Category: BSC

Wednesday Workout: My favorite “towel” workout (aka, “Make your schoulders scream” workout”)

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The one thing I really love about the BSC is that they have a towel service. I don’t know about you, but I get SWEATY when I go to the gym, which means I need to towel off often throughout my workout. Using paper towels can be so wasteful, which is why I think every gym should have towel service, right?! But towels aren’t only good for wiping sweat, they can also be a great piece of “equipment” for your workout.

Why am I talking about towels, you might ask? Well, I’ve been meaning to post this workout for a while, but for some reason it keeps slipping to the back of my list. It’s a shame, because it’s a killer workouts that really doesn’t require much besides a mat and 2 of my beloved towels (or Gliders if you have those, or even paper plates).

What I love about the workout is it’s not your traditional “bicep curls/tricep extension/squats/lunges” type of workout. It’s  just body weight and resistance from the towels. I’ve incorporated strength exercises, core exercises and cardio exercises, but I will warn you now… it’s heavy on the shoulder burn!

Make your shoulders burn workout

So, the way this workout goes (similar to this workout), is you do 60 seconds of move A, then 60 of move B. Before moving on to the next A and B moves, do 30 seconds of mountain climbers. The idea with this workout is everything will be done using the towels. They make an ordinary move seem so much harder, which is what I love about them. Just adding that extra bit of resistance or unsteadiness is a great way to change up your normal workout exercises. I promise you’ll feel it the next day!

Lastly, if you need help with some help with some moves, here are descriptions and/or videos:

  • Pendulum lunges- With your right foot on a towel, lunge/slide into a forward lunge and back into a reverse lunge. Repeat for 30 seconds then do it on the left side.
  • Side Squats- Stand with both feet on a towel. Step/slide right into a squat, slide it back to center and do the same going to the left. Focus on your abductors/adductors here- that’s where you should be feeling it if you’re really pushing and pulling your legs on the towels.
  • Tricep push-up & regular push-up- I do these on my knees because they are TOUGH. Place your hands on the towels in a high plank position. Perform a tricep push-up and then when you’re back in the high plank position, slide your arms out to do a regular push-up. Repeat.
  • Plank w/knee tuck- Place your feet on 1 towel and in a high plank position, tuck your knees into your chest. Repeat.
  • Spiderman plank- Place each foot on a towel and get into a high plank position- Slide your right knee up to your right elbow/tricep. Bring it back and repeat on the left. Focus on the obliques here!
  • Plank w/opp knee to elbow- Same as without towels, just do it with towels under your feet.

The cardio moves are performed just as they would be without towels, just do them with towels for the added challenge!

If you need more help or want demos, let me know 🙂

Questions for you: Do you ever use towels in your workouts? Do you have Gliders? What’s the most challenge move for your shoulders that you do?

 

This Week: Workouts, Weekend Recap, Things I’m Looking Forward To

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Hi there! I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was really fun, but also really busy. I was supposed to go to my gym friend, Jen’s, “Porch Friday” summer kickoff gathering, but after the week I had, I was beat and decided to lay low. I hate missing things, but knew I needed to take it easy since Saturday and Sunday were going to be nonstop. Instead, some wine and snacks at Piers Park helped me relax from the week.

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Saturday started with a super sweaty UXF Burn/SHRED class that I subbed at the Central Square BSC (my usual gym). It was awesome to see so many of my Wednesday and Thursday regulars in class! Here’s some of my new lulu that I bought 😉

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Paycheck + Lulu near my work= a little splurge 😉

From there, RM and I headed north for a BBQ at Christy and Jaime’s. Sadly, I didn’t take ANY pictures- whoops! But everything was amazing- the food, drinks, company, weather- all in all it was a great afternoon! From there, I headed to Liz’s house for a gym friends party. I always look forward to these nights because it’s so fun to chat with other instructors and share our crazy interesting teaching stories.

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(thanks for the photo, Liz! And hosting us 🙂 )

Sunday started with a UXF Burn class and then RM and I went for a nice, long 3 or 4 mile walk along the beach before going to Jess and Brian’s baby shower. They had it at Shake Shack in Harvard Square. I’ve never been there before, but I am sold- their burgers and fries were amazingggg. It was such a fun baby shower- they didn’t open gifts or play any games, which is more my style. We were able to chat and mingle- perfect!

