Tag: BodyPump

Catching up {Workouts and Life}

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As I read other healthy living blogs, I’m happy to see that I’m not the only one feeling like there just isn’t enough time in the day or week to accomplish everything on my to-do list. Sometimes blogging just has to take a back seat, and even though I sometimes feel guilty about it or stressed to get posts written, realizing it’s OK to take a break is so refreshing. Sarah wrote a post earlier this week that hit me hard. It was as if I was writing it myself! I’m finding myself in a recent job change, increasing love for fitness and teaching and no longer just being on my own. Being in a serious relationship and moving to that “we” thing is awesome, but it’s also a big change for someone who hasn’t had that in a longggg time. My normal blogging time and teaching time and “Monique” time is just not the same as it used to be and I wouldn’t change that for the world. As we grow up, our priorities change, right? It’s such an exciting time, but sometimes it can be a little stressful! Sarah’s post was a great reminder to not let myself get stressed out over these types of changes, but to embrace them and live life. Blogging will always be here, but random nights with the bf or friends of family won’t- it’s more important to DO those things, rather than sit at home, writing a post because it’ll “screw up my schedule” if I don’t.

And, with that, let’s catch up on some stuff!

Workouts- Last week

Last week was my last week teaching my Thursday night double, which was totally bittersweet! On top of that, RM and I headed to Chicago with some friends so my weekend workouts were a bit different than usual. Overall, though, it was a great week of workouts. We did SO MUCH WALKING when in Chicago. Our hotel was about a mile from all the action (just in the wrong part of the city), so getting to and from anywhere was at least a 2 mile walk.

    • Monday- After work, I ran 3.5 miles and then did the workout listed at the bottom of this workout post. I kinda died a little…

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    • Tuesday- I went to a BodyPump during work since I had a hair appointment after work. What is it about BodyPump that gets me every time?!
    • Wednesday- I ran 3.5 miles on the treadmill before teaching (and doing most of) UXF Burn. I’m not sure what we did to get so dirty?

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    • Thursday- Last double:( In SHRED, we did 3 rounds of stations and then we did some across the floor cardio and partner ab stuff. We had a big group and everyone seemed to enjoy it! Kickboxing had it’s biggest crowd to date and we worked super hard!

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    • Friday- Nothing. We had an early flight so there was definitely no morning workout for me! We did do some walking, though.
    • Saturday- I got up and ran 4 miles, although I think my mapmyrun GPS wasn’t working because it was saying I was running all sub 8 minute miles… highly doubt that! After, I did some core work at the gym and then RM wanted to go for a walk so we went on about a 45 minute loop- we were walking so fast!

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    • Sunday- We had all intentions of going to the gym at the spa before our massages, but a late lunch got in the way of that. I did walk for about an hour in the morning while getting breakfast and Architecture tour tickets.

Catching Up- Life

The past couple of weeks have been so busy!! I feel like I’m on auto-pilot going from one thing to the next. Anyone else feel this way? I have a full recap of Chicago coming soon, but besides that, here are some things going on:

  • My garden is growing so much! Over the past couple of weeks I have picked kale and green beans, and both taste so fresh!

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  • I recently started reading The One and Only by Emily Griffin for a book club that my college friends and I started. It’s really just an excuse to get together to drink wine, but we decided to throw a book in the mix, too!

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  • I had to buy new Tom’s when walking around in Chicago and I’m actually happy about it because I’ve been meaning to buy a new pair for a while now. Love this blue!

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  • I’m heading to the Cape this weekend with RM and his brother, sister-in-law and their 1 year old son. I think the weather is supposed to be crappy… why can’t it be nice when I have time to go to the beach?!
  • My parents are coming next weekend for my mom’s birthday- any good meal suggestions?

Questions for you: When’s the last time you skipped workout for sleep? Have you had any garden-fresh veggies this summer? Do you read Emily Griffin books? Are you in a book club?

This Week: Workouts, “The Truth Behind the Juice” & Things I’m Looking Forward To

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Hi there! How was your 4th of July? The rain may have cancelled some plans, but it didn’t ruin the long weekend- more on that later 🙂

I still cannot believe it’s July 7th- can you?! This is another crazy busy month: bachelorette party this weekend, BBQ the weekend after and Chicago the last weekend in July, but again, it’s all fun stuff so I really can’t complain!

Before I get to my workout recap, I wanted to share an article with you related to juicing. As you’ve probably seen or heard, juicing has recently become a new trend in the Boston area. Well, maybe not entirely “new”, but up until fairly recently, juice bars were few and far between. Boston Magazine’s Health Editor recently wrote an article called: The Truth Behind Green Juices, which has a lot of interesting facts behind juicing and what should be included in your “green juice”. Definitely worth a read if you’re looking into incorporating more juices in your diet.

