everyone wasn’t ready to be done on Tuesday.
  • Friday- Maybe a lunch break workout depending on how I’m feeling from the week. Otherwise, I’ll rest.
  • Saturday & Sunday- I’m going to the Cape for Oyster fest with RM and some of his family and friends, so I’m not sure what my workouts will look like, if anything.

Things I’m Looking Forward To

I’m excited to be teaching a lot this week- I only taught twice last week! I’m also excited to see my friend Tim who will be in town for work. Lastly, I can’t wait to head to the cape for a little weekend getaway filled with good food, good drinks and good people 🙂

Questions for you: Do you ever split your workout up based on time? If you have to cut your workout short, what do you usually skip out on? What was your best workout last week? What are you looking forward to this week?

 

Wednesday Workout: 30 minute burpee spectacular workout

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Happy Wednesday, friends! The workout I have for you today is awesome… especially if you like burpees! As I mentioned on Monday, I was able to go to a bootcamp last week with my favorite instructor. I ended up having to cancel my bootcamp because of the rain, so it worked perfectly. I got probably more excited than I should have when she started the class by saying “the workout today is going to be tough, you guys, but we are going to push through it since the hard part will be over in 30 minutes.” And then, after the warm up, she said “ok, to get you focused and get your drive going, you have 3 minutes to complete 50 jump squats.” Again, I was definitely too excited about this.

I just love the environment of a class where you’re encouraged to dig deep, get in the zone  and give it your all. While I didn’t have the guts to make my class do 130 strict, chest to ground, burpees, I DID have the guts to make them do half of those 😉 And YOU have the option to do 120 burpees OR 60 burpees- have fun!

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As the workout says, you do each exercise for 60 seconds. Whenever you decide to put in the burpees, you have 60 seconds to complete 10 of them. Whatever is left of the 60 seconds after your 10 burpees is your rest, so keep that in mind.

Here are some explanations for a few exercises that might be new to you:

  • Hand release push-ups with opposite knee crunch: start in a high plank, then lower yourself all the way to the ground and lift your hands (hand release, get it?). Tighten your core and press your hands into the ground to lift yourself back up into a high plank. When you’re in a high plank, bring your right knee to left elbow. Do another hand release push-up and bring your left knee to right elbow. These are killer after burpees!
  • Side Squats- grab a set of medium size weights and hold one in each hand. Bend elbows to 90* and squat right and then squat left. Your biceps will be burning by the end of this!
  • Spider man plank- the instructor called these long-legged mountain climbers, but I think they are really just spider man planks. Start in a high plank and bring your right foot all the way up to your right hand. Repeat on the left. Want more? pick up your pace so you’re hopping your feet up and back.
  • Plank with under body cross over- I couldn’t figure out what to call this exercise, hence the confusing name. All you’re doing here is holding yourself in a high plank to start. From there, bring your right leg (keep it straight) underneath your body and up towards your left hand. Keep your core tight and hips flat so that you feel a nice twist. Keep alternating legs for the 60 seconds.
  • Side crunches- get comfy on your right glute in a side lying position. Glue your legs together and crunch your knees up to your right elbow. Want more? Try it straight-legged. Repeat on the left.
  • Full body sit-ups- start in a spine position. When you crunch your upper body, crunch your lower body, too. So basically you’re crunching your knees towards your elbows.

I think that covers it. This workout was actually really fun… and the best part is this workout will leave you totally spent, in only a half hour! Instructor friends, after this, I did about 10 minutes of constant upper body supersets. It was perfect!

Questions for you: What’s your favorite burpee variation?

Weekending: Massages, Farmer’s Market, Lots of Shopping & Grill 23

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Good morning! It’s time to talk about the weekend! I don’t know about you, but I feel like Tuesdays are a lot harder than Mondays. I’m not exactly sure why, but I think it has to do with the fact that I generally just roll into Mondays without much thought and I’m usually pretty busy, so the day goes by fast. Tuesdays, though, are the days where everything from the weekend tends to catch up with me. It’s terrible getting out of bed, I’m yawning all day, and I have to really give myself a pep talk to get a workout in, because I know that’s exactly what I need to get some energy.

Friday

I treated RM and myself to massages at Exhale Spa. Per usual, the experience was perfect: relaxing, calming and just a really nice escape from reality. After our massages, we headed to Whole Foods to get dinner: salmon, spinach and carrots. Paired with a nice Malbec and you have a happy Monique.

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We started Saturday morning by making a trip to the Waltham Farmers Market. Athena and Ashley- thanks for the great recommendation! RM got some meat and I came home with a bunch of veggies, for half the cost of what I’d pay at the store. The only annoying this is that I could be getting these from my dad for free if I was going home anytime soon!

