Tag: Exhale Spa

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?

Weekending: Margarita’s, Birthdays, Puttering…

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Last weekend was so much fun! It was a good mix of social events, fitness and relaxation. I was able to hang out with a number of different groups of people, which was a nice treat.

Friday

Friday night, I got together with some of my gym friends (Athena, Ashley, Jen and Stephanie) at The Painted Burro in Davis Square. I didn’t get a picture of us, but I got a picture of the food and margarita’s, which is just as good, right? 😉

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Have you been to the Painted Burro? Holy crap do they have amazing margaritas AND tacos. I got the zucchini one and the Mahi Mahi one.

Unfortunately, I ended up being double booked on Friday, so I had to leave the girls after dinner to make it into the city by 10 for my friend Keefe’s birthday at The Brahmin. I hadn’t been there since my birthday and was quickly reminded of how much I like it there! It was great to see so many friends from home and I’m happy to report that I only had 1 wine while I was there because I didn’t want to be hung over for kickboxing.

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Saturday

After a sweaty and packed kickboxing class (love having my A team in the front row 🙂 ), I treated myself to a Skinny Chai Tea Latte and shopped around Target, of course buying impulsive treats…

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Since I had absolutely NO food in my apartment and wasn’t about to go grocery shopping on an empty stomach (worst idea ever), I swung by Panera Bread for some soup to warm me up!

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‘Twas a nice little Saturday afternoon 🙂

I was tempted to stay in on Saturday night, but my upstairs neighbor, Lisa, invited me to join her and some friends at the Back Bay Social Club and since I didn’t have any reason not to go (I’m trying to be better about going with the flow and being spontaneous), I took her up on her offer. I quickly made a pizza and got ready. I’ve been doing straight hair a lot lately, but since I didn’t have time, I opted for an up-do. With curly hair, I don’t even have to use a sock or bun maker to make a nice looking bun- I love it!

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Sunday

My first thoughts on Sunday morning: Holy hamstrings! I couldn’t believe how sore they were from kickboxing. Good thing yoga was on the agenda!

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I love Exhale spa SO MUCH. Seriously. The locker room alone is worth the cost of the classes- gorgeous showers, sandals, robes, razors, combs, lotion/gel/hair spray, etc. It’s such a nice treat since I’m so used to crappy gym locker rooms at the Y and the BSC.

The rest of my Sunday flew by, which is always a little disappointing. I changed the sheets on my bed, cleaned, prepped my lunches/salads/snacks for the week, blogged… and next thing I knew it was time to start cooking!

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Yes, that’s the most delicious lasagna- I’ve got to share the recipe with you!

And that’s about it. I finally got to get caught up with writing a bunch of posts that I’ve had drafted for a while, so be on the lookout for some good recipes, workouts and a few other things this week!

Questions for you: Where is your favorite place to do yoga? Where is the best margarita in Boston? Where is your favorite place to go out in Boston?

This Week: Workouts, Schedule {Finally back on ‘normal’ track}, Things I’m Looking Forward To

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Has anyone else not had a full week of work for at least a few weeks at this point? And, on top of that, for the days I was working, things were really quiet, which was a nice change! It’s going to be weird to be back to the “full swing” of things this week, including everyone back to work, full week of teaching, full week of lunch preparation/meal planning, etc. I could really get used to working “short” weeks with days off in the middle, though, how about you?

I had some good workouts last week, but still wasn’t able to get back to my full teaching schedule due to the New Year on Wednesday and the Hercules blizzard on Thursday. I also splurged on a New Years Day and took a yoga class at Exhale Spa as a way to start off the new year with a clear, positive mindset! The classes there are pricey, but when you factor in the locker room luxuries (heated towel holders, sandals, robes, straighteners, blow dryers, high end shamp/cond/body wash, etc.), it’s totally worth the price… once and a while 😉

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I subbed a kickboxing class at the Watertown BSC. It was a small group, but it was still a fun class. I did 15 minutes on the elliptical beforehand.
  • Tuesday- I worked from home and did Fitnessista’s Day After Christmas Crumble workout after I saw it posted on Athena’s workout post last week. It did not disappoint!
  • Wednesday- I went to Exhale Spa for a yoga class!
  • Thursday- I was all excited to teach my double, but due to the storm, I was only able to teach 1 of my 2 classes. I used a new format (taken from Men’s Health, which, in my opinion, often times has better workouts than Women’s Health!) in my SHRED class and we were all sweaty and shakey by the end. Instead of teaching my kickboxing (only 2 people showed up and classes were cancelled by that point anyway) class, I ran 2 miles and headed home.
  • Friday- I thought I’d have to shovel out my car for hours after I saw what it looked like, but a super nice guy offered to snow blow me out- I was SO grateful! Instead, I did some lower body and core strengthening and stretching.