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I didn’t have to teach last Monday so I ran 4 miles (in the blistering heat!!) after work and did all of Kim’s stability ball exercises– loved them!

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  • Tuesday- I went to a new gym with some co-workers during lunch to go to a BodyPump class. Sadly, the class was not very good! Don’t get me wrong- I totally felt it the next day (holy quads and hamstrings and chest!), but the normal instructor was not teaching since she was letting a trainee teach the class in order to be videoed for her certification. The poor trainee was just not good. In BodyPump, you need to be able to catch a rhythm and go along to the beat and this girl just didn’t have it in her. I had a really hard time staying with her pace since it was so off compared to the music… so frustrating!
  • Wednesday- I ended up subbing the 5:30 Sports Conditioning class and did the workout with them. It was only 2 girls and they wanted to do glute and core work so we did some cardio and lots of glute and core stuff- it was a good workout! I taught my UXF burn class after- great crowd and we worked HARD. It was awesome!
  • Thursday- My classes were cancelled due to the holiday so I got up and did 45 minutes of kickboxing followed by 15 minutes of core work in my kitchen before heading to the Cape.
  • Friday- Since the rain held off until much later in the day, I was able to get in a 4 mile jog first thing in the morning. Felt great!

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  • Saturday- Saturday was my active rest day. I thought about doing one of the at-home workouts I posted last week, but decided to skip it. RM agreed to go for a walk with me and we ended up covering 5 miles!! Not a super fast pace, but it was a great active- rest day activity! I followed it up with some squats and core work and push-ups.
  • Sunday- We ended up leaving the Cape early so after the beach, I went for a run. I wanted to do 4 miles but ended up doing 5, which is always a nice surprise!

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I will have taught my 6am Muscle Work class and have done some cardio by the time this goes up. My sister and I have plans to go for a walk after work, too.
  • Tuesday- I think I’m going to go back to that new gym and try the BodyPump class again. My co-workers said the owner is subbing, so it should be much better!
  • Wednesday- The 5:30 instructor, Melissa, is subbing this class for me since I covered hers last week. I’m not sure what I will do for a workout, but I have something after work so I’ll have to do something before work or during the day.
  • Thursday- Back to my Thursday double!
  • Friday- I’m heading to Nantucket for Sheila’s bachelorette party on the 11am Ferry, so if I’m feeling up to it, I’ll try to sneak in a quickie workout before making the trek there.
  • Saturday and Sunday- I will be on Nantucket with a bunch of girls so I’m not sure what my workouts will look like. One day will be a rest day, but on the other I’d love to do something. Maybe some of the girls would want to join me?!

Things I’m Looking Forward To

Sheila’s Nantucket bachelorette party- duh!! I don’t know if I’ve ever been to Nantucket, and going with the group of girls that I’m going with will surely make it a fun first trip! I don’t know all the details of the weekend, but I can only imagine there will be plenty of shenanigans! I’m hoping the weather is nice because we’ll definitely be beaching it.

Questions for you: Do you “juice”? What’s your favorite healthy “green” juice? What was your best workout last week? Do you get annoyed when instructors are not on the beat in a class where it’s really important to be on the beat? Have you been to Nantucket? Any good bar recommendations?

This Week: Workouts, Schedule & What I’m Looking Forward To

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Hi there! Can you believe it’s Christmas week?! Shockingly enough, I feel like I have been able to enjoy the season this year. I decorated my apartment, I’ve attended Christmas parties and I’ve spent Sunday afternoons totally enjoying ABC Family Christmas movies (please tell me I’m not the only one who has a guilty pleasure watching those cheesy movies!). But, with that said, I still can’t believe that Christmas is in 3 days. I can’t wait!

Since it’s a holiday week and I’ll be home in Maine for most of it, my workouts will be a little different than usual, but that’s good sometimes!

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I subbed a kickboxing class at the Watertown BSC. As I’ve been subbing more lately, I’ve realized how “trained” my members are who come to my permanent classes. Those members come week after week and are always ready for the crazy things I throw at them, however, when I sub, I am reminded that those members are not used to me and I need to tone it down a little so that people don’t feel overwhelmed. It’s weird!
  • Tuesday- I had all intentions of going to the gym after work to run on the treadmill, but when I got to the gym, they told me they were closing in 20 minutes. I had plans that night and was getting picked up at a certain time so by the time I trucked my way home through the snow, I had 10 minutes to do something. I could’ve skipped it all together, but I really needed to get some energy out so I did 10 minutes of random cardio moves. Wasn’t a lot, but it was better than nothing!

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  • Wednesday- I got up and worked out before work. I did a full body tabata workout and it was awesome!

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25 Days of Christmas

  • Friday- Rest day!
  • Saturday- I did 20 minutes on the elliptical, 10 minutes of abs and then BodyPump. It was awesome.
  • Sunday- I ran the Jingle Bell 5K with my sister! This was my 6th year running the race and I still have to say it is one of my most favorite races. What made it even more special was the fact that my sister ran it with me… as her first race! so proud!

