Tag: BSC

This Week: Workouts, Things I’m Looking Forward To & January Challenge Recap

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Hi there! Anyone feeling like they had a little too much fun watching the Super Bowl yesterday? Did anyone try out the workout or follow any of the tips I gave yesterday? I would have, but I went to Barry’s Bootcamp and had my ass (pardon me) literally handed to me (in the best way possible).

Speaking of workouts…

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I went to the gym in my new office building after work and completed a REALLY good workout. It’s worth a try!

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  • Tuesday- I am trying out a bunch of different classes at the gym in my new building, so I went to the 11:30am 30 minute Muscle Mix class and loved it! There were about 12 or 13 of us in class, which impressed me for a work gym. Granted, International Place (between One and Two) has a ton of employees, so I guess it kind of makes sense, but still, it made me so happy to see such a busy gym during the day!
  • Wednesday- Ugh. Don’t get me started. I was uncomfortably sore from my workouts on Monday and Tuesday and literally had NO motivation to go to the gym. Had I not been teaching, I would have called it a rest day. Alas, I had to teach, so I walked for 25 minutes on the treadmill to try and get me pumped up and then taught UXF Burn. There were 25 people with loads of energy which totally helped me get into the workout mood. It’s amazing what the energy from a group of hard working people can do 😉
  • Thursday- I felt better on Thursday and was looking forward to teaching, but it was weird because I’m usually dead after my double and am usually a sweaty beast, but for some reason I wasn’t. I don’t know if it was because the workouts were easy (hardly doubt that) or if it was just a way of my body telling me it didn’t want to work (probably this). Needless to say, I was happy for my rest day on Friday!
  • Friday- Rest!
  • Saturday- Taught kickboxing at the Oak Square YMCA. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… this class makes my week. Thank you to everyone who comes out and gives it their all!

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  • Sunday- Barry’s Bootcamp probably wasn’t a great idea this week as I was feeling rundown from my workouts, but I paid and agreed to it before I started feeling rundown so I couldn’t really back out of it (wasn’t about to lose $28….). I ended up being able to power through and loved it… more on that later!

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This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I’m not sure what I’ll do today. It may be a rest day if I’m super sore from Barry’s Bootcamp.
  • Tuesday- I’ll probably go to the 11:30 muscle class again if I don’t have any calls. I liked that!
  • Wednesday- Probably a run and then teaching UXF Burn.
  • Thursday- Two-a-day! SHRED and Kickboxing. Last week I had 4 guys in kickboxing- it was amazing! I hope they come back!
  • Friday- Rest day. I’ll be home in Maine working from there 🙂
  • Saturday- My sister and I are going to go to the 9am class at the Sanford/Springvale YMCA before we get our hair cut!
  • Sunday- Not sure. A lot will depend on how I’m feeling and how my workouts looked earlier in the week. If my parents have enough snow to snowshoe, I may do that.

Things I’m Looking Forward To

Going home!!! I think part of the reason I felt off last week was because I just need to go home to recharge my batteries. I haven’t been home since Christmas and my life since Christmas has been pretty crazy between teaching a lot of classes, blogging, keeping up a social life, work, etc., so I’m looking forward to going home, spending time with my parents, having home cooked meals and just getting a little TLC.

January Burpee & Push-Up Challenge {Recap}

So, how did everyone do with the recap? I know some of you did a lot better than I did. I have to be honest here: I didn’t finish out the challenge. I hate not finishing things, but I just couldn’t do it this week. If you count the number of push-ups I did in Barry’s Bootcamp and the number of burpees I did all week, I definitely got to 100 (or more!) of each, but I needed rest on Friday and then didn’t have the energy after kickboxing on Saturday or after bootcamp on Sunday, so…. I didn’t do week 4 of the challenge. I was feeling guilty, but realized it’s OK to not finish things if you’re not feeling up to it. I improved my time from week 1 to week 2, which I was proud of and is what I’ve decided to focus on.

However! I want to hear from you- did you finish the challenge? Did you beat your time? More importantly, did you feel stronger in week 4 than you did in week 1? Jen Ryder has been seriously killing this challenge and I am SO PROUD of her for giving it her all every week and continuously beating her time. Dana was able to do all of the push-ups on her feet, which I think is amazing (my goal this year is to get better at push-ups). Does anyone else have anything they want to brag about? Now’s your time!! You worked so hard and deserve to get the recognition for it!

On that note….

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Do you guys think you want me to do another challenge like this in the future? What would you like to see included in the challenge? What was your favorite part about this challenge? What was the most challenging aspect for you?

Make this week great, friends!

