Tag: BodyPump

Weekly Workouts

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Monday, we meet again! Too soon, might I add. How was your weekend? Mine was pretty good! I didn’t do anything too big or exciting, but it was nice to just be around the apartment and the city… good mix of relaxation and fun things!

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- Ugh, not what I had expected! I was supposed to sub BodyPump, but there was a mix up and a crazy lady ended up teaching it. I didn’t want to be a sore sport, so I stayed and took the class, which was actually good because it reminded me how great BodyPump is for a muscle workout! I ran 1 mile beforehand and did 20 minutes of the elliptical after, as well as stair runs and TRX abs. It was a good workout day!
  • Tuesday- I woke up and did 16 minutes of core and cardio before heading into work. I had my photo shoot with Dan after work, so I wanted to squeeze in a little something. I did 60 seconds of jumping jacks followed by 60 seconds of ab work (all sorts of different exercises) and I repeated that until 16 minutes.
  • Wednesday- I ran 3 miles for National Running Day and then taught a fun UXF Burn class. We are supposed to teach by timed intervals, but I decided I wanted to switch it up so I taught by reps (12) and it was a fun change of pace!

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  • Thursday- I was feeling pretty sore from my workouts on Monday and Wednesday, so I taught a stations workout in SHRED and was able to pick and choose what exercises I wanted to do. It was a really fun workout! Kickboxing was good, but the energy wasn’t there in the class. Hate that!
  • Friday- I did a Deck of Cards workout on my lunch break at home. These workouts seem easy, but they never fail to leave me a sweaty mess at the end!

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  • Saturday- I went to another BodyPump class! I didn’t do any cardio, but I still felt like my heart rate was up the whole workout.
  • Sunday- Since I didn’t do any cardio on Saturday, I went for a run. I bought new running sneaks and wanted to try them out! Plus the weather was perfect for a run. I ended up covering 5 miles, which was a nice surprise! I’m definitely not a distance runner, but sometimes I like to see how far I can run. I could’ve run longer, but decided to not push it!

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This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I am not sure what I am going to do. I might go to the gym after work and do machine cardio and weights, but I might run? Who knows!
  • Tuesday- I am traveling to Atlanta for work and my flight leaves around noon. I might try to get up in the morning and do kickboxing or go for a run or do a Deck of Cards, or I might wait until I get to Atlanta for the workout. My flight leaves at 12:15 and I am traveling alone, so I have plenty of time after I finish up work for the day in the hotel to work out then. My manager said that in the same business complex there is the 8th largest gym in the world and you can get discounted passes from the hotel, so I definitely want to check that out!
  • Wednesday- Likely going to the gym before we are in meetings all day… I can’t wait to try it out and see how big it is! BSCers- I will not be there to teach UXF Burn- George Moore is subbing for me. He’s a hoot- have fun!
  • Thursday- SHRED and Kickboxing… I need to make up a new kickboxing routine!
  • Friday- REST 🙂
  • Saturday- Teaching kickboxing at the YMCA! Always love that class!
  • Sunday- I will be in Maine for Father’s Day and am not sure if I’ll work out or not. It will likely depend on how I’m feeling physically after the week’s workouts.

Questions for you: Did you try any new workouts last week? Do you like to workout when you travel? If so, do you go to the gym or do something in your room?

I Bought A Computer, Bruins game, Apartment Hunting & Day Drinking in the City

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Hey everyone! How has your weekend been? Mine has been pretty good so far. I have to say, the feeling of knowing that I had NO plans that I absolutely had to do was really nice. Like, really nice. I spent yesterday afternoon having cocktails and hanging out with friends in the city and I kept feeling guilty for “hanging out” because there were so many other things I could be doing, but then I gave myself a little pep talk and told myself to relax and enjoy the moment. There was nothing urgent that I had to do; sneaker shopping, cleaning, grocery shopping… those were all things that could wait until later in the day or not at all! I’m just so used to always being on a tight schedule that it takes a bit for me to feel ok with having free time to spend however I want.

Anyway, let’s catch up. As I mentioned yesterday, I was on a mission to find a new computer. Well, I found one and I’m currently blogging from it! I ended up going with a Lenovo, thanks to my work IT department’s suggestion (and Jean, I got excited when you said you had one, too!) and I think I will be very happy with it. As much as I wanted a Mac, I needed to be financially smart about this purchase and try to find something within my budget. Some day I’ll get a Mac, but for now, I think this Lenovo is going to do juuuuust fine! It’s pretty fancy and unlike any computer I’ve ever used (the screen display and settings), but I think I’ll get the hang of it soon enough.

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It’s a pretty fun new toy! After I bought this beauty, I decided to swing by Old Navy since I heard they had cute shorts and bathing suits. I mean, why not keep spending, right? I scored some pretty sweet deals, though! Shorts were on sale for $12.50 each (!!!!) and bathing suits for $10 each. I couldn’t believe it!