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  • Saturday- Taught a super, duper sweaty kickboxing class with lots of fun faces in the crowd (and so many others, too- there were about 50 people there. Bring on the crowds, January!). My favorite part was seeing everyone’s tweets and facebook status’s after!

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  • Sunday-I decided to take advantage of the “heat wave” and go for a 3 mile run outside. My pace was all over the place because I had to dodge snow banks and puddles, but I averaged 8:29/mile for the 3 miles. I was happy with that. After my jog, I headed into the gym and did some strength training (super sets at first, 3 rounds through, then I got bored with that and jumped around to all sorts of stuff) and core work.

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This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I think I’ll take the 6pm spin class if there’s space. I love the January crowds as an instructor, but as a gym “goer”, I HATE it. I know I should be more supportive, but again, unless I’m teaching, I just can’t be that supportive because these people are taking up my gym space. Ok. That was harsh, but still. It’s annoying!
  • Tuesday- I will do some type of strength workout since I’ve been slacking on that lately.
  • Wednesday- Probably running then teaching UXF Burn- hope there’s lots of new-comers in my class!
  • Thursday- Thursday double! SHRED and then Kickboxing. Can’t wait to finally get to teach my double.
  • Friday- Rest!
  • Saturday- My friend, Lindsay, is a new instructor at Recycle Studio and wants me to try a class since she knows I am just getting into spinning, so I may try to get to her 9:30 spin class on Saturday morning since it’s my off weekend from teaching. Also! I think my sister (and maybe Amy and Rachel) are going to cash in my Christmas gift and go to a noon class at Pure Barre! Should be a fun-filled fitness morning 🙂

Schedule

A fairly regular week, which will be a nice change! I’m looking forward to getting back into the work and teaching groove. I have plans after work on Tuesday, so I’ll get my workout done before work. I love when I have something right after work and can be one of those “young professionals getting drinks after work” people, haha.

Things I’m Looking Forward To

Normalcy! And, getting drinks after work and trying a class at Pure Barre with at least my sister (and hopefully Amy and Rachel) on Saturday. I love doing “new” fitness things with people, especially my sister, so I’m excited. I hope I get to take Lindsay’s class, because even though I don’t feel ‘ready’ to go to a fancy spin studio, I think it will be a true test as to whether or not I can become a “spinner”.

Questions for you: Have you been to Recycle studio? Did the snow storm mess up your gym plans? Did you try and new ‘at-home’ or snow-inspired workouts (snow shoeing, skiing, shoveling, etc.)? What are you looking forward to this week?

Weekly Workouts!

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Hey everyone! Happy Memorial Day! Anyone going to any parades? We usually do, but not this year… bummer! I LOVE parades. Anyway, let’s get to the workouts.

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- Besides walking to and from work from the T and walking home from the T (in all, about 2.5 miles), I rested. I was really sore from workouts over the weekend and wanted to make dinner, so I opted to take the time I gained from not working out and be productive around the apartment!
  • Tuesday- I went to the Wellington BSC and had an awesome workout! I went on the elliptical for 30 minutes, ran for 10 minutes on the treadmill, did lots of ab stuff on the TRX bands and did this:

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I ran these stairs- they were killer.

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  • Thursday- I taught SHRED and Kickboxing. In SHRED, rather than compound movements (like I usually like to do- more bang for the buck), I focused on lifting heavier and only focusing on one exercise (squats, biceps curls, etc.). Fun to switch things up!
  • Friday- I played around for about 30 minutes practicing new kickboxing combinations for Saturday, trying out some new moves I learned from Women’s Health and used my band for upper body work.
  • Saturday- Taught a VERY sweaty kickboxing class. I’d show you a picture of my sports bra (signs of a good workout=sports bra soaked), but that would be gross. Athena came, which is always fun!
  • Sunday- Mostly a rest day, although I spent some time in the morning doing glute and ab work!