This Week: Workouts, Things I’m Looking Forward To, & Week 3 of the January Challenge Check-In

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Hi there! Happy Monday! I hope you’re all feeling refreshed after the weekend.

At the beginning of last week, I was feeling bored with my workouts. I don’t really know why, because I feel like it was just a few weeks ago where I said my workouts left me really sore, so that must mean I’ve been doing different things, right? Whatever the reason for having that feeling, it went away just a few days into the week. Between subbing a class, doing an at-home workout and going to my first class at Recycle Studio, I had a fun-filled week of fitness by the end of it!

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I did 20 minutes on the cross trainer before doing 10 minutes of abs and teaching kickboxing at the Watertown BSC.
  • Tuesday- It was my plan to go to the gym after work, but by the time I left work it was freezing cold, windy and snowy, so I opted to take advantage of a non-teaching day and head right home after work to do an at-home workout. I based it off of this workout from Athena. I obviously didn’t row, but I did 2 minutes of cardio and core supersets in place of the rowing. My chest was so sore on Wednesday!

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  • Wednesday- I ran 3.5 miles before teaching a packed UXF Burn class. Dana asked for a hard workout and although I planned it before  her request, I think it still ended up being pretty hard!
  • Thursday- I taught SHRED and Kickboxing. I based my SHRED workout off of what I did at home on Tuesday night, and although it was a good workout, it didn’t pump me up while teaching it. Fitness instructors- do any of you ever experience this? You do a workout on your own and love it, but don’t love to teach it? Hmmm.
  • Friday- Rest day! Besides my normal walk to and from work… I had an exciting meeting that I’ll share more about with you later 😉
  • Saturday- I took a “Reboot” ride with my friend Lindsay at Recycle Studio.

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  • Sunday- I went to Exhale Spa for one of their Core Fusion Barre classes. Since I bought the Guilt 3 class pass, I wanted to try out different classes. Last week was yoga, this week was Barre. I liked the class, but I think I like Pure Barre better!

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I’m not sure what I feel like doing after work today! I received a 3-week pass to the gym in my new office building and they offer a ton of classes so I may try something there during or after work or I may head to spin at the East Boston YMCA. After my class with Linsday, though, I’m not sure I can go back to regular ol’ spinning!
  • Tuesday- I have plans after work so I’ll get up and probably do some strength training in the morning.
  • Wednesday- The usual: running and then teaching UXF Burn.
  • Thursday- Again, the usual: teaching SHRED and Kickboxing
  • Friday- Rest- but maybe some yoga when I work from home.
  • Saturday- Teaching kickboxing at the Oak Square YMCA.
  • Sunday- I may be running a 5k in Cambridge with some BSC gym friends. If I don’t do that, I’ll do something else since I think it’s the Super Bowl and even though I don’t watch football, I’ll probably be around people who do… and eating football food (whatever that means… I’m pretty sure it’s not healthy…), so a workout before that is not a bad idea.

Things I’m Looking Forward To

I think I’m getting together with someone on Tuesday after work. We talked about going grocery shopping and cooking dinner, which is one of my favorite things to do! I’m also looking forward to hopefully running a 5K this weekend and then rewarding myself with food, drinks and friends while pretending to watch watching football.

January Burpee and Push-Up Challenge- Week 3 Check-In

I have to be honest with you guys. I did NOT want to do the challenge yesterday. I had gone to a barre class and showered and was feeling super relaxed when I got home and the LAST thing I wanted to do was get out of my peaceful mood and bust out 100 push-ups and burpees.  We also did a LOT of push-ups in the barre class, so  the thought of doing more was daunting. I don’t get like this very often, but when I do, I try to honor my body and myself. My friend, Jen, posted on Facebook that she did the challenge for week 3, but not for time because her legs were tired from snowboarding. I was so proud of her for acknowledging this and modifying for it. It’s important to push ourselves, but we also need to know when to call it quits, right? So, I copied Jen and did the challenge last night, but not for time. I modified the burpees (didn’t do the jump at the top) and did the push-ups on my knees and with multiple breaks within each set of 25. I’m happy that I listened to my body and took the challenge down a notch. I know I’m guilty of getting wrapped up in doing things as fast as I can all the time, so it was a big thing for me to slow down, achieve the challenge, but leave behind the competition with myself. It made for a much more enjoyable experience!

I want to hear from you- Week 3 of the challenge… how did you do?  Did you push yourself this week or did you do it without a goal or time? What was the hardest or easiest part for you this week? We’ve got one week left and I hope you’re all going to stick with me until the end!

