Tag: Kickboxing

Weekly Workouts: An exhausting week

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Hey there! I wanted to pop in quickly to say hi since I feel like I’ve been totally MIA from the social media world (besides posting a few Instagram photos). As most of you already know, I spent the weekend moving into my new apartment! I’ll post about that hopefully later this week (once I get real internet- I’m connected to my work iPhone’s hotspot right now and it’s SO slow!). I’m incredibly thankful for my parents and sister for helping me move, though- there’s no way I could have done it without them!

But let’s get to the workouts, shall we? I was SO sore yesterday- a mix from doing Tabata TRX abs before teaching kickboxing on Saturday and moving all weekend- yikes!

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I ran 3.5 miles before work. Again, I ran pretty much as fast as I run when I run after work. It must be because my body is getting used to waking up and working out first thing.

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  • Tuesday- I was out late on Monday night so my plans of getting up to workout before work went out the window. I was going to go after work, but my sister reminded me that I hadn’t really rested much lately and when you pair that with being tired, she suggested I rest. So, I did. We met at my apartment and she brought champagne and treats- so nice of her!
  • Wednesday- I worked from home on Wednesday so I had extra time in the morning to workout. I’ve been rather stagnant with my running, doing just 3-3.5 miles each time, so I decided it was time to up that. I ran 4 miles and although it wasn’t fun, it wasn’t terrible! I then taught my UXF Burn class and introduced the new 3-2-1 format. I don’t think people really liked it that much, but I am not sure if it was because it was new or they just didn’t like it. Regardless, I ended up doing most of the workout to try to keep the energy up and the class exciting (yes, that means running and jumping around like a crazy person).

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  • Thursday- I taught a pyramid workout in SHRED that I hope to post on Wednesday for you. I loved the workout, but was so bummed when I realized that we never went back down the pyramid on the legs section. Ugh! That drives me crazy!! I used to get so annoyed at instructors when they lost count or forgot to do something, but I find myself doing that now. It’s so hard to talk, instruct AND count AND remember everything, right?! After SHRED, I taught kickboxing!

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love this shirt!!

  • Friday- I went for a 5K run after work and made a new PR (personal record) of 25:46. I hit stop, but apparently it didn’t stop, hence the time on the watch. It was fun running after work for a change.

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  • Saturday- I taught the same kickboxing routine that I taught on Thursday and then I spent the rest of the day moving. So many things carried, so many stairs run up and down, so much shopping and lifting. I was literally spent by the time we got home at 7:30pm. Talk about a long day!

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  • Sunday- More moving, lifting, carrying, shopping, walking. I didn’t stop besides sitting down to eat lunch with the family.

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I am working from home in the afternoon and taking the morning off since my life is still relatively in shambles (although I am REALLY impressed with how well my apartment came together in such a short amount of time) and I need to deal with Comcast. After work, I’ll head to the Wellington BSC to lift and do cardio (would love to make it to the 5:30 BodyPump class!)… unless I’m exhausted, then I’ll rest or maybe walk around my neighborhood.
  • Tuesday- I would love to run around my new neighborhood after work, but if I don’t rest today, I’ll probably rest tomorrow.
  • Wednesday- I am subbing Kate’s Sports/Cardio Conditioning class at 5:30 and then teaching my UXF Burn class- come join me for a double:)
  • Thursday- Another double. Woof. SHRED then kickboxing.
  • Friday- Potentially another rest day, especially if I feel like I want to run errands and/or meet people for dinner.
  • Saturday- Probably BodyPump and cardio since I’m not teaching!
  • Sunday- Depends on how the rest of the week went. If it was heavy on the workouts and I feel like I need rest, I’ll take it, otherwise I’ll do something.

Questions for you: What’s your least favorite part about moving? Do you like doing “two-a-days”? Are you someone who counts in class and/or gets annoyed when instructors don’t count and forget stuff?

Weekly Workouts: A heavy workout week

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Good morning, friends! How are you doing? Now that I have the keys to my new apartment, it’s been hard focusing on anything except for moving! My parents were planning to come down on the 16th and 17th, but I’m trying to figure out a way for them to potentially come down this Friday to at least move the big things in: my bed, dressers, couch, chair, table, etc.

Anyway! As my title suggest, this past week was a heavy week with regards to workouts. I COMPLETELY forgot that I agreed to sub Kate’s 5:30 Sports Conditioning class on Wednesday, so that was a big surprise when I finally made it back in the office after lots of travel and looked at my calendar and saw that! It all worked out, though and since it’s right before my normal class, it’s not really a big deal.

