Tag: East Boston YMCA

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

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Do you realize there is only a week and a half until Christmas?! Crazy! This week, things start to get pretty busy for me, but it’s all good stuff, so I can’t really complain, right?! It’s always a little hard planning out my workouts during weeks where I have a lot going on, but I like doing it because when I have it planned out, I’m way less likely to skip it.

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I went to a spin class again! My butt still hurt, so everyone who told me the pain goes away the second time was lying. The class was good and I pushed myself more (covered 15.5 miles in about 45 minutes… is that in the normal range??), but I still didn’t leave feeling like “omg I am beat!”. I want that. I finished my workout with additional core work.
  • Tuesday- I went to the gym after work and I ran a mile before completing an upper body and core stability ball-focused workout. I’ll post it for you soon because it was fun!
  • Wednesday- I forgot that I was subbing Melissa’s Sports Conditioning when I planned out my workouts last week, but it all worked out! I taught a fun, but different, circuit/stations boot camp type of class (taken from what I learned from the Best of Boot Camp session I attended at the MANIA event) first, then my normal UXF Burn class.
  • Thursday- I went to the gym for round 2 of teaching a double. By the end of kickboxing, I am literally beat, in a good way! I taught another stations class in SHRED, which I think I have posted on here at some point, and then a high cardio kickboxing class after. It was a fun day!
  • Friday- Nothing! Well, more than usual since I walked to the T and to the office and home (about 2.5 miles total), but nothing in the sense of a “real” workout.
  • Saturday- Taught kickboxing at the Y. It was another big group and I loved that they allowed me (and were really excited about it!) to play my Christmas mix. It was so fun!!
  • Sunday- I wasn’t in the mood to get up and trek through the ice and snow to get to the 10:30 Y Pump class, so I did my own 35 minutes strength workout in my apartment. I did 2 rounds of this (15 reps instead of 60 second intervals and skipped the cardio) and then followed up with some heavier isolated lifting for biceps, triceps, chest, shoulders, back and abs. It was a good workout!

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This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I am subbing kickboxing at the Watertown BSC at 6:30pm- If you’re in the area, please come 🙂
  • Tuesday- I have plans after work, but not until later, so I think I’ll have time to get to the gym for a quick strength session after work. We are in our new office, located in International Place, so I am not sure what the gym situation is there. I think you have to pay for a membership, which I won’t do since I have memberships through the BSC and the YMCA. I have so many BSC gyms close to my new office so I’m excited to hop around to those.
  • Wednesday- I will do a cardio and core workout in the morning at my apartment before work since I have my company dinner and my SMC girls dinner after work. BSCers- I know I told you I’d be there next week (this week), but I lied. Melissa Shaw is subbing so you’re in good hands!
  • Thursday- Teaching my double: SHRED and Kickboxing. It’s the last class before the holidays and I heard there is NO CLASS on the 26th, so enjoy your time off!
  • Friday- Rest day!
  • Saturday- For the first time in a month, I am not scheduled to teach. My instructor friend, Kate, teaches spinning at 9 and 10 at the Central Square BSC so I may go to that, or I may try to get to BodyPump. We will see!
  • Sunday- I am subbing the 9AM UXF Burn at the Allston BSC- definitely try to come if you’re around! It will be good to be back to my old stomping grounds! The Jingle Bell 5K was rescheduled for Sunday, so I will also be running that at 11.

Schedule

As I said, it’s a bit of a busy week. Between subbing on Monday, plans on Tuesday, 2 parties on Wednesday, subbing on Sunday and running a 5K… it’s a little cray-cray! I am happy that I decided to get a sub for Wednesday because trying to fit in 2 parties AND teaching was just too much to think about.

Things I’m looking forward to

So much this week! For one, we are finally in our new office which is SO SO SO much nicer than our other one. I love the location and the fact I can run errands so easily during my lunch break. Next, I am excited for the dinner/yankee swap at Jessi’s with all of my SMC girls. Lastly, I am excited to run the Jingle Bell 5K on Sunday (they postponed it from yesterday to next week because of the weather). I don’t know if my parents will come down or if my sister will run it, which makes me sad, but I just love running races, especially festive ones!

Questions for you: Do you know of any good spinning classes I should try to get to? Do you have holiday parties this week? What are you most looking forward to?

PS- I decorated my tree last week… how cute is it? It’s so little, but so perfect for my little apartment!

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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”?

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: Outdoor Boot Camp

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Hey there! Phew! What a weekend 🙂 I had my “housewarming” party on Saturday and it was an absolute blast! I’m very thankful for all of my friends and family who came.