Questions for you: Did you make it to the gym in the snow storm or did you opt for an at-home workout? Did you try any new workouts this week?

This Week: Workouts, What I’m Looking Forward To & January Challenge {Week 2} Check-In

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Hi there! Happy Monday 🙂 Anyone have today off? I wish I did, but, alas, I am working and teaching. I hope your weekend was a good mix of everything you needed/wanted. Mine certainly was! I don’t know what I did differently with my workouts last week, but holy moly did they leave me sore! I ended up resting on Tuesday and Friday, yet I felt more sore than I did on weeks where I would have maybe worked out 6 or 7 days. I guess that just goes to show you that quality generally trumps quantity. While I like to sweat or do something active most days (mentally, I really need/like it… it’s my “me” time), I would take quality workouts on fewer days during the week than a week full of “meh” workouts every day. Anyone else feel this way?

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I went to the East Boston YMCA for spin. It was a sub, but it was a nice change and I liked the different things we did. I had time before the class so I did some biceps, shoulder and back strength training and did some core after class. I had decided I was going to rest on Tuesday, so I wanted to get a good workout in on Monday.
  • Tuesday- Rest day. I was still feeling sick on Monday and knew that if I wanted to workout on Tuesday, it would have to be in the morning, so I decided that sleep was more important than a workout. Guess what? I woke up feeling much, much better. Funny thing about that….
  • Wednesday- Because of my rest day on Tuesday, I was AMPED to workout and to teach. Seriously. I was looking forward to it all day. I ran a 5K and then taught UXF Burn. I joked that I hadn’t done squats in so long… and by the way my glutes and legs felt on Thursday, I wasn’t joking!

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  • Thursday- I taught a really fun SHRED class where we did all sorts of exercises across the floor. It was so fun and left my legs and upper body feeling like jello after class and incredibly sore on Friday. I also taught kickboxing, which was a good challenge for me because out of a class of 16, 12 of them had never done kickboxing or really worked out before. This was a great practice for my patience and my teaching/instructing skills. Since my “regulars” are so used to my teaching, I feel like I get off pretty easy because I don’t have to verbally instruct/coach/cue as much, so it was good for me to be taken out of my comfort/”cruise control” teaching zone and bring it back to the basics.
  • Friday- Rest! To try and loosen up my muscles I did about 25 minutes of yoga in my apartment, which ended up leaving my shoulders and triceps sore on Saturday… haha whoops!
  • Saturday- Taught another sweaty class at the Oak Square YMCA! There were almost 50 people in there again and we worked hard… I was so sore on Sunday!
  • Sunday- I went to a Power Yoga class at Exhale Spa. I got a Guilt deal so I was excited to go to yoga to stretch after a week of intense workouts. The class made me, again, realize how badly I need more yoga in my life. My hamstrings and hips are so tight!

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- Subbing the 6:30 kickboxing class at the Watertown BSC! If you’re around, come sweat with me!
  • Tuesday- I am not sure… I usually seem to have after work plans on Tuesdays, but I don’t have anything planned as of yet so I may head to the gym for a weight session after work.
  • Wednesday- Probably running and then teaching UXF Burn.
  • Thursday- SHRED and then kickboxing. Any suggestions for formats/exercises you’d like to do??
  • Friday- Rest day! Maybe some at-home yoga since I think that’s a nice way to stretch on an off day.
  • Saturday- I’m taking a class at Recycle Studio with my friend, Lindsay, who is a new instructor there. I am SO excited, but kind of nervous to take a class at a “fancy” type of spin studio.
  • Sunday- Maybe yoga again? I liked that last week!

Things I’m Looking Forward To

I think one of the things I’m most looking forward to is going to Lindsay’s class. I feel like it’s going to make me finally cross over into the “I love spinning/cycling” world. I might be getting dinner with my friend Meaghan, which would be great since we haven’t seen each other in so long. Lastly, I’m excited to see my sister this weekend. She was in NYC last weekend and it was weird to not hang out!

January Burpee & Push-Up Challenge: Week 2 Recap

Time for week 2 check in!! How did everyone do this week? I know that Jen Ryder absolutely rocked and beat her time from week 1 by over 4 minutes!! I am so impressed! Dana also sent her time to me (I love seeing all of your posts on Facebook– it’s a great motivator!), which is so impressive because she can do push-ups like a champ. Seriously. I wish I had that type of upper body strength!

