Tia’s, Baby Zeke and Maine- Weekend Recap!

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Hey there! Has everyone cooled done a bit? I’ll tell ya, working from home on a Monday is ALMOST as nice as working from home on a Friday! There’s something about not having to do food prep and “week prep” on a Sunday night, especially after coming home from Maine, that is SO nice. Sunday evenings are drastically better when that’s the case.

Friday

My friend, Cristina, hosted a Lupus Fundraising event at Tia’s on Friday night after work. With the weather temps at over 90 degrees, I couldn’t think of a more perfect place to spent a Friday evening!

1460Not only did I get to hang out with my college girlfriends, but my friend, Stephanie, was also there! Steph and I went to the same high school and used to Rollerblade down Main street in Sanford in the summers. #classy

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1465The whole time we were at Tia’s, we were checking our phones since we knew Sara was most likely going to have little Zeke at some point that night. Sure enough, around 8:30, we got THE text from Amy that we had been waiting for! Baby Zeke Aronson White was born!!!! And boy was he beautiful! I think Danielle and I made everyone at Tia’s cheers to baby Zeke! We are proud “Aunts” of this little boy 🙂

Saturday

I got up and packed an overnight bag since Danielle and I were going to head up to Maine right from the YMCA after my class. Class was sweaty and awesome, but to be honest, my mind was TOTALLY focused on going home to meet Zeke that I can barely even remember what I taught! I hope everyone liked it, though 🙂

We got to Sanford around 1:15 and drove straight to the hospital. I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking, but I will say that Zeke is the most beautiful little boy and has a wholeeeee lot of people who are already so in love with him! Sara looked like a beaming mom and it was so sweet to see her interacting with Zeke. She was in labor for about 20 hours with unreal contractions and the kicker was that she couldn’t get the epidural 😦 Sara was fully on board with getting one, too, but things moved so quickly once they broke her water that it was too late to give her the epidural. Poor thing! I can’t imagine how tired and physically beat she was. Anyway, here he is!

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sara and zeke

(mom and baby! I had Sara send me a pic of her with Zeke when I was writing up this post since I realized I only had pictures of Zeke being held by other people… we were baby hogs!)

happy zeke

(and then she sent me this! I wonder what he is dreaming about that makes him smile?!)

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We stayed at the hospital with Sara until about 5pm when we decided to give her and Tim some time to themselves. Once we got home we had a really nice cocktail hour on the back patio with mom and dad.

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Not long after we poured drinks, Amy and Chris stopped by to do more baby gushing and celebrating!

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We all decided it was too hot to BBQ or cook, so we ordered food from the Corner Store (literally right next door) and called it good. While it tasted delicious, I woke up in the middle of the night with the worst stomach ache 😦 Such a fun, impromptu little get together, though! Sara, congratulations on your new little baby boy. I cannot wait to spend so much time with both of you and to be able to watch him grow up!

Sunday

I woke up early (I mean, I was in bed at 10pm, so no wonder why I was up early!) and decided to go visit my very good high school friend, Caitlin. She was due to have her little baby boy on June 1st, but he decided he wasn’t ready to come out quite yet! As I was leaving the driveway, I caught a glimpse of the huge snapping turtle who crosses our lawn each year to get from the brook behind our house to the pond across the street in order to lay her eggs. She was HUGE!

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Anyway! For Caitlin’s sake, I hope he decides to grace the world with his presence sooner rather than later! I hadn’t seen Cait in far, far too long, but like always, as soon as we get together, it’s like nothing has changed; the true sign of friendship! She is the most adorable little pregnant lady (she literally just has a basket ball belly!) and I am so bummed I didn’t get a picture of her. Can’t wait to meet her little one!

When I got home from my visit, Dad and Danielle had already done all the potato planting.. bummer! Since there was nothing else to do to help around the house, we took advantage of the sunny (but HOT) weather and sun bathed on the back patio.

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We decided to hit the road relatively early so that we could go grocery shopping and unpack and grab dinner (since it was too hot to cook). We walked to the grocery store (about a 1/2 mile away) to get a little exercise since we did nothing all day but relax in the sun! For dinner, we kept it casual and grabbed apps at Not Your Average Joes. I got their special “Strawberry Rhubarb Sangria” which was SO SO SO delicious! And BIG! Look at this thing!

1493I got the Tai Chicken Lettuce Wraps for dinner and they were quite tasty.

1494Filling, but in a light way.. perfect for hot weather!

Well, there ya go! Fun-filled weekend surrounded by friends, family and a new baby!

Questions for you: What did you do to stay cool last weekend? Favorite summer cocktail? Any new babies in your lives? Do share!

Weekly Workouts

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Happy Monday, friends! How was your weekend? I was in Maine for half of it, which is always a better place than the city to “survive” the heat. I taught too many classes last week, but happily, I survived injury free (my nagging injuries didn’t even pop up when teaching my second double of the week- woohoooo!!!). Now that I have dropped back on the number of classes per week that I teach, I realize that teaching 6 a week, while working a full time job and blogging was just way.too.much.