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Phew! What a weekend- I love when I get to spend time with my college friends and it was fun having RM meet everyone! But, let me tell you- 3 parties and party food in 2 days makes me really ready for some clean eats. Indulgences are totally worth it (and sometimes why I workout 😉 ), though.

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I taught my 6am muscle class and did 15 minutes on the elliptical.
  • Tuesday- I ran 5 miles after work and it felt great! I had fast splits (for me!) and was able to clear my head.

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  • Wednesday- My new company had their summer outing after work so I got up to workout before I headed into the office. I was going to do a 2 mile jog and then body weight strength training but ended up running 3 miles and just some push-ups, squats, planks, etc.
  • Thursday- I taught SHRED and then Cardio Kickboxing. I did a 25-15-4 rep format for SHRED and liked it!
  • Friday- Rest day since I was teaching on Saturday and Sunday.
  • Saturday- I ran 2 miles on the treadmill before subbing UXF Burn/SHRED. We worked so hard and I loved every second of it!

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  • Sunday- I didn’t want to get out of bed, but I was happy I did. There were only 2 people in the UXF Burn class I subbed, but it was fun because I was able to do stuff I don’t usually get to do! Also, there was another instructor in the class who teaches Barre so I let her lead the last 5 minutes of core work and it was killer!

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- By the time this post goes up I will have taught my 6am Muscle Class and done a little cardio after.
  • Tuesday- I’m running the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge after work. It’s a 3.5 mile race, so nothing too crazy.
  • Wednesday- I’ll either run or do some other cardio before teaching UXF Burn. I missed them last week!
  • Thursday- Teaching SHRED and Cardio Kickboxing.
  • Friday- Probably a rest day besides a walk at lunch.
  • Saturday- Back at the Oak Square YMCA for my Cardio Kickboxing class… I hope my front row is back 🙂
  • Sunday- I would LOVE to get some yoga in. I need to make that happen.

Things I’m Looking Forward To

I’m looking forward to running the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge as part of the team at my new company. Our shirts are so dorky, but it’s kind of funny! I’m also excited to go out with some former coworkers, including my friend Tim, later in the week. Other than that, I’m excited for a weekend where I really have nothing planned. I may head to the Cape with RM on Saturday, but if I ended up sticking around here I wouldn’t be mad at all. I want to get my hair highlighted, so that would be great if I could fit that in on Saturday.

Questions for you: What was the best part of your weekend? Have you been to Shake Shack? What are you looking forward to this week? Are you running the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge?

Wednesday Workout: Strength & Cardio UXF Burn Workout w/Burpee Blasts

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Burpee blasts caught your attention, didn’t it? I thought so 😉

As you know, I teach a UXF Burn class at the Central Square BSC on Wednesday nights. UXF Burn is the BSC’s signature calorie burning, high intensity group exercise class that is meant to somewhat mimic CrossFit workouts, but in the group ex setting. I wouldn’t necessarily agree with that statement, but I will say it’s a max calorie burning class that always leaves us dead at the end!

We have a fairly strict format to go by, but I’ve come up with my own format that I think is better (harder) and that my members like more. I follow the basic 60 second strength exercise and 60 second core exercise format, but between each I’ve added in a cardio blast. It can either be 10 reps of something or 20-30 seconds of something. Last week, I brought back the amazing Surfer Burpee variation- I hadn’t had my members do that type of burpee in forever!

In addition to bringing back an oldie burpee, I brought in some “new” exercises. I’ve been trying to get more creative with my exercises to not only keep my members on their toes, but to keep me excited while teaching. I think it’s ok to sometimes say “I know this isn’t anything new or fancy” when introducing a move, but I think what gets people even more excited is when I get excited when I’m introducing things: “you guys! I have a lot of new, really fun moves for us to do today- I’m so excited about them!”. Can anyone else relate?

With that said, let’s get to the workout. The format, as I mentioned earlier, is 60 seconds of the move on the left (strength exercises), followed by 60 seconds of the core exercises. In between sets, perform 10 surfer burpees (5 each side). At the end, if you’re feeling like you want more cardio before repeating the strength/core/cardio blast part of the workout, feel free to do the Pyramid Cardio Blast- it’s killer 😉

strength and cardio w. surfer burpees

Since some of the moves are new to B2B, I did a few video demos:

As always, if you need any other explanations or demos, don’t be afraid to ask!

Questions for you: What’s your favorite burpee? What’s your favorite way to use a household item in a workout?