I wasn’t sure if I was going to get mine in, to be honest. I planned for it on Friday, but I was so sore from Thursday’s classes, that I skipped it. Then, I was going to do it on Saturday after teaching kickboxing, but clearly that was a silly idea since I’m always beat after that class. That left Sunday… but after yoga and showering and puttering, it’s the last thing I wanted to do. But… I did it! And, somehow, I beat my time by 30 seconds. The secret? I think it’s because I opted to do more reps in each set: 40, 40, 20. By doing this, it eliminated the transition time from 4 transitions to 3, so that has to have been it? I don’t know, but I’ll take it. Maybe next week I’ll shoot for 50 and 50! The push-ups still sucked more than the burpees, oddly enough. IMG_6467

I want to hear from you! Did you do week 2 of the challenge? How did your time compare this week to last week? What’s the last exercise/workout that left you really sore? What are you looking forward to this week?

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

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Hi there! It feels weird starting a “regular” week… one that requires me to go into the office. I went almost 4 days without wearing a stitch of makeup or getting out of my Lulu, and as awesome as that was, I am ready to be back on a regular schedule where I get up, get dressed, wear makeup and do the whole “commuting to work thing”.

I will say, though, that last week was the perfect week to work from home; the weather was frigid on Monday and it was rainy and gross on Tuesday and Wednesday. I wasn’t mad at all for staying inside alllll day. Even though it would’ve been easy to stay inside and do “at-home” workouts last week, I did force myself to get to the gym for social interaction and a little fresh air.

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I was supposed to sub a kickboxing class at the Watertown BSC, but there was some confusion (I was subbing for a sub… confusing, I know) and as I started to introduce myself, the instructor walked in. I was bummed that I wasn’t able to teach (all day, I had been looking forward to my kickboxing workout because I had LOTS of energy to burn and knew my kickboxing class does the trick), but I decided to take the class with the hopes that I could get some new stuff. Unfortunately, I wasn’t too crazy about the style of class and my heart rate barely got up. Womp, womp. Normally, I would let this totally bum me out (“ugh, I can’t believe I just wasted an hour at the gym with a bad workout” types of thoughts), but I tried to put a positive spin on the situation and it really helped. Yeah, it wasn’t my best workout, BUT it was better than nothing and maybe it was a sign for me to slow it down for the day.
  • Tuesday- I didn’t want to leave the house at all, but I forced myself to get to the gym because I was really in the mood for a treadmill run. I ran 4 (slow-ish) miles and did about 30 minutes of strength and core work before calling it a day.

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This was my “I didn’t want to leave the house” face.

  • Wednesday- My UXF Burn class was cancelled for the holiday, but I had the opportunity to sub the 5:30 Sports Conditioning class. I pulled out an old workout and was happy that it was a good “butt-kicker”. As we were doing our bench pop-overs, I had the class think about their workout “mantra”, and suggested using Thanksgiving motivation: “I’m working out for ______ (pumpkin pie, stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey, etc.),” which was kind of fun!
  • Thursday- I did my I’m Thankful” Workout, and was happy to see that others did it, too (via Facebook and Twitter)!

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  • Friday- Rest day! It had been a while since I had a full rest day, and since I was sore from Thursday’s workout, it was perfect timing. We did a little walking around Kennebunkport, but that’s about it!
  • Saturday- I taught kickboxing at the Oak Square YMCA and had a special treat since my sister was there! My favorite part was at the end when everyone was literally GROANING during the ab section. They told me they had lots of Thanksgiving indulgences to work off, so I was really just catering to them 😉
  • Sunday- I went to my favorite Sunday strength class: “Y Pump”. After a cardio day on Saturday, I love Sunday’s as solely strength.

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This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I think for the first time in a while, I will head to the gym right after work! I’ll probably do a heavy cardio and abs day, with the anticipation of doing a primarily weights day on Tuesday.
  • Tuesday- Probably just weights!
  • Wednesday- The usual: cardio and teaching UXF Burn
  • Thursday- Teaching SHRED and Kickboxing… excited to be back for my double!
  • Friday- Probably a rest day since I’m teaching kickboxing on Saturday.
  • Saturday- Teaching kickboxing.
  • Sunday- It’s my sister’s birthday on Saturday, so pending on how I feel on Sunday will determine whether or not I’ll work out. I love my Sunday “Y Pump” class 🙂

Schedule

My schedule is wideeee open this week and I’m really looking forward to having my “regular” schedule back . My sister’s birthday is on Saturday, so the Shapleigh girls (and Jessi) are going to the Top of the Hub for cocktail hour and then dinner at Vlora on Friday night. I haven’t been to the Top of the Hub in a long time, and Mediterranean food is one of my favorites! Saturday Danielle and Amy are celebrating their birthdays at Scholar’s and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone! My friend Lauren’s Christmas party is on Saturday, too, so if I can get my act together, I’ll try to get there before going to the bar!