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I ran 3 miles in the morning and did some core strengthening exercises since my muscles were pretty tired from Sunday’s BodyPump class. As much as I like my workouts in the evening better than in the morning because I have more energy and more time, it feels great that I am getting back into the “swing” of morning workouts.
  • Tuesday- I got up at the hotel in Atlanta and did 30 minutes on the elliptical, followed by 4 rounds of: 10 box jumps, 10 incline push ups, 10 squat and press and 10 stability ball leg lifts. Felt great!

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  • Wednesday- Realized I had to sub Kate’s class which was kind of a bummer since I really enjoy my Wednesday runs along the Charles before teaching UXF, but I still got a great workout in between teaching the two classes!

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(I taught a fun stations circuit in both classes. Multiple people told me they were sore on Thursday. Music to my ears!)

  • Thursday- Taught SHRED and then kickboxing. I made up the routine on the plane (on a napkin, mind you), and to my happy surprise, it came out just as well in person as it did in my head! That never happens 😉

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(I wore the most obnoxiously loud colored outfit to teach on Thursday… yikes!)

  • Friday- REST. After 6 consecutive days of workouts, and two of those being doubles, my body was calling for rest. I also had the day off from work which was icing on the cake. It felt weird, but surprisingly good, to not plan my day around my workout! I did do lots of walking around the mall, though.
  • Saturday- Taught the same kickboxing class at the Oak Square YMCA as I did in Thursday’s class at the BSC. Awesome energy in the class!!
  • Sunday- Danielle and I went for a nice walk/jog around Shapleigh, covering almost 2.75 miles. I did some ab work after and also did lots of different kinds of burpees. Hint: fun post coming up on Wednesday!

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- Even though I don’t have anything after work (I was supposed to do something with Jess but I decided that could wait) I wanted to get my workout done in the morning so I could have the evening to grocery shop, cook and start to pack!
  • Tuesday- Likely working out in the morning again because I want to start bringing stuff to my new apartment!
  • Wednesday- Probably a run along the Charles and then teaching UXF Burn.
  • Thursday- SHRED and Kickboxing!
  • Friday- I have a 3 hour training for the latest UXF Burn release/format/abs… Last time I was trained on UXF Burn, we worked out like crazy people!! It’s so funny to workout with a group of fellow instructors because we all push ourselves way more than we would any other time 😉
  • Saturday- I am subbing a SHRED class at the Central Square BSC, so BSCers- COME GET YOUR SWEAT ON!!! 🙂 I’m thinking there will be a second workout of the day while dancing at Christy’s wedding 😉
  • Sunday- Rest!!! Maybe some moving, but mostly rest!

Questions for you: Do you look forward to dancing when you go to weddings or parties? How many weddings have you gone to this summer? Fellow instructor friends- do you work out harder when you’re in a class with all instructors?

Have a wonderful week, friends!!!

Weekly Workouts: On the road & back at the gym

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Good morning! How’s everyone doing today? Even though I was on the road for part of the week last week, I still had a really great week of workouts AND I was able to teach all my classes- win, win! I’m traveling to Atlanta today and tomorrow and am hoping that after that, my work travel will slow down a bit. Don’t worry, I won’t try to run outside like I did the last time I was in Atlanta! I will go to the gym and that’s about it!

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I ran 3.25 miles before work and travel. I was having technical difficulties which frustrates me more than it should. My watch battery light was flashing so I used that and then also used Map My Run as backup in case my watch died before my run was over. I accidentally ended my Map My Run workout .25 miles into my run and had to restart it, so that distance was always behind my watch, but then my watch died 2.75 miles into my run so that didn’t matter anyway. Clearly, these are not life altering issues, but they annoy me!
  • Tuesday- I did a 30 minute hotel room workout that I will post on Wednesday! I know I usually post my class workouts in my Wednesday Workout posts, but I feel like people might like to see more workouts that can be done anywhere, and without any equipment- am I right?
  • Wednesday- All went well with my flight and I got to the gym super early so I ran 3.5 miles through Cambridge (along the Charles- the view just doesn’t get old) and then taught a new type of format in my UXF Burn class, which I think everyone liked! My hamstrings were REALLY tight the next day!