This Week: Workouts, Another Busy Week & Things I’m Looking Forward To

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Good morning! I’m here! On a Monday! I can’t believe I only posted TWICE last week. I wanted to post, I really did, but the time just wasn’t there. I really tried not to stress about it because at the end of the day, I blog for FUN, not because I have to or because it’s a job… I do it because I love it and if there are weeks when I can’t fit it all in, blogging sometimes just has to be the thing that goes to the back burner.  I’m happy to be back this week, though- I love sharing things with you!

Speaking of being busy… I totally “hit the brick wall” on Thursday night. I think between ending my job, starting a new one, going away… all while still teaching and working out and blogging… I just hit my limit. Changing jobs isn’t just hard because it’s a new schedule to get used to, it’s hard because it’s mentally and emotionally draining. So far, I’m totally loving my new job and the people I work with, but the days are long! I’m up at 6 or 6:30 every day to start work at 7 or 7:30- Thursday’s I leave the house at 6:30am and get home at 8pm- no wonder why I’m tired!

So, with that said, I spent my weekend home in Maine to relax and recharge- it was perfect!

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I took a rest day on Monday since we were flying back from Miami and I wanted to sleep instead of workout.
  • Tuesday- I ran 4 miles after work and then did a 20 minute core workout. Felt great.

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  • Wednesday- I ran 3.5 miles and then taught my UXF Burn class. I did most of the class with my members because I loved the workout I planned. I was SORE on Thursday.
  • Thursday- I taught fun superset workout with a new cardio format I stole from Athena, which everyone loved. Thanks, girl! My kickboxing class was small, but it was a good one!
  • Friday- I took another rest day on Friday. I was really sore from my workouts earlier in the week.
  • Saturday-  I taught my cardio kickboxing at the Oak Square YMCA. The summer (smaller) crowds are the norm these days, but it’s ok- we still got in a good (and super, super sweaty) class!

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  • Sunday- It was such a beautiful day when I got up that I decided to go for a run. I just did a 20 minute run then did exercises like walking lunges and squats up and down the driveway, burpees, pushups and some standing ab exercises. Solid workout!

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This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I’m finally back to teach my Monday morning Muscle Work class. I’m excited to be back!
  • Tuesday- I will probably run after work and then do some core stuff.
  • Wednesday- I will NOT be teaching my UXF Burn class! I have a work bowling outing in the afternoon so Kate will be subbing… she knows to kick your butt like I do 😉 I’ll either workout before work or go to the gym during my lunch break.
  • Thursday- I’ll teach SHRED and Cardio Kickboxing
  • Friday- Rest day since I’m subbing both Saturday and Sunday
  • Saturday- I’m subbing the 10am SHRED class at the Central Square BSC- I hope my regulars from Wednesday and Thursday come 🙂
  • Sunday- I’m subbing the 9am UXF Burn class at the Allston BSC- hope to see some familiar faces there!

Things I’m Looking Forward To

Even though this week is another busy week, it’s all fun stuff! Monday night I am going to dinner with RM’s sister-in-law. She is just a year older than me and we get along really well, so it will be fun to catch up over some food and drinks. Wednesday is my company’s bowling outing, which will be fun because I’ll get to meet people and hang with all the people I already know. Friday night my plan is to swing by my friend Jen’s place for a drink on her porch and then Saturday RM and I will head up to Exeter, NH for a party at Christy and Jaime’s. On the way home, I’ll swing by Liz’s for a gym friends BBQ. Finally, my friend Jess is having her baby shower- Jack and Jill style- at the Shake Shack in Harvard Square on Sunday, which should be a blast. I’ve been looking forward to all of these things for a while!

Also! I wanted to give you a garden update! My dad was so sweet and make the trip down to my apartment last week to do the planting for me. Look how good it looks!

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He’s making me a map of what is planted, but I know he did kale, green beans, carrots, onions, peppers, tomatoes, Brussels sprouts.. and I think something else. I’m so lucky that he is a. so good at gardening and building stuff and b. he wants to do it for me. I’m seriously SO excited for everything to start growing this summer so we can have lots of fresh veggies to eat!

Questions for you: How were your workouts last week? What was your best one? What are you looking forward to this week?