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I ran 3.1 miles in Maine, while adding in 25 reps of different strength exercises after each mile which was a fun way to change-up a run. I also gardened with my dad all day!

run + strength training

  • Tuesday- I got asked to sub a double at the South Station BSC last minute, so I took it (since it’s a 5 min walk from my office). I taught a Kickboxing class followed by a UXF class and I have to say that I really like teaching those 2 classes (what I do on Thursdays) in that order wayyyyy better than what I do on Thursdays!
  • Wednesday– I got in 25 minutes on the elliptical before teaching UXF Burn. I’ll try to get that workout to you this week!

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(The humid weather+sweat= crazy frizzy hair!)

  • Thursday- I had zero time to make up a workout to teach in SHRED at work (dealt with computer issues all day), so I decided to repeat a UXF Burn class I taught a few weeks ago, but it worked fine! Kickboxing was a blast as always and it’s so nice to see how much that class has grown since I first started teaching it! Another plus of of the double was the amount of energy I had! I have no idea where it came from, and usually by the end of my double I am beat, but last Thursday was awesome!

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(Shirt says “No one has ever drowned in their own sweat”, but I’ll tell ya, I came damn near close on Thursday!)

  • Friday- REST! Besides walking to Dunkin Donuts, haha.
  • Saturday- Taught Kickboxing for the 3rd week in a row at Oak Square before heading up to Maine!
  • Sunday– Rest, again. I woke up really quite sore from Saturday’s kickboxing (which is so weird because it was the 3rd kickboxing class of the week that I taught so you’d think my muscles would be used to it!), so I decided to take it easy again.

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I am subbing a UXF Burn/BodyPump class at 5:30 at the Wellington BSC!!! I LOVE this gym and it’s legit 5 mins from my house so I am pumped. BSCers- come join!
  • Tuesday- Maybe a rest, maybe go to a kickboxing class, maybe run on my own. We will see!
  • Wednesday- The usual- cardio and teaching UXF Burn.
  • Thursday- The usual- teaching SHRED and Kickboxing.
  • Friday- Pending on what I do on Tuesday will determine what I do on Friday.
  • Saturday- NOT TEACHING! I may join a Lupus walk with friends, may do something extra in addition to that, who knows!
  • Sunday- I would like to do something different- maybe my own workout, maybe something Athena has posted lately, maybe yoga or Core Fusion?

So, there you have it! After my crazy teaching schedule last week, it’s nice to have an open schedule this week. Any suggestions for what I should do for a workout with my extra time?? Any good ones that you have done recently?

Questions for you: What was the best workout you did last week? Try anything new? How did you escape the heat, but still get a workout in?

Scenes from the Weekend

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Good morning! I am blogging from Maine, again, as my very dear friend, Sara had her sweet little baby boy yesterday. More recap on that later (because he deserves a whole post he is so beautiful), but I wanted to give you a glimpse into my Friday night and Saturday/night. I hope you’re all having wonderful weekends and enjoying the heat as much as possible!

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Fitness Instructor Pet Peeves

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Hey friends! Happy Friday! How about this crazy hot weather, right?! I don’t understand how it goes from 50’s to 90’s overnight. Something just doesn’t seem right about that. I am going to Tia’s on the water for drinks after work and I can’t wait! Perfect way to spend a hot, Friday afternoon 🙂

Yesterday was not a very good day at work. My work computer got a MASSIVE virus and IT said that it killed everything on my computer and could not be removed and/or fixed. Fantastic. So, from 9am to 1pm, I was dealing with computer sh*t (sorry, but that’s how frustrating it was!). With my job, I literally cannot do anything without a computer, so, what did I do to pass the time, you might ask? Well, I came up with some blog post topics… duh 😉

Since I teach a fair amount of classes each week (6 this week, to be exact), I see loads and loads of interesting things while I am there! Some make me laugh, some drive me cray-cray, but I thought it would be fun to share them with you today. Anyone else who spends any time at the gym can surely agree with me!