Things I’m looking forward to

As much as I love indulging on food and drinks, I am excited to get back to my regular eats and not drinking during the week schedule. I can’t wait to celebrate Danielle and Amy’s birthdays anddddd I think I am going to get my Christmas tree and decorate my apartment next weekend!!!

Questions for you: Do you have to force yourself to the gym when it’s gross weather? Have you ever been to the Top of the Hub? What are you looking forward to this week?

Weekly Workouts: Lots of Teaching {and preparing for Dallas & Chicago}

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Hi there! Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Mine was busy, but really fun. Friday night I babysat and Saturday I taught kickboxing, drove to NH for a family friend’s surprise 60th (more on that later!) and then came back to MA for a gym friends party at Athena’s. I love getting a chance to hang out with those girls because they “get” me and the gym thing. There was LOTS of delicious food at both parties and even though I tried to pace myself and choose healthy options, I definitely splurge! Well worth it, though 🙂

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Since I know this week is going to be pretty crazy busy, too, (I am leaving for Dallas on Tuesday and then going straight from there to Chicago on Thursday for a long weekend getaway with my sister), I took advantage of a wide open schedule yesterday and RELAXED… can you believe it?! I got up, lounged around, blogged, went to the gym and grocery shopping then vowed to not leave the house for the rest of the day. It.was.awesome! And so necessary.

Last week, I got a last minute sub request for the Wednesday sports conditioning class which is right before my UXF Burn class. Since I am missing my classes again this week and am in need of some extra money, I agreed to sub for her. I love that class, but teaching a double on Wednesday and on Thursday is a lot! When I have weeks like this were I teach 5 classes (2 Wednesday, 2 Thursday and 1 Saturday), I wonder how I ever survived teaching Monday and Wednesday- Saturday. That was so silly! Now that I have cut back on teaching, I’ve learned to really appreciate MY OWN workouts and have started to see some great changes in my body because of that.

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I had a bad day on Monday and was in need of some serious exercise endorphins, so I headed to the East Boston YMCA for a treadmill run and core exercises. After 4 miles, I felt much better!

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  • Tuesday- My legs were super tired from my run on Monday (not sure why) and my upper body was still a little tight from Sunday, so I decided to just go to the gym in my office building and do a superset core-focused workout with my Fall Into Fitness moves in between (crab walks, bear walks, duck walks, 1-legged burpees). It was a great workout!!

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  • Wednesday- I taught Sports Conditioning and UXF Burn. I did an AMRAP workout in sports conditioning and a Halloween themed workout in UXF Burn- people may have made fun of me, but I think they actually had a lot of fun 😉

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  • Thursday- Taught SHRED (another Halloween inspired/themed workout) and Kickboxing. I taught a super high intensity cardio class in kickboxing and finished with lots of glute and core work.
  • Friday- Nothing 🙂 Well deserved rest!
  • Saturday- Taught another high intensity cardio kickboxing class… I gave them the option to do more cardio or more core and Mary said cardio, so I blamed it on her 🙂
  • Sunday- I went to the Y Pump class again since I hadn’t really done a “real” strength workout since last Sunday. Granted, I did lift in my classes, but when I teach, the workouts are not for me, so I don’t get to lift to my potential. I have to use whatever weights are available and jump around to correct form, so I never end up finishing a full set.

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- Since I did strength yesterday, I’ll probably do cardio today… likely another treadmill run since it’s definitely too dark to run outside after work now.
  • Tuesday- I have a 2pm flight to Dallas, which means I will work from home in the morning, which also means I will do an at home workout. Not sure what I’ll feel like doing, but I’ll figure it out!
  • Wednesday- I will be in Dallas and I have a full day of training (business writing development- I am actually really excited about it!), so I will have to get up and do an early hotel workout. I’m hoping the Westin has a good gym!
  • Thursday- Same thing as Wednesday!
  • Friday- I will be in Chicago with my sister, so I hope she will get up and do a workout with me before we meet up with our friend JP for site seeing!
  • Saturday- Not sure. We are staying at a Sheraton, which generally has a great gym so I would like to workout, but it depends on what we do Friday night and what the agenda is for Saturday. Since I am going to be “on vacation”, I am going to try to be more relaxed and not plan my day around my workouts (at this point, it’s so part of my “schedule”, that I have to make more of an effort to not do it than to do it!).
  • Sunday- Again, I am not sure!

Questions for you: What is your favorite “on the road” workout? Have you ever been to Chicago? What’s a “must see”?