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  • Thursday- I taught the same format in my SHRED class that I had taught in my UXF Burn class on Wednesday, just with different moves and then I taught kickboxing. It was the same routine I did last week when I nearly drowned in my own sweat, only this time I didn’t sweat so much!
  • Friday- REST DAY 🙂 Besides lifting my wine glass when I went to dinner with Athena and Ashley 😉
  • Saturday- I ran the Color Me Rad run with my friend, Lauren, and her friend, Amy. I’ll recap that race later this week!

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  • Sunday- I went to the Wellington BSC and did 30 minutes of cardio on a machine (sometimes doing mindless cardio is exactly what I need/want) and then went to BodyPump. I wish I could have that workout in my schedule once a week- such a good way for me to take time to solely focus on strength training!!

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This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I hope to have completed a nice 3-4 mile run by the time this post goes up! I will also do some abs to complete the workout.
  • Tuesday- I’ll be in Atlanta and will stick to just going to the gym or doing a hotel room workout this week! No running outside for me; I learned my lesson!
  • Wednesday- Probably some cardio before teaching UXF Burn. Any suggestions from anyone on what type of format you’d like to see or specific exercises/burpees??
  • Thursday- Teaching SHRED and kickboxing. I want to make a new kickboxing routine and download new music; I’m sick of all my current mixes!
  • Friday- This might be a rest day again. I have been enjoying Friday’s as rest days!
  • Saturday- Teaching kickboxing at the YMCA and then heading up to Maine for little Emma’s first birthday!!
  • Sunday- If I rest on Friday, I’ll probably do something when I’m home in Maine, but I may end up taking another rest day.

Questions for you: What type of workouts would you like to see more/less of? Ones I’ve taught? Hotel room workouts? No weights required? What’s your favorite burpee? Has anyone done the newest BodyPump release? I LOVED it.

Weekending: Kickboxing, Babysitting, Breakfasting, Beaching

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Good morning! I had a busy, but fun weekend this past weekend, anyone else? I feel like I’ve been in constant “go-go-go” mode for a few weeks now and I’ll be honest, I am ready for a little down time! This weekend, besides the Color Me Rad race on Saturday is pretty much wide open. It’s going to feel great to have TIME to get things done, or, to do absolutely nothing but hang out and relax! As I will be moving in a few weeks, I am sure there are lots of things for me to do around here!

On Friday, I dropped Tim off at the airport around 2:45. From there, since it was so hot, I headed to Starbucks to get some work done. It wasn’t at all what I wanted to do, but I didn’t have a choice:( Once I got to my apartment, I pretty much stayed in my air-conditioned bedroom since our apartment thermostat read 93 degrees. Yikes!

Saturday morning, I woke up mostly rested and mentally prepared myself to tackle the day! On the agenda, going to the bank, teaching kickboxing, grabbing lunch, babysitting and then stopping by Rachel and Dans’s for a BBQ. As I said yesterday, kickboxing was SWEATY! I think it’s because our body temps are abnormally high because of the crazy heat wave- does this make any sense? I got a kick out of the twitter messages post class:

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At least I wasn’t the only one:)

Babysitting was hot, but fun. Watching the kids play in the sprinkler was so fun- ah, to be a carefree kid again, just for a day, would be so great. I brought pizza dough and toppings since I thought it would be fun for us to make pizza together, instead of ordering out. The kids LOVED it. Trying to explain the concept of what we were doing and what it would “turn into” after we baked it was hilarious. Lila said it was the “best pizza she has ever eaten”… job well done 🙂

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Unfortunately, Rachel and Dan’s BBQ had ended, but it was nice to chat with them for a little while. I was ok with going home early as I knew I needed to get up and leave the house by 8:30am on Sunday to meet Meredith for breakfast in Portsmouth. Meredith moved to Australia about 8 months ago, so it was SO GOOD to finally see her and catch up. We joked, though, that there’s no way to catch up on that many months in an hour and a half breakfast. We did our very best! Meredith is literally the sweetest person I know and I am so happy that we are such good friends. She’s the best listener and just “gets” it (whatever “it” may be). Thanks for meeting up, Mere!! Miss you already!

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Since I was already north of Boston and the weather was nice (the heat wave seemed to have finally broke!!), I decided to hit up a beach that I might not normally go to. I had a million things on my “to-do” list, but when I looked at it, I realized that I really needed some quiet “me” time, so I decided to go to Plum Island in Newbury. The beach was really nice and luckily, it wasn’t too hot. I stayed for about 2 hours until I realized I was a. starving and b. nearly out of water. If hangry Monique is awful, hangry and thirsty Monique is a monster!