This Week {A day late… again…}: Workouts, back to a normal schedule and things I’m looking forward to

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Hey everyone! I feel like I haven’t popped in to say hi in a while- life has been a bit crazy lately, but it’s all good, fun and exciting stuff so I can’t really complain! Did you catch the awesome guest post from Tony that I posted on Friday? Here it is if you did- it’s worth a read: Guest Post: How To Prepare For A Triathlon.  I just got home from the most wonderful little weekend getaway with RM, so I can’t wait to catch you up on that. But first- the workouts. I ended up getting in 2 workouts while away, which I wasn’t planning on or expecting, but since RM wanted to sleep in and I was up, bright eyed and bushy tailed ready to go, getting in a quick workout was a great way to give me something to do while I let him sleep.

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- Since it was my first day of work at my new job, I got up and did my workout in the morning. I was really sore from my 6 mile run the day before, so I just did this HIIT scorcher from the Fitnessista before doing some strength circuits.
  • Tuesday- I got up to workout before work again so that I could get a pedicure after work. I ran a tough, sucky 3 miles (how is it that I had just ran SIX miles that felt great, yet last week my 3 mile run was like the death of me?!?!) and called it a day. I ended up walking for about 30 minutes during lunch which was a nice break!

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  • Wednesday- I ended up running 4 miles on the treadmill for National Running Day before I taught my UXF Burn class. Was a great day of workouts!

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  • Thursday- I taught SHRED and Cardio Kickboxing. I used a new format in SHRED that, in my head, was perfectly easy to understand, but when I went to teach it, the members were so confused and couldn’t remember what to do. I hate that! I set up 8 stations with various things at them: medicine balls, BOSU balls, stability balls, weights, towels, steps, etc. and then at each station I wrote down 3 exercises for the small groups to do. They did each for 60 seconds and then again for 30 seconds before moving on to the next station. I loved the workout, but unfortunately wasn’t able to do it all with them because it was a bigger group and they needed lots of assistance. That left me plenty of energy for my kickboxing class, though!
  • Friday- Rest day. We had a 9am flight and I had been up early every day so I decided to sleep instead of workout. Good decision on my part. We ended up doing a decent amount of walking between the airport and walking around Miami.
  • Saturday- I got up and ran a SWEATY 3 miles on the treadmill (and walked a half a mile) before completing a small circuit and some extra core work. Great way to start the day… and earn my poolside cocktails 😉 RM and I also went for a nice walk!

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  • Sunday- I woke up feeling surprisingly good after having drank a lot the day/night before, so I went to the gym for a quick workout. I did 10 minutes on the treadmill and then some supersets- I felt it yesterday!

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I didn’t do anything yesterday. We wanted to get to the pool early and I was tired so I decided to sleep.
  • Tuesday- My plan today is to get a 3-4 mile run in after work and then some core exercises.
  • Wednesday- The usual: probably a run and then teaching UXF Burn.
  • Thursday- Teaching SHRED and then Kickboxing.
  • Friday- I might rest on Friday pending on how I feel. My new work schedule is working from home on Mondays instead of Fridays so I’ll be at the office. I may try to get in a walk during lunch.
  • Saturday- I’ll be at the YMCA teaching my cardio kickboxing class!
  • Sunday- I’ll be up in Maine (again…) for Father’s Day so I’m sure I’ll get something in!

Getting Back on Schedule

Over the past 3+ weeks, my schedule has been, well, non-existent. Between ending my old job, taking a week+ for myself, starting a new job and then going to Miami, I’ve been all over the place and any sort of routine or schedule has been completely thrown to the wayside. I have to say, though, it’s been really nice! My weeks were so regimented: breakfast was the same, lunch and snacks were the same, I had the same stuff after work, etc. It’s been a good change to not be on a schedule and it’s given my body time to get off of all the normal things it eats and does. With that said, though, I’m ready to be back on some type of schedule- I’m ready to tone it down on the eating out and can’t wait to be making my lunches again and cooking up nice, healthy dinners!

Things I’m Looking Forward To

I’m actually excited to be back in the office this week. I’m really enjoying my new job thus far and can’t wait to be in the full swing of it. I’m also looking forward to Friday night because the Shapleigh girls are having a night out! I bought a Groupon for the Brahmin a while ago so we are going to go for dinner and a few drinks. Lastly, even though I’ve been home to Maine so much lately, I am looking forward to spending Father’s Day with my dad and going to Tucker’s 1st birthday party! And, let’s face it- I love going to Maine!

Questions for you: What was the best workout you had last week? Did you participate in National Running Day? What are you looking forward to this week? Do you find yourself eating the same thing day after day during the week?