Let’s talk workouts, though. Last week was an awesome week of workouts! I had my full teaching schedule (UXF Burn, SHRED and 2 Kickboxing classes) and got in some good workouts on my own, too.

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I worked from home on Monday so I was able to start my workout earlier than normal (always a nice treat!). I went for a 3.5 mile run and then went to the East Boston YMCA and did an upper body superset workout. I picked two variations of exercises for the following muscle groups: biceps, triceps, back, shoulders and chest. I did 15 reps and 3 rounds of each superset before moving on to the next. It was a great workout!

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  • Tuesday- I had errands to run after work so I got up early and did an at-home, no equipment cardio and core workout that I shared with you here. It wasn’t anything crazy hard, but it was perfect for what I wanted.

No weights, no problem workout

  • Wednesday- I did 22 minutes on the elliptical before teaching UXF Burn (22 because I didn’t have time to do any more!). The UXF Burn workout was hard, but I loved all the moves I chose!
  • Thursday- I taught the same Tabata workout in my SHRED class as I did the week before when I subbed Kate’s class. And again, it left me incredibly sore! Love that. It’s funny, though, because when I teach Tabata I think everyone hates it and is bored (it’s a lot of repetition), but after class I had multiple people tell me how much they enjoyed it. Weird. After SHRED I amped up my cardio and taught Cardio Kickboxing.
  • Friday- I rested 🙂 Well, I rested in terms of not working out, but I was very busy party-prepping!
  • Saturday- I taught kickboxing at the Oak Square YMCA. Athena came, which is always a fun treat!
  • Sunday- Athena sent out an invite to some gym friends seeing if anyone wanted to go to a free, outdoor boot camp sponsored by City Sports. Obviously, I was all about that, as were a few other gym friends, so we did that yesterday morning. There was a great crowd and the instructor was hilarious. We ran about 3/4-1 mile to a park and from there, we did a circuit style workout consisting of a minute at each station with a cardio burst between stations. We did lunges with a bicep curl using bands, push ups, squats and “anything abs” (a core station where we could pick whatever core exercise we wanted). It wasn’t as hard as I was expecting, but it was still really fun to try something new and workout with friends (and not be the instructor). I contemplated buying new sneakers at City Sports after, but I was good and restrained.

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This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- My plan is to rest today besides my normal walking commute. Since last week was heavy on the workout front, and I am a little sore, I feel like I should take it easy. I may try to video some workouts for a fun post I have planned 🙂
  • Tuesday- I’ll probably run after work and do another strength workout at the EB YMCA.
  • Wednesday- Cardio and then teaching UXF Burn.
  • Thursday- SHRED and Kickboxing
  • Friday- I’m not sure. Since I rested today, I may be up for a workout. We’ll see how it goes.
  • Saturday- I’m not teaching, so my thought is I’ll get up and go to BodyPump at the Wellington BSC.
  • Sunday- Not sure! If I rest again on Friday, I’ll probably be antsy for something on Sunday. My weekend is pretty open so I’ve got loads of time to workout!

Make this week awesome, friends!

Questions for you: Do you like outdoor boot camps? What was your favorite workout last week?

Weekly Workouts: Travel Edition

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Hey there! How was your weekend?? Mine was a whirlwind of a weekend, but an absolute blast! I can’t wait to recap because it was such a fun little mini vacation. Before I get to that, though, let’s talk workouts! After a slightly more indulgent long weekend, I’m always super motivated to get back on track starting on Monday morning. I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do for a workout tonight, but it will surely be something to make me sweat and feel like I kicked my own butt 😉

Even though I traveled and was surrounded by family the whole time, and was tempted to skip a workout to have wine and snacks I still made it a point to sneak in workouts when I could, and at times when I knew I wouldn’t be missing out on anything fun! Did I really feel like getting up to run the morning after my parents and I drank incredible amounts a few glasses of wine? Nah, not really, but I knew it would make me feel SO MUCH BETTER, so I got up and did it before I really even fully woke up. I was so glad I did because once we got to the hotel in Michigan, the last thing I wanted to do was workout!