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Cute right?! I was happy with what I got and how little I spent! I was also amazed with myself for the fact that not only did I run errands in the pouring rain, but I also tagged along with my sister and her friends for a night in the city! The Bruins were playing game 4 and we thought it would be fun to go to a bar near the garden and watch it there. The lines were incredibly long everywhere, but we were able to get into North Star fairly quickly. I still can’t believe I went!

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Bruins for the win! It was fun being in the midst of all the crazy sports fans, because anyone who knows me knows that I am so far the opposite of that. This was the first game I actually watched all season!

Yesterday morning, I knew I wanted to work out, but wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted t do. I decided to go to the 10am BodyPump class with one of my favorite instructors. Normally, I do cardio before or after BodyPump, but yesterday I opted to just do the class. I went heavy on the weights and it felt great! (well, minus the bar on my back during squats… does anyone else get so uncomfortable during the squat track? Now that I am lifting heavier- 20lbs on each side- the bar really hurts my upper back!).

Post BP, I showered quickly and my sister, Kelly and I headed to East Boston to look at an apartment!!! So exciting that I am finally starting to look at places to rent come September. The whole thing is really stressful (it’s so expensive to live on your own in Boston), but I am excited for the change and to live alone. The apartment was awesome and I actually really liked the area of East Boston that it was in. The only problem was that the bathroom was TINY. Like seriously tiny, BUT the kitchen and back deck did make up for it. I am going to see another one in that building (a little cheaper) next week I think. If any of you have suggestions or know of any open apartments, let me know!

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(Wore my new shorts!)

We grabbed lunch at Jerry Remy’s in the Seaport. The weather had warmed up and we were able to get a table on the deck! Beautiful views!

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We had beers and shared sliders and nachos… calories don’t count on Saturdays 😉

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My friend Jessi met up with us so after we finished eating, we decided to find a new spot to have another drink. We tried to go to the Legal’s roof deck, but it was closed for a private function. Boooo. We ended up going to the Mexican restaurant next door and sat at the bar. They had all the windows wide open so it was almost like we were sitting outside. Such a fun Saturday afternoon!!

I dragged Danielle to the grocery store with me on our way home. Where do you guys usually shop? I like Market Basket because it’s SO cheap, but I’ve been going to Stop n Shop lately because it’s less crowded. We stopped in at the Star Market today and it was SO expensive compared to most grocery stores. Chobani’s were on sale for 88 cents which was the only good thing about that trip. Whomp whomp.

My friend Meredith just posted this fun recipe for chicken tenders so I decided to make some for dinner last night! I didn’t follow her recipe, but it helped me remember that I love making chicken tenders! I also made sweet potato “fries” and had corn on the cob (sorry, it seems like I eat this all the time, but I am obsessed with it lately!!). Fun, easy, healthy Saturday night meal!

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In other news, I need to take a second to say that even though I had a great day yesterday, I had a very heavy heart. Our cousin’s wife passed away yesterday after a long battle with cancer. Katrina and Sean had love like we all dream of having, and I cannot imagine what Sean is going through. Katrina was one of a kind; the most caring, energetic, fun loving, giving, wonderful person whom we will all miss so much. We were lucky enough to share a cabin with the two of them when we were at our other cousin’s wedding in Vermont last September; we were definitely the “fun” cabin. Sending lots of love and support to my cousin, Sean, and everyone else who was lucky enough to know Katrina.

Questions for you: Did you buy anything fun this weekend? Where do you go grocery shopping? Any suggestions for where I should move in September?

Wednesday Workout: Compound Exercises with CrossFit Cardio

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Hey there! How is your week unfolding so far? My photo shoot was re-scheduled for last night, which was SO fun! We shot on Acorn street and all around Beacon Hill and the Esplanade. More on it later 🙂 Before I get into the workout, I have to vent about what happened on Monday night. If you remember, I was supposed to sub a class at the Wellington BSC on Monday night at 5:30. The class was supposed to be BodyPump, but no BodyPump instructors were available to teach, so the permanent instructor got special approval for a format change so that I could teach the class. I had a great supersets workout all planned out, with only minimal cardio since the class is not used to cardio and I was so excited to finally get to sub at that gym (it’s huge, new, awesome and 5 mins from my apartment).