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We also stopped at Whole Foods again for weekly groceries and I splurged on a couple of festive treats. Pumpkin Fig granola and Pumpkin Cranberry “chips”? Yes, please.

After lunch, we headed to Assembly Place to check out the new stores. Although it was beyond crowded (hello, rainy Saturday), we were able to shop around enough to get some great deals. I forgot to take pics of everything, but here’s a pic of one shirt I got, as well as the necklace RM gave me for our anniversary.

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He also got me a gorgeous handmade frame. These are really special things because they are handmade in India. I can’t wait to get a picture of us to put in the frame.

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Although it was really tempting to stay in on Saturday night because of the rain, we made our way to dinner at Grill 23, which is one of the nice steak houses in the city that I had not been to yet. Per usual, we scored seats at the bar and enjoyed drinks, oysters and a delicious meal.

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Not the best pic, but oh well! It was a great dinner and so fun to finally have a weekend date night!

We went for a nice walk on Sunday and then headed into the city for some more shopping. It was too nice to be stuck inside all day!

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Later that evening, we came back to my place so I could do my Sunday meal prep. I had a lot going on: stuffed peppers, meatballs, acorn squash, roasted veggies, sautéed veggies, quinoa and kale. #thankgoodnessforwine

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I also whipped up a batch of these beauties. Grain free pumpkin chocolate chip muffins? Ummm, yes. I added in walnuts, coconut flakes and did half almond meal, half coconut flour and they came out SO good. Such a healthy, tasty treat!

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And, there you have it. Another weekend roundup in the books. Although we were on the go a lot all weekend, we didn’t have a timeframe which was wonderful. We did what we wanted when we wanted- if only all weekends could be like that!

Your turn! What did you do over the weekend? Have you been to Grill 23? Do you go to a farmer’s market? Have you baked any festive treats yet?

This Week: Workouts, Flywheel’s Anniversary & Things I’m Looking Forward To

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Good morning! I hope everyone had a great weekend. For the first time in far too long, I had a weekend with no scheduled plans. It was fantastic! I also took my 2 rest days of the week on Saturday and Sunday, and although it was nice to know I didn’t have to schedule in a workout, it caused me to go a little stir crazy. I much prefer taking rest days dispersed throughout the week rather than in a row, but since I knew I’d be spending the weekend with RM, I figured I’d just get my workouts out of the way during the week so I could go with the flow over the weekend.

Before I get to my workouts for the week, I wanted to share some really exciting things going on at Flywheel this week. They are celebrating their one year anniversary of the Boston location, which is reason enough to celebrate, right? They’ve got all sorts of really awesome rides this week, including themed rides, live DJ rides and dueling instructor rides. I was invited to take a class and will be going to a class at 5:30 tonight with Christina Lodde, who lead the Barry’s Bootcamp Roof Deck Workout. I’ve heard great things about her spin classes so I’m so excited! If you’ve never been to Flywheel, I definitely suggest checking it out this week. Head to this site to see details on the classes and to sign up.

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I taught this workout in my 6am class and then did 15 minutes on the elliptical.
  • Tuesday- I had to cancel my bootcamp since it was pouring, so I headed to one of my favorite instructors classes. The verdict? I loved it! It was a crazy class, consisting of 50 jump squats to start, followed by 13 exercises done for 60 seconds each and then in between each exercise we had 60 seconds to complete 10 strict (chest to ground) burpees. So, yes, we did 130 burpees. Yikes! We finished class with some awesome upper body burners and I left there barely able to hold my gym bag. #holyshakyarms

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  • Wednesday- I ran 3 miles on the treadmill before teaching UXF Burn. I changed up the format a little to somewhat mimic the bootcamp I went to on Tuesday. We only did about 70 strict burpees, but it was still killer. I’ll post it for you this week!
  • Thursday- I was able to reschedule my bootcamp and teach it on Thursday instead. We used the benches and did some suicides and walking lunges and all sorts of good stuff. The best part is that the weather has cooled down so we are able to work super hard without dripping with sweat!
  • Friday- I went to the Lynnfield BSC during lunch and busted out a quick, but good workout. I ran 2 miles then walked the rest to get to 20 minutes before doing some 1 armed KB swings, double armed KB swings, figure 8 KB squats, band walks, torso twists and TRX planks. In and out in 35 minutes and burned over 300 calories. I’ll take it!

