Category: BSC

Wednesday Workout: Strength to Core & Cardio Blast Workout

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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!

Strength to core & cardio blast

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:

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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?

Weekly Workouts- {Hopefully} Back At It

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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.

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  • 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!

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  • 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?

Weekly Workouts: Being Sick= Way Fewer Workouts

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Hey everyone! How was your weekend? Mine was pretty boring because I was sick, but I think it’s exactly what I needed. I did get out of the house on Friday night for a roommate dinner at The Granary Tavern in the city (LOVED it there- awesome menu, great outdoor dining and the inside was awesome as well), but besides that and a short trip to the beach, target and the grocery store on Sunday, I was pretty much stuck to the couch watching tv or sleeping; I did a LOT of sleeping this weekend.

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Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I wasn’t feeling up to a workout, but I ended up pushing myself to go and was so happy I did! The only cardio I did was 10 minutes of rowing throughout my strength sets, yet I still left sweaty and tired! I used the TRX band, kettlebells, Dynamax Balls, dumbells… all sorts of stuff! I picked leg workouts to do first (2 sets of 15) then worked through lots of upper body stuff. It was great!
  • Tuesday- I finally made it to the “two-a-day Tuesday” that Athena always mentions on her blog. When I lived in Oak Square, I was a regular in Liz’s kickboxing class (I think even before Athena started going to it?), so it was fun to be back at it! I was surprised that I remembered as much as I did 🙂 After taking Liz’s class, I taught Athena’s class… Wasn’t my best performance, but I was feeling pretty icky (shouldn’t have done Liz’s class first since I wasn’t feeling well). Whomp, whomp.
  • Wednesday- I knew I needed rest on Wednesday since I woke up feeling more sick than I had on Tuesday, so I merely instructed my UXF Burn class… well, mostly instructed.

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  • Thursday- I worked from home to try to rest a little more since I knew I had to teach 2 classes that night. I know, I know, you’re probably wondering why I didn’t get subs. Well, I have to get a lot of subs this summer for work trips and it’s hard to find subs for kickboxing, so I just loaded up on meds and did what I had to do to get through it. I did stations in SHRED and didn’t do the workout and taught the modified version of kickboxing… wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be!
  • Friday- Nothing. I felt awful all day so I decided to nap instead of workout. The nap did help!
  • Saturday- Nothing. I woke up feeling better and decided I would go to BodyPump, but as soon as I got up, I got really light-headed/faint, started sweating profusely, face went white and my hands got all tingly/numb. It was easily the scariest feeling I have ever experienced! My sister thought it might be a panic attack, but it lasted WAY longer than the 7-10 minutes panic attacks last, so I don’t think it was that. I think it had something to do with the very strong cough syrup I took during the night. Needless to say, I rested all of Saturday and slept more than I can ever remember sleeping in a day. I literally could not keep my eyes open! I started feeling better around 7 and was able to eat, so that was a good thing.
  • Sunday- Nothing, again. I woke up feeling a little better, but I was still so stuffed up and coughing a lot so I decided to rest, even though I wanted to go for a walk or something! I did clean up the apartment and do laundry which required walking up and down a lot of stairs, but other than that, it was a rest day.

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I was invited to take a class at The Studio Empower”, which I am really excited about!! My friend Athena went recently and has raved about it ever since!
  • Tuesday- I feel like I’ll be in the mood for cardio and weights/core, so it could be a long workout day!
  • Wednesday- My class was cancelled for the holiday, so I will have to do my own workout. A lot will depend on whether I head up to Maine on Tuesday or Wednesday. If I go up on Tuesday, I’ll go to my mom’s YMCA on Wednesday, but if I wait until Wednesday, I’ll go to my gym after work to lift and do cardio and head up after that to wait out the traffic!
  • Thursday- Does collecting candy at the parade count as exercise? 😉 Jk… kind of! Since I know I’ll be eating and drinking by the pool in the afternoon, I’ll probably try to do something quick in the morning at my parents!
  • Friday- Not sure- may head to the gym with mom, may rest… I’m going to see how I feel!
  • Saturday- I have to head back to MA to teach my 10AM kickboxing class.
  • Sunday- Will depend on how my workouts for the week went… if they were good, I’ll rest. If they were light, and I have time to do something, I will!

So, there you have it! As you can see, my workouts this week are mostly TBD since I am not sure when I’ll head to Maine, how I’ll feel and how much time I will have. That’s ok, though. As frustrating as it is to “get off track” with workouts, my body was definitely telling me I needed to slow down and rest last week so I am trying to listen to that and not overdo it this week.

Questions for you: Holidays and working out- do you take them as rest days or are they motivation to workout since you know you’ll be eating more indulgently? Do you go to any parades on the 4th of July? When’s the last time you had to rest for more than a couple of days because of sickness?