Well, I got there and had my bench and bar and weights all set up, and I was starting to talk to a few members about the slight format change and then all of a sudden, this lady comes running into the room, still in flip-flops and throws her sneakers on MY bench and runs to the stereo going “few I have 1 minute to spare!”. Clearly, I am very confused and I tried to explain it quietly to her, but she was a very vocal, overly expressionate (I don’t think that’s a word, but I am making it up because it fits well) person who felt the need to make the whole thing a bigger deal than necessary. To make a long story short, she was claiming that she was supposed to sub a 5:30 spin class for Nicole. News flash, lady, there is no 5:30 spin class at this gym on Monday’s and Nicole teaches at Central on Monday’s. Anyway, this lady tells the whole class that she has been teaching for “a million years” and asks then asks them if they wanted Pump or “whatever she is going to teach” (pointing at me). Obviously it made more sense for her to teach the real format of the class, but what bothered me is that she just came in and took it from me! And then kept bringing it up all class and was totally inappropriate (throwing her bar down, picking out and picking on the new people, calling light weights “baby” weights, etc.). ANYWAY. Vent over. Instructors- have you ever experienced something like this? Class goers- have you ever had an instructor like this?!

Ok. Let’s get to the workout. I want to do a recap of the discussion from last week’s post on Compound vs. Isolation Exercises, but I haven’t had a chance to spend time put something together… it will come, though! It’s almost ironic that I am posting today’s workout since I just got over telling you how I am loving isolation exercises more than compound exercises at the moment. What can I say? When I can only pick a few exercises to do in a class, I want them to include as many muscle groups as possible! This workout surely did that.

Compound Exercises and CrossFit cardio

Most of this workout is fairly self-explanatory, but if you have questions, obviously ask in the comments or shoot me an email! Ab Roll-Ups might be new to you as they were new to me… Thank you, Women’s Health 🙂 Here’s the explanation and picture for the move: Ab Roll-Up. This is a super tough move for your legs, as it’s so much harder to go from seated to standing, but only using your legs, than you’d think! Make sure you’re not rolling too far on your back so that you’re crunching the back of your neck; only roll to about your shoulder blades/meaty part of your upper back. These ended up taking much longer than I had anticipated, so for the 2nd round, they did just 12 and 6 of each and the last round was just 6 of each.

I ended the class with low and high mountain climbers (4 high knees, then drop down and do 4 mountain climbers. Again, thank you Women’s Health) for 2 minutes and more ab work.  I liked this workout because it included so many different things and my legs literally felt like jello by the end!

Questions for you: What is your biggest pet peeve about instructors (I won’t be offended!!)? Do you like it when they try to make funny jokes when they aren’t funny? What’s your most favorite “new move” as of late?

I’m back!

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Hey everyone! Sorry for being so MIA, but between Dallas and then catching up on work stuff yesterday, I haven’t had much extra free time to blog:(  I talked to my dad today and he asked “so, uh, when do you plan on posting again? Your blog is getting kinda old and boring” gee, thanks, dad! So, I apologize to those of you who are feeling the same way! I will try to make it up to you over the next couple of days. I have a Dallas recap coming, but until I finish that up, I thought I would catch you up on the past couple of days!

Due to the snow yesterday, my two roommates and I all worked from home.  Surprisingly, I was able to stay focused enough to get a good amount of work done.  Around 4pm, my sister asked if she could come to my class… umm, obviously that’s always going to be a YES! I LOVE having familiar faces in class:) I wasn’t sure how busy the gym would be on a snowy, friday night, but I was pleasantly pleased when I had 16 members show up with their game faces on.

024I have to post this workout for you soon because everyone seems to love (err, ok they may hate it while we are doing it, but that’s only because it’s a good one!) it.

Today was my first Saturday in months and months where I wasn’t teaching or doing something else, and I have to say, it was a pretty great feeling to be able to be on my own agenda! I had all intentions of going to the 10am BodyPump class at the Wellington BSC, but I ended up being in the mood to run, so I skipped the class and continued running… 4.25 miles!! Haven’t run that far in quite some time.  After reading Athena’s recent post on drop set workouts, I decided I wanted to give it a try. I only got through a couple of upper body sets before my right shoulder started to bother me.  Ugh, the worst! Anyway, I finished up with some lower body moves and HIIT cardio and then some TRX abs. Have I mentioned how much I am OBSESSED with the TRX bands?!?! I want some for my apartment!

025Going to the grocery store after a long, hard workout is really never a good idea, but I literally drive RIGHT past it so I decided to just stop and get my shopping out of the way today.  I was able to curb my hunger and refrain from snacking my way through the grocery store by grabbing a small coffee.  Dunkin’ Donuts is not my favorite, but it did the trick today!

026I made it out of the grocery store with only ONE splurge item.  Can you pick out what that might be?

028Please tell me I am not the only one who LOVES the Starburst JellyBeans?! Guilty pleasure for sure (mom, don’t forget to put a bag of these in my Easter basket, mmm k?). Also, has anyone seen this?

029Greek yogurt cream cheese?! It was on sale AND I had cream cheese on my grocery list so it was a no brainer to grab a container to try!

As for the rest of the day, I have a couple of blog related things to catch up on, maybe a little shopping and then babysitting for the evening. Hope you all have a wonderful Saturday!! The weather is beautiful today so go out and enjoy it!

Questions for you: What is a guilty splurge for you at the grocery store? Any good workouts to share?