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- Since I ran 4 miles on Sunday, which was supposed to be my weights only day, I made Monday my weights only day. I headed to the East Boston YMCA after work (which, with my new commute, I’m walking almost 3 miles on any given day, which is awesome!) to complete an upper body tabata workout. I had worked my lower body a lot the week before (hello, Booty Burner workouts!), so I decided it was time to give my upper body a little attention. I asked Athena for a good upper body workout and she told me she had recently posted an upper body tabata workout. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to check it out, but when I compared what I came up with to what she had come up with earlier, they were pretty close…. we think more alike than we both realize! Anyway, it was awesome and I was sore for a few days- haven’t had that in a while!
  • Tuesday- I had dinner plans with my girlfriends after work, so I dragged myself out of bed and went running in 45 degree weather… I can’t say it was fun, but I was glad I did it! New songs on my playlist also helped get me up and running!!

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  • Wednesday- Since I had to get subs for my Thursday double, when Kate asked me to sub her sports conditioning class, I jumped at the offer! I taught a tabata themed workout that looked like this: upper body tabata, lower body tabata, 2 minutes of cardio, 1 minute of abs. Holy moly. I always forget how hard tabata workouts are (if you do them correctly) until I am on the 7th set! Between that and an awesome UXF Burn class right after, I woke up Thursday REALLY sore. My glutes literally screamed at me for 2 days… that kind of scream where it hurts to sit on the toilet (TMI?). I loved it!
  • Thursday- I originally thought I would get up and workout before my parents picked me up, but I decided that since I hadn’t rested in way too long and since I was really sore, I would foam roll instead. Good choice! I did instruct my mom through a 30 minute water aerobics workout at the hotel pool. I may have had a wine glass in hand, but I actually had a blast teaching her! I think it’s better to teach water aerobics from the pool deck, so I kicked off my sandals and got into instructor mode. So much fun. I think I want to start teaching H2O aerobics! Mom said she got a great workout.

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  • Friday- I didn’t sleep well (shockingly enough. Wine usually puts me to sleep) so I was up and ready for a hotel treadmill workout at 7am. I hadn’t run on a treadmill in so long and I forgot how much “easier” it is to run on a treadmill vs. outside. When I run outside, my pace is usually between 6.85-7.5 the whole time, so when I hopped on the treadmill and started at my normal 6.4, I quickly realized that speed isn’t appropriate anymore! I ended up running a 5K in about 26 minutes and felt like I could’ve run 5 miles. Love days like that!

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  • Saturday- Danielle and I were in bed by 10:30 on Friday night and slept straight through until 8:30, which is almost unheard of! After breakfast, I caught up on a little blogging and then hit up the hotel gym once everything had digested. Though the gym wasn’t big, they had some pretty sweet treadmills. I didn’t want to run a lot since I had run on Friday, but I hopped on one and chose to do a 3 mile route (pre-programmed in the treadmill). It said the highest % grade would be 12.5, and I figured that would be after a bit. Umm, no. I literally climbed up to that 12.5% grade in less than 5 minutes and was dyingggg. I ended up walking/jogging a mile of that route and then switched to manual for the rest. I just wasn’t up for pushing myself since my main focus of the workout was going to be strength training. I ended up doing 30 minutes of walking & running and then used the machine to do 12 reps and 3 rounds of bicep curls, tricep extensions, standing row, oblique twist… and something else? Although I prefer free weights, it was nice to get out of my normal routine and use a machine. I ended with lots of abs! Nice start to a Saturday. I also danced a lot at the wedding… that counts as extra 😉

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Strong is the new sexy. Own it.

  • Sunday- Nothing! I could’ve gotten up to workout before my flight, but decided a rest day wasn’t a bad idea. Plus, I always walk a lot in airports (always take the stairs).

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- As I mentioned, I’m not sure what I am going to do for a workout today. Probably something with cardio and weights as a way to get back into total body workouts for the week.
  • Tuesday- I would like to get up and run before work so that I can have the evening off. I’m having a party on Saturday and could use some extra time during the week to shop and get ready for that.
  • Wednesday- Something on my own before teaching UXF Burn.
  • Thursday- SHRED followed by Kickboxing. I missed these classes last week!! I think I’ll do the same tabata workout I taught last Wednesday in my SHRED class. I want everyone to experience that class, haha
  • Friday- Rest day! Since I’m teaching on Saturday morning, I need to make sure my apartment is ready for the party before that, so Friday night will be spent running around doing errands, setting my apartment up, cleaning, etc.
  • Saturday- Teaching kickboxing at the Y! 🙂
  • Sunday- Probably another rest day, unless I feel up for a walk/jog around my neighborhood.

Questions for you: When you travel, do you try to get your workouts done in the morning? or skip them all together? Are you a fan of Tabata workouts? What’s your favorite workout song right now?? I need more updates on my playlist!!