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  • Saturday & Sunday- Rest days. RM and I walked a bunch while shopping on Saturday and then we went for a walk on Sunday morning and walked around the city. Active rest days are great 🙂

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I’m going to Flywheel after work tonight- can’t wait!
  • Tuesday- Teaching my bootcamp at 5:30.
  • Wednesday- I have a sub for my UXF Burn class so that I can go to the New Balance Girls Night Out event. This is an extra special one because we are celebrating 25 years of Susan G. Komen and the run will be lead by Sherri D’Allessandro. If you’re interested in joining, sign up here.
  • Thursday- I may hold an “extra” bootcamp class on Thursday.
  • Friday- I think it will be a rest day.
  • Saturday- Finally back at the Oak Square YMCA for my kickboxing class… I haven’t see my members there in so long!!
  • Sunday- Probably my second rest day of the week.

Things I’m Looking Forward To

This is going to be a fitness-filled week, which is always fun. I can’t wait to get back to Flywheel as it’s been a super long time. I’m also really excited to get to go to my first New Balance Girls Night Out event. Athena always raves about these events, so I’m glad I decided to get a sub so I could attend. I think I get to see my friend Jess’s new baby girl on Friday night which would be so awesome!! And, lastly, Saturday I’m cashing in my Groupon for Dry Bar before going to a wedding with RM and his family. I figured it was a great time to use it!

Questions for you: What was the best workout you had last week? Have you attended a New Balance Girls Night out event? What are you looking forward to this week?

Rain, Rain, Go Away! {6 activities to make rainy days better}

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TGIF, friends! Weather this week in Boston sucked. It rained for pretty much 3 days straight!  Like, really rainy- not just sprinkling or misting. It was those types of days where the last thing you want to do is leave the house, or even get out of your PJ’s, for that matter. You know what type of days I’m talking about, right? Dark sky, pattering of rain on the roof or against the windows, chill in the air… Unfortunately, because I’m a grown up (sometimes) and have a big-girl job that requires me to go into the office 4 out of the 5 days in a work week, I don’t have the luxuries of spending the day in my PJ’s, cuddled up watching tv and eating snacks when it’s a rainy day. Wouldn’t that be great if we got “rain days” at work instead of snow days? I may be onto something….

Anyway! Over the summer I posted this quickie upper body workout on one of those rainy days like this past week, which was perfect timing if you ask me! Who wants to get bundled up to go to the gym in the rain? Not me (although my class this past rainy Wednesday was full!).

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The weather this week got me thinking of things I would have liked to have been doing if I was able to hunker down in the comforts of my apartment all day. I’ve decided to share them with you, because what type of blogger would I be if I kept this type of stuff all to myself?!

Rainy Day Activities

1. Take advantage of being “forced” to stay inside and stay in bed and read for a bit. A book, magazine, article, etc. I don’t know about you, but I rarely have days where I can lounge in bed in the morning!

2. “Spring Clean”- even if it’s not spring time, tackle the messy closet or overflowing draws and do some big time cleaning and organizing. Make a few piles: keep, give away/donate, throw away. You’ll feel so much better after you get rid of some of the unnecessary clutter in your room. And, if you’re feeling extra motivated (as I do after I finish a project like that), tackle the other closets or under the sink areas in your home… there’s nothing like organization to make you feel like you accomplished something.

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3. Bake or cook- These tend to be more predominant activities in my life during the cooler/winter months. When it’s weather that enables you to be outside (hello, beach!), there’s no way I’m skipping that to be stuck inside. But, there’s something so nice about starting the stove when the air is a little damp and you can’t do anything outside.

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4. Catch up on TV shows- I can’t seem to follow any shows these days as my schedule is all over the place. I look forward to times where I can veg out in front of the TV and catch up on everything I’ve missed. On Demand is a wonderful thing!

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5. Workout- You didn’t think I’d forget to add this in, right?! Just because you’re stuck inside doesn’t mean you have to skip your workout. I love at-home workouts that don’t require any equipment. If you’re in need of some, check out these workouts, or On Demand has some good ones, too!

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6. Call an old friend or family member- Unless I’m in the car, I don’t usually make the time for phone calls. In this day and age, texting or emailing is far too easy than taking deliberate time out of your day to actually pick up the phone and call someone. I like to put my headphones on and put my phone in my pocket while chatting so I can multi-task (I usually call my mom while cutting veggies or meal prepping).

So, there you go! I guess these don’t only apply to rainy days- now that the weather is getting cooler, I feel like I’ll be spending more time around my apartment, so these are things I can do during those days, too! I don’t always bake a lot in the summer because it’s hot, but when fall comes around, all I want to do is be in the kitchen trying out new recipes.

Questions for you: What’s your favorite part about rainy days? If you were stuck inside all day, what’s something you would do?