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On my way home, I stopped in Danvers at the Stop n Shop to grab a few groceries and lunch and made it back to my apartment early enough to have time to water my garden, blog, do laundry and get ready for dinner.

I went to dinner in Dorchester and was very surprised with how nice the restaurant was! When we walked in, the place looked dead, which generally makes me nervous, but as soon as we walked outside to the patio, we realized why the inside was empty: the back patio was awesome!! I was bummed when the server said they were out of the Miso Glazed Salmon, but when I took a bite of the Ahi Tuna Taco’s, I pretty much forgot about the salmon! I am so happy that the weather has cooled down a bit because outdoor dining in the summer is my favorite!

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(Pretty rainbow I saw when I was driving!)

All in all, it was a great, but busy weekend!

Questions for you: Do you like to make your own pizza? Favorite restaurant in Portsmouth? Do you feel like you sweat more in classes when it’s hot out even though they are indoors?

I want to wish my very dear friend, Sara, a very happy birthday!!!

Weekly Workouts- Travel Edition

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Hi friends! How are you doing today? I am good, besides the fact I am not ready to get back on the road for another work trip. Luckily, this one is short and if all goes well with travel on Wednesday, I should be back for my 6:30 class at Central!

As all of you probably know, I was away for a work conference most of last week. The trip was a blast (I promise, I’ll recap everything later this week) and I am happy to report the fact that I got in a couple awesome workouts! I am hoping this week will be the same as I should have already gone running before this post gets published and will try to get in a workout Tuesday morning before a long day at our client’s office.

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I went to the Wellington BSC and did my own UXF/CrossFit inspired workout consisting of a brief warm up and 4 rounds of: 500M row, 60 seconds ropes, 60 seconds kettlebell swings, 1-legged push-ups up and down the ladder, 60 seconds pike plank with feet in TRX straps. Felt great!

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  • Tuesday- I got up in did a jump rope and ab circuit and was sore the next day!

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  • Wednesday- My coworker, Tim, and I skipped the ice cream social at the conference and went to the gym. I let him run ME through a workout (I had to use every bit of my self-control to not take over the workout!) because I wanted to focus on isolated strength moves. We did back and biceps, which Tim lead and then I lead abs and then we went on a 2 mile crazy trail run. It.Was.Awesome. I’ll save most of the pictures for my VT recap, but here are a few:

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  • Thursday- Tim and I had planned on working out in the afternoon, but ended up going to Ben and Jerry’s. Sometimes you need an ice cream 🙂
  • Friday- Tim and I met at the gym before breakfast for a morning workout since we were hitting the road around 10:30. We did our separate workouts (I ran on the treadmill 1.5 miles to warm up and then did a circuit I’ll hopefully post on Wednesday), but joined together at the end to do abs. Tim loved what I ran us through which was fun! We used a medicine ball and did lots of Dynamax-esque throws. Loved it!

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  • Saturday- I taught the most sweaty kickboxing class ever. I know I say that all the time, but literally this was like nothing I have ever seen. I could barely see the mirror in front of me it was so coated in sweat! Members/friends agreed!

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  • Sunday- Rest. My back was feeling SUPER tight, as was my right quad so I decided to take it easy.

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- As I said earlier, I am hoping that by the time this post goes up, I will have gone for a run and maybe have done some strength stuff.
  • Tuesday- I will be in Toronto, Canada, but hope to get a workout in before work. I think it’s going to be a very long day, so I know a workout will help mentally, more than anything. If we don’t have to be to the client site too early, I’ll go to the hotel gym, but if we have to get there early, I’ll likely do a short workout in my room.
  • Wednesday- Hoping to make it back per my itinerary so I can teach my 6:30 UXF Burn class- I missed them last week!
  • Thursday- Teaching my Thursday double: SHRED followed by Kickboxing. Again, missed these guys last week so I am excited to be back!
  • Friday- I may workout at home, but I may use Friday as a rest day pending on how I feel.
  • Saturday- My friend, Lauren, and I are doing a Color Me Rad run in Brockton on Saturday morning. I’m nervous/excited!
  • Sunday- Again, pending on how my workouts went during the week will determine whether I work out or rest on Sunday.

So, there you have it!

Questions for you: What was your best workout last week? Have you ever done a “Color Run”? Is there anything I should be warned about?