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This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I have dinner plans after work so by the time this is published, I will have finished an at-home workout. Maybe this workout or maybe all 3 of my holiday series workouts (this, this, and this).
  • Tuesday- I am heading home to Maine on the 9am train so my plan is to try and get my workout done before that, but we will see.
  • Wednesday- It’s Christmas, so I am not sure if I’ll get a workout in or not. If there’s snow, I would love to go snow shoeing or cross country skiing with my mom!
  • Thursday- If the YMCA near my parent’s house is open, I may try to get to a class or do my own workout there. Otherwise, an at home workout.
  • Friday- Definitely trying to get to a class!
  • Saturday- There’s a great 1.5 hour cardio cross training class at the YMCA that I would love to get to before heading back to MA
  • Sunday- Pending on my workouts earlier in the week will determine whether or not I’ll workout on Sunday.

Schedule

This is a fun week because A.- there’s only 1 real day of work for me and B.- it’s Christmas so that means I get to go home to Maine for longer than usual! I am heading home on Tuesday morning and will be there until Saturday. It will be so nice to get out of the city for some extended R&R.

Things I’m Looking Forward To

Gosh. So much! Dinner at the Palm on Monday will be fun and I can’t wait to take the train home. We host a party on Christmas Eve with a bunch of family friends and it’s pretty much my favorite night of the year. We drink lots of bubbly, enjoy lots of homemade pizzas and laugh so much. I can’t wait!

Questions for you: Do you plan to workout over the holidays? What’s your favorite Christmas tradition? What are you looking forward to the most this week?

Weekly Workouts: Awesome on the road workouts & finally back at teaching!

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I have to say, it feels pretty darn good knowing that I don’t have to travel for work this week! I need to soak it in because next week I will be in Dallas from Tuesday-Thursday and then I am flying directly to Chicago for a long weekend getaway. This week/weekend is also a bit crazy, but all of the craziness is good stuff, so I can’t really complain 🙂

Last week, I was in Ohio for my workouts on Monday and Tuesday, but both workouts were strong and didn’t feel like “on the road” or hotel room workouts which is always a plus! I was really excited to get back to teaching, though, which I think was a little scary for my members 😉

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I often workout in my hotel room because it can save 10 minutes or more of my morning by eliminating the travel time to the gym and equipment set up time. I’m all about efficiency in the morning and sleeping for as long as possible, so extra sleep and a hotel room workout generally trump all else. With that said, I knew I would have more time on Monday morning to workout so I decided to head to the gym. I ran 3 miles on the treadmill and then completed a short strength circuit, including the Monday and Tuesday moves for the Fall Into Fitness challenge that I am participating in. Loved the Monkey Curls!

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  • Tuesday- I completed a 25 rep core and cardio workout that I will post for you this week. No equipment necessary and even with a warm up, I finished in 28 minutes. Win, win if you ask me!

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  • Wednesday- I was finally back in the gym!!! I ran a 5K on the treadmill before teaching a killer UXF Burn class. I did the usual format that my class enjoys (Face off, but staying in their own spots) and after the Strength & Core exercises, we did 10 burpee tuck jumps. By the end of class, we did 100 burpees!
  • Thursday- I taught SHRED and Kickboxing. Felt good to be back for my double.
  • Friday- I did not have a great day on Friday and when I have bad days I usually like to workout, but I knew I should rest since I was teaching kickboxing on Saturday, so I drank wine instead… while doing my Fall Into Fitness Bridge & Crunch move. Whoops.

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  • Saturday- I taught a fun kickboxing class at the Oak Square YMCA. There were 33 people in class and the energy was so high- I was in instructor heaven. Judging by Jen’s Facebook status, it was a good workout for them, too!

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  • Sunday- I decided I wanted to try the “Y Pump” at the East Boston YMCA. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I love BodyPump and have been working on increasing my strength workouts so since I was around yesterday morning, I decided to try it out (it was hard to not just go to the 11am BodyPump class at the Wellington, BSC, though, since I know what to expect there!). The class ended up being awesome! We did a lot of reps and I really struggled to finish a number of the sets. In addition to the bars, we also used a band, something I don’t do often. I was sore by the end of the day yesterday, so I’m sure that will continue today!