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I am still home in Maine and will definitely be doing something, just not sure what that is yet. Maybe a jog, maybe Deck of Cards, maybe a strength workout with mom and my sister??
  • Tuesday- I’ll head to the gym after work and probably do something similar to last week: cardio and strength training!
  • Wednesday- Cardio before class and then teaching UXF Burn.
  • Thursday- SHRED and Kickboxing
  • Friday- something low-impact, as I have realized that I need that after teaching (and doing) a double and knowing that I have to teach Kickboxing the next day. I like to use Friday’s to focus on strength training!
  • Saturday- 3rd week in a row of teaching Kickboxing at the YMCA! Woohoo! Such a high energy crowd- I love it.
  • Sunday- Rest 🙂

Questions for you: What was your favorite workout last week? Try anything new? Anything make you really sore? Looking forward to anything this week? Do share!

Exhale Spa: Core Fusion Fest

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A few weeks ago, I received an email from someone at Women’s Health inviting me to join them for a Core Fusion class at Exhale Spa.

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Umm, twist my arm, will ya? It’s well-known that I love all things health and fitness related, so of course I said yes! In addition to my love of working out, I love to take new-to-me classes, because they are always humbling. I may be able to Kickbox for an hour no problem, but Core Fusion Cardio for an hour? An entirely different story!

Anyway, May 22nd was “Fusion Fest” at Exhale Spa- how fun?! I signed up for the 7:45am Core Fusion Cardio class with Chrissy Snyder.

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From their website, here is how they describe the class:

core fusion cardio

Sweat it out in this barre-less, fat-blasting cardio class, designed to sculpt and tone your entire body. Consisting of weights, mountain climbers, karate kicks, speed skaters, flowing yoga poses, and an ab sculpting series, this high-intensity class followed by a calming cool finish will leave you feeling energized and strong. Kick your heart rate into high gear with this non-stop, endorphin-filled hour. Open to all levels.

Well, I’d say that was a perfect description! I wish my heart rate monitor worked, because I’d love to see that stats on what I burned for calories and what my average heart rate was in the class. It felt HIGH the whole time! Mountain climbers after mountain climbers after mountain climbers, and lots of push-ups squeezed in between and then the legs and weights! My goodness. My legs were absolutely BURNING during the lunge portion of the class. I actually had to take multiple breaks.

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Chrissy did a wonderful job speaking clearly throughout the class without fumbling her words. She was incredibly encouraging and I really liked how she counted out loud the whole time because personally, I like knowing how much longer I have… it helps me push through the pain! She also remembered my name right away- big plus in my eyes! As an instructor, this is something I am constantly working on because I think it makes people feel really good when you remember their name and refer to them by name throughout the class.

We worked through “sets” throughout class. The first set was primarily mountain climbers and push-ups, and from there, we focused on upper body, lower body, kickboxing (umm hello. loved this!!), more mountain climbers and push-ups and ended with great core work. Mind you, we did cardio throughout the WHOLE class. I have never done so many mountain climbers! My shoulders will be screaming tomorrow. A lot of the poses were yoga moves, too, which felt great.

011Going into the class, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I think the class exceeding any expectations I could have had! I loved that the cardio was relatively low-impact… my poor joints need that. By the time we finished our core work, I was more than ready to shower and eat!

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The locker room at Exhale was absolutely beautiful. I loved the products and the fact that they had everything you could ever need: towels, robes, slippers, combs, hair gel, deodorant, lotion, shampoo, conditioner, razors, shower caps, q-tips. Seriously, they didn’t miss a thing!

016I was so happy that I took the morning off from work today so I could have as much time as I wanted in the locker room! It’s always such a nice change of pace from the usual locker rooms I am in 🙂

After I was showered and lotioned up, I checked out my swag bag:

022There were coupons in there for future visits, and I can absolutely guarantee I will be going back. I also want to look into the Sports Massage that they offer as I think that would be super beneficial for my sore and overworked muscles!

Big, big, BIG thank you to Women’s Health and Exhale Spa for inviting me to such a wonderful event! I received such a warm welcome from Samantha and Chrissy and all of the other employees… Can’t wait to go back!

Questions for you: Have you ever done a Core Fusion class? What’s your favorite thing to find in a locker room? Favorite thing about trying a new class?