Category: Workout

TGIF!

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Boy am I happy for Friday!  This whole week I was a day ahead, always thinking I was a day closer to the weekend than I actually was. The worst, right?! Not that I was really trying to rush along the week…I have my kickboxing certification from 9am-6pm tomorrow (REALLY not my ideal Saturday) and I am feeling nervous about that! I was tossing and turning all night thinking of the combinations they want us to know and how to cue punches and kicks (I call this Fitness Instructor Problems… any other fitness instructors have issues like this?!). Needless to say, I am a little sleepy today!

Let’s see… what have I been up to since I last checked in?  Ohhh, yesterday my coworker and I treated ourselves to lunch at Sportello for their “Lunch Box” lunch.

001I swear, this is the best lunch deal in Boston! You get either a full sando or a 1/2 sando and small soup, homemade chips or popcorn, a drink and a cookie…. all for $11!!! Incredible, really.  Since I was asked to sub the Total Body Conditioning class before teaching my regular Kickboxing class, I decided to get the full sandwich. I went with the Turkey instead of the veggie for extra protein… best decision ever! It was roasted turkey, cheddar, red onions, greens and some amazingly delicious ranch sauce. Toasted. YUMMM.

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I grabbed a seltzer water from the vending machine and was pleasantly surprised with this new flavor

003Anyone try this yet? I highly suggest it for my fellow seltzer water lovers out there!

And, to top of lunch, I got us one of these bad boys to share:

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That, my friends, is a Maple Pancake Cupcake.  I don’t like bacon (I know, I am the crazy one), but the cupcake was just as delicious without it. WOW. (We may have done extra jumping jacks in class because of this treat!)

I wish every lunch could be as good as yesterday! Other than that, my day wasn’t too exciting. I did have a blast teaching TBC. We did 60 second stations (5 rows with a difference exercise in each row, 4 different rounds) and I think everyone liked it… I’ll be sure to post that workout soon:)

I’m teaching tonight and then will be at the South Station BSC tomorrow for far longer than I would like to be. Hoping the day goes well- these types of things stress me out so much!!

Questions for you: Have any good lunches this week? Bacon- love it or hate it? What’s on the agenda for the weekend?

Weekending…

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Happy Sunday! Hope everyone had a nice weekend.  Mine, as always, seemed to go by WAY too quickly.  I am just now sitting down and “relaxing” (aka blogging and putting off studying) and it’s 4:30pm! Where did today go?! I’ll get to that, but let’s back up a minute…

Yesterday I taught my last TBC (Total Body Conditioning) class at the Allston BSC.  I was offered a position to teach Cardio Kickboxing at the Oak Square YMCA every other Saturday at 10AM (vs every Saturday at 9am like I was doing at the BSC) and I accepted that position starting in March!  I used to go to that 10AM Kickboxing class every Saturday for the 3.5 years I lived in Oak Square so I am REALLY excited to have the opportunity to go back there and start teaching it:)  However, yesterday’s last class was definitely bittersweet.  My sister, Lauren and Jess came and that made it so much fun! I always like to hear feedback from honest sources (they may be friends and family, but I do trust them to give me their honest opinions!), so it was funny to hear them ask what the heck I was doing teaching a class that hard… what can I say?! I want to make people feel like their time at the gym was well spent!

Post workout, I met up with a new fitness friend for brunch at Russell House Tavern to talk all things fitness… twist my arm, will ya?! And, to make things even better, they had wine on tap?!

002I had to use some serious self-restraint as wine on tap for any member of the Gagnon family is risky business! Instead, I enjoyed a nice beer and this delicious omelet:

003Yum! I don’t really “do” brunch (I am always starving when I wake up), so this was a really nice treat, and well deserved after a tough morning class!

The rest of my Saturday was really not very exciting. I faced the masses of people at Market Basket for my weekly grocery shopping trip and then spent the rest of the night like this:

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Don’t let that book fool you… I “pretended” to read/study, but in all honesty, I couldn’t pull myself to actually DO any reading or studying.  My kickboxing exam was originally scheduled for the weekend of the blizzard and has been rescheduled for next Saturday. Mentally, I am so checked out and bored with this studying, which is not something I am proud of, but hopefully I’ll get my act together and get my head back into the game this week.

Since I went to bed at 11pm (yes, I am 27 going on 67), I was wide awake at 8Am. Perfect! There was a boot camp at the Davis Square BSC at 10 that I would be able to go to. What a thought- me, taking a class that someone else was going to teach?! It had been far too long.