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- To be honest, I am not sure! Since I did weights yesterday, I’ll probably focus more on cardio today. I hate that it’s getting colder and darker out after workout because I loved my Monday night runs!
  • Tuesday- Pending on whether or not I’m still sore from Sunday, I would like to do a lower or upper body strength workout. If I am still sore, I’ll do a core-focused workout.
  • Wednesday- The usual: cardio and then teaching UXF Burn.
  • Thursday- Another usual: SHRED and Kickboxing. I may bring back a circuit/stations workout this week since it’s been a while since I’ve done that!
  • Friday- Rest day? I am babysitting after work and since I’m teaching on Saturday again, a rest day is perfect.
  • Saturday- Teaching kickboxing again at the Oak Square YMCA. Since I will be in Chicago next weekend, which was my weekend to teach, the other instructor was nice enough to switch with me so I wouldn’t miss out on a class. Thanks, Amy!
  • Sunday- I have a feeling this will be a rest day, too. My weekend is: babysitting Friday night, teaching Saturday morning, heading to ME for the afternoon and then heading back to MA for a gym friend’s party so I think by Sunday, I am going to be exhausted!

Questions for you: Do you like trying new classes at the gym or do you stick to the classes you know will be a good workout? What was your best workout last week?

Weekly Workouts: A lighter/less intense week of workouts

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Happy Monday, friends. I feel like I was ripped off this past weekend since I lost half of my Sunday due to work travel. I’m currently in Ohio until late on Tuesday night. In all honesty, though, I’d rather lose half a Sunday instead of missing classes this week. I hated missing my classes last week… I haven’t taught since October 12th!!!

Since I was home in Maine for a workout as well as North Carolina for one and didn’t teach my Thursday double, I felt like my workouts weren’t as intense as they generally are. But, you know what? That’s ok! It’s good for you to give your body a rest from intense workout, after intense workout, after intense workout… and even though I know this, I am the first to admit that I don’t always do that. It’s almost nice when I have a schedule that forces me to slow down and not be able to follow my usual workout schedule.

With that said, let’s talk about the workouts!

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I was home in Maine and I did Athena’s 10-12-15 Workout, which was a great way to start the day! I finally got some weights, so I was excited to use them! I did combos of high knees, butt kicks, jumping jacks and jump squats for the 2 minute cardio bursts. I did each circuit 3 times through!
  • Tuesday- I had a 2:30 flight, meaning I worked from home in the morning. Before I started work, I went for a 3.5 mile run and then did some abs and my Fall Into Fitness moves for Tuesday and Wednesday since I wasn’t sure I’d have access to weights at the hotel on Wednesday.

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  • Wednesday- I did a 30 minute hotel room, no weights workout before heading to our client site. It consisted of 5 minutes of cardio, 5 minutes of core and 5 minutes of strength and I repeated that 2 times. I’ll post it for you later… promise! 🙂

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  • Thursday- My work trip got cut short, so I could have taught my double on Thursday, but since I had already gotten a sub for both classes and had planned on going to my favorite instructor’s kickboxing class in Wellington, I decided to keep the subs and go with my original plan. During the day, I did some strength training since I usually do on Thursdays and then I went to kickboxing. It was… good… but not as good as I remembered and I left the gym really wishing I would’ve just taught my double instead 😦 I did get some new combo ideas, which was the point of me going, I just didn’t get the intense workout I was hoping for. Oh well!
  • Friday- I usually rest on Friday’s, but since my workouts hadn’t been overly intense and I felt physically ready to do something, I went for a 3 mile jog. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and I ran fast for some odd reason.
  • Saturday- I went to the gym with the intention of going to BodyPump, but the class was absolutely packed and there were not enough bars and plates for everyone so, as an instructor, I felt like I should give up my equipment since I could do my own strength workout much more easily than someone who needs a class in order to work out. I did a full body strength workout and finished with my favorite: TRX abs! I also talked to a personal trainer about potentially doing some training sessions. We get a discount as an instructor and I feel like in order to take my lifting to the next level, I need someone instructing and pushing me to ensure I’m safe and lifting to my potential.

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New Lulu is always a sure motivator to get to the gym, right?! Or, any new workout clothes for that matter.

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  • Sunday- I wanted to go for a jog or walk because it was beautiful, but I slept until 9am (!!!!) and had to leave at 2 for the airport and had a million other things to do that took precedence over a workout. That’s ok, though. A rest day was probably a good idea! (I did do my seated rows for the Fall Into Fitness challenge!)

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- Pending on what the hotel gym looks like and/or what time we need to be at the client site, I may go to the gym, or I may do kickboxing in my room or something else in my room.
  • Tuesday- Same thing as Monday 🙂
  • Wednesday- Cardio and then TEACHING!!! I’ve missed it so much, so members, just a heads up: I might be crazier than usual 😉
  • Thursday- Finally back to my Thursday double! I have a new format I want to teach in SHRED and then I’ll bring in some new combos to kickboxing, too.
  • Friday- I am not sure! If I feel like I need rest, I will, otherwise I’ll try to squeeze something in.
  • Saturday- Teaching kickboxing at the Oak Square YMCA.
  • Sunday- rest? maybe? again, it will depend on how I feel.

Questions for you: Do you feel like you have a hard time finding or making time for a workout? Do you have home gym equipment?