Fitness Instructor Pet Peeves

  1. People who come in late and make a big scene getting their equipment and finding a spot. I understand PT delays or traffic (we have all been there!), but please try your best to sneak in quietly, grab your stuff quickly, and get to work. I get in a “groove” while teaching, so when I have to stop and help someone set up while also trying to keep the class going, it’s super hard.
  2. Just because I am a female instructor and the class is 95% females, doesn’t mean it’s an “easy” class and won’t be a kick butt workout for guys, too. Trust me, it will, and if you don’t believe me, I dare you to come to a class!
  3. Don’t come to class in just a sports bra. Actually, don’t go to the gym in just a sports bra. Working out in your home by yourself? Go for it. But at the gym? Please be courteous (even if you have a rocking hot bod) and wear a shirt. I’ve witnessed a “nip slip” in my class and I’d love it if that never happened again!
  4. When people come in each week and lift the same weights, expecting to see a change. Change happens when you do something different. Get out of your comfort zone and listen to me when I say “go heavy”.
  5. When people roll their eyes at me when I throw in crazy/weird things into class.  Please humor me and at least TRY to do what I am instructing (jump squats with weights, full burpees, crab walks, etc.). I understand injuries and other limitations that inhibit you from doing some of what I teach, but I know there are “fakers”, who just don’t WANT to do what I’m instructing because it’s hard 😉 I’m onto you!
  6. People who come in and talk to their friend the whole class. Class is 1 hour out of your day and it’s so distracting to me and the other members when you’re having a full on conversation with your friend, so save it for before or after class.
  7. When people are not mindful of their space, my space, and their neighbors space. No one wants you up in their space!
  8. Speaking of space, don’t “share” equipment like steps/benches. Get your own!
  9. When members give me the evil eye when I tell them that they only need a mat and weights. You don’t need every piece of equipment in the room to make it a “good” workout, so put your barbell, body bar, 4 sets of weights and step away. K? Thanks!
  10. Smelly people. Please be courteous of everyone else in the room (which tends to get hot when we are all working hard) and wear deodorant. ’nuff said.

Anyone else feel the same way about any of these?! Any that I missed? What is your BIGGEST pet peeve when you’re at the gym?

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We just got news that our best friend, Sara, is on her way to the hospital to hopefully have her baby soon! If she has it today, my sister and I will head up to Maine after I teach tomorrow!!!!

Wednesday Workout: Discussion time! Compound vs. Isolation Exercises?

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Hey everyone! I do have a workout for you today, but before I get to that, I want to take a minute to talk about something I’ve been thinking about since my SHRED class last Thursday. Compound Exercises vs. Isolation Exercises. What’s the difference, you might ask? Well, simply put (read: VERY simply), compound exercises or movements work more than one muscle or muscle group at a time and isolation exercises work only one muscle or muscle group at a time. Some of my favorite compound exercises are squats with and overhead press, lunges with biceps curls, deadlifts with a row, whereas isolation exercises would be JUST biceps curls or rows.

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(Compound vs. Isolation)

Since compound exercises generally work both upper and lower body muscles, they burn more calories, which is why I tend to teach those types of exercises in my class; “more bang for the buck,” shall I say. Since I only have an hour to teach, including warm up and cool down, I want my members to get the most out of that hour and keep their heart rates up even when we are not doing cardio.

However, last week I changed things up in my SHRED class and decided to focus on isolation exercises. You may remember this Jump Rope & Strength Circuit Workout” that I did at home about a month ago.

Jump Rope and Strength Circuit

I decided to take the basis of this workout- isolation exercises- and change up the cardio to make it doable in my group ex. class. In order to make this work, I switched the 5 minutes of jump rope to 3 minutes of cardio (3 moves at 60 seconds each), while still keeping the strength portion the same (except I replaced one of the triceps exercises to biceps curls). I encourage my members to go HEAVY on the weights for the strength portion since we were only focusing on one muscle/muscle group rather than spreading our energy throughout our whole body to work more than one muscle group.

Since I have gotten to know a bunch of the members in my classes, I know what they usually lift and it was nice to see them go heavier. As much as I love compound movements, I think that when we do them, we usually have to go a little lighter with the weights, but with isolation movements, we can go heavier since we are only focusing on doing ONE thing. This made me wonder: do we lift BETTER and STRONGER and more EFFICIENTLY when we focus on isolation exercises? What do you think?

Personally, I think I do have a better workout when I only focus on one muscle group. If I am just doing biceps curls, or shoulder presses or lunges, I only have to focus on ONE thing, rather than multiple, so I think I can push through and gain better muscle by doing this. When we are doing timed intervals for compound movements, I think one of the exercises tends to suffer; maybe you don’t squat as low in a squat and OH press, maybe you don’t lunge as deep when you are doing lunges with biceps curls, maybe you’re not lifting as heavy weights when you’re doing squats and overhead presses, etc. Now, I am not saying that compound movements are not wonderful ways to get the best “bang for your buck,” but I think we have to be extra careful to not get “messy”.

I want your opinion, though. What do you think? Do you prefer compound exercises or do you prefer to lift heavier and focus on isolation exercises? Does it differ depending on whether you’re in a class or working out on your own? What’s your favorite exercises for compound and isolation exercises? I’m really interested to see if anyone feels the same way as I do.

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I know I promised you a workout, so here is the running workout I did on Monday when I was in Maine!

run + strength training

I ended up running a 5K (3.1 miles), so I saved the 3rd set of 25 rep exercises for when I finished. And then, to make things even (I like 100 much better than 75!), I did a 4th set of the exercises. I finished with some push-ups into side planks, full burpees and stretching. Stretching with Charlie is not easy…

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So, there you go! Let me know if you try this, and let me know what you think about my recent revolation! Enjoy your day, friends 🙂