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The class started out great (loads of cardio), but then we switched to partner type of work and it was really unorganized and the instructor was mean and almost rude and I really didn’t end up having that much fun. I am all about pushing people in class and yelling (anyone who has come to a class knows this), but he was straight up rude and did not offer any type of encouragement. He almost had an attitude where he was looking down on us. I was so disappointed because he had covered some classes for me when I was dying sick with pneumonia and I thought he seemed so nice, but I saw a different side of him that I was not a fan of. Anyway, it was a good thing for me to do and I did get some new cardio ideas so I guess it wasn’t a total waste of time (and, we did a ton of upper body stuff so I will be sore tomorrow!).

Similar to yesterday, post workout, I went to brunch (again! Twice in one weekend- who am I?!) with Lauren and my sister. We went to Back Bay Social Club and had a great time catching up! A glass of Prosecco was juuuust perfect for post workout refueling, right?

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To eat, a delicious Turkey Sandwich with lettuce, tomato and avocado on wheat bread. Unfortunately, the bread was very buttery, but the turkey made up for it! So good!

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Since it took so long to get our meals, the manager gave us a free round on the house… again, twist my arm! I really appreciate when restaurants do things like that because it definitely makes me more likely to go back soon!

I am about to set up an email account, Facebook account and Instagram account for Burpees to Bubbly… big steps for the blog this weekend and it makes me excited!! I appreciate everyone who has been reading and following along… it’s been a really fun couple of weeks!! For dinner: Stuffed Peppers (2 ways) and some type of taco dish… be on the lookout for a recipe early this week!

Questions for you: Are you a “bruncher”? What was your favorite thing that you did this weekend?

12 Days of Fitness Workout…

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… a little late! I did this workout right around the holidays and recently got a request to put it up on the blog, so here ya go!

The “12 Days of Fitness” workouts were flying around all over the blog world for a while, so I decided I had to try one and see what the craze was all about.  I did a bunch of research and ended up putting together, what I think to be, a pretty good workout!  Most of the “12 Days of Fitness” workouts that I saw started with the “1” move first and then worked their way up to the “12,” but I decided to start with the “12” and work out way down to the “1”.  What can I say? I wanted to make my class work harder:)

New 12 days of fitness

Yes, you did the math correctly: in this workout, you will do 144 lunges, 121 bicep curls, 100 mountain climbers… you get the point!

This workout can easily be done in the comforts of your own home… or at a gym with a friend! Let me know if you try it:)

Dynamax Workout 2.18.13

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I love when my week starts on a Tuesday and not a Monday:)  Especially since my mom and cousin are coming to the city tonight… slumber partyyyy!

I wanted to share with you what we did in Dynamax last night.  I have a whole post designated to professing my love explaining my Dynamax class and what a Dynamax workout is all about, but until I finish that, I thought I’d share this workout since it can be done in pieces and with or without equipment!  If I were you, I would swing over to the Dynamax as it has loads of tips and workouts and instructions on how to use the balls… they are my FAVORITE exercise tool right now!

Dynamax 2/18/13-

Please note that this can be done with any type of medicine ball or weight if you do not have access to a Dynamax ball. Also, if you do not have access to a partner, skip the partner work.  Instead, maybe try 1 round of the Supersets, followed by 3 rounds of the 45 second moves, and end with another round of the supersets… This workout can be done in different pairings as you wish!

Dynamax 2.18.13

And then we ran out of time:) I know some of these moves might be a little confusing, so try putting them into YouTube or going to the Dynamax website! Also, I’m always available for questions… I hope to have pictures of these moves up on the blog soon:)

3-2-1 Strength, Cardio, Core Workout

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Hey everyone! Happy President’s Day! I didn’t have today off as a holiday, but I took it off because I was in dire need of a little break! Last week was killer so it’s nice to know this week will be a little easier:)

I wanted to share with you a workout that I taught a couple of times last week (don’t worry, at different gyms!).  Both times I taught it, I remembered why the workout is so killer: 2 min HIIT cardio drills in between strength and abs.  The glares I got were awesome. Athena, the format of this is similar to this workout that you posted a while ago.

I had my sister take photo’s of me doing the moves since some of them aren’t as common.  This workout is intense, so mind your body and take rests and modify when/if you need to.

3-2-1 Strength, Cardio, Core Workout

Each strength move is performed for 3 minutes (usually 1 minute on each side and then 1 minute of a combined move), cardio is performed for 2 minutes (2 exercises performed in 30 second increments) and the core workout is performed for 1 minute.  Choose weights and modifications as you see fit- I want you to challenge yourself, but I also want you to be safe and mindful of your body!

3-2-1 Strength, Cardio, Core workout

Let me know if you try this workout!

I am so happy I took today off because I would NOT have wanted to have driven back to MA yesterday in the weather we had.  I made a Butternut Squash, Kale and Goat Cheese lasagna and hope to post that recipe tonight so be on the lookout!

Question for you: What are your plans today? Favorite thing to make for dinner? Let me know if you try this workout!