Tag: Kickboxing

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

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Happy Monday! As this post goes off, I’ll be {hopefully} taking off to head to Dallas. I’m going to a work conference in Grapevine through Wednesday, so my week of workouts will be a little different than usual. I’m actually looking forward to some on-the-road workouts and less teaching since I’ve been teaching like a mad woman lately! Don’t get me wrong, I love teaching, but feel like I teach a better class when I don’t teach 6 or 7 in a week. Instructor friends- do you feel the same way?

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I taught my 6am Muscle Work class and then subbed a 6:30pm kickboxing class at the Watertown BSC after work. Those days are SO long, but they are doable since I’m doing different workouts before and after work.

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  • Tuesday- I never made it to the 6:55 am class (incorrectly set my alarm), but I ended up doing 10 minutes of cardio and 20 minutes of stability ball-focused core work. After work, I headed to Reading to train Kerri, which went great! I did some of the workout with her, but am trying to get better at just instructing/training her rather than doing the workout with her.

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  • Wednesday- I ran a 5K on the treadmill before teaching my UXF Burn class. I didn’t do much of the workout with them because, for some reason, I was incredibly sore. I don’t even know how I could be as sore as I was, but I took it as a sign that I shouldn’t push myself, so I didn’t 🙂
  • Thursday- I taught SHRED and then Kickboxing. Both classes were pretty full and the energy was great. I taught a new format (for me) in SHRED and everyone loved it, including me! I set it up so that everyone had a partner- partner A would do 12 reps of whatever exercise I told them to do (using the BOSU) and partner B would do whatever cardio exercise I told them to do. Partner B would do the cardio until partner A completed their 12 reps. Then we switched and then did a partner core move for 60 seconds. It was so fun!!

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  • Friday- I usually rest on Fridays, but I wanted to get in another class with my ClassPass and since my friend Lindsay was teaching at Recycle at 5:30pm, I figured it was a perfect class to go to. Similar to the last time, the class was amazing. Her energy, song choices and choreography’s are motivating, yet challenging, and I left there feeling like I got my butt kicked! Recycle still stands true as my favorite indoor cycling studio for that reason.

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  • Saturday- I taught cardio kickboxing at the Oak Square YMCA. Per usual, it was a great class!
  • Sunday- Rest 🙂 I realized I hadn’t had a rest day all week… whoops

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I think I will end up doing something similar to this pre-flight workout that I did before the last flight to Dallas.
  • Tuesday & Wednesday- I have no idea what my workouts will look like while I am in Texas. I would like to check out the gym at the Gaylord Resort and hopefully Tim will want to join me- I like having a workout buddy when I’m on the road! BSCers- I won’t be there on Wednesday, but Kate Welby is subbing for me, so you’ll be in good hands!!
  • Thursday- I’ll be back at the Central Square and teaching SHRED and then Kickboxing.
  • Friday- I am not sure. I may try to get to a morning class at a participating ClassPass location (my month is up the first week in April so I’m trying to use up all my passes!).
  • Saturday- My friend Jen told me about a Spartan Race Workout so I am going to do that! It’s from 9-11 so if you’re interested in joining us, use that link and sign up 🙂
  • Sunday- I am subbing UXF Burn at 9am at the Allston BSC, so if you’re around, come join me! There were only 3 people last time I subbed, so I’d love to have more of you! I am heading to Kerri’s to train her after I teach.

Traveling

As I mentioned, I am going to be in Grapevine, Texas for the first half of this week. I am sure I’ll get some type of workout in, but I likely won’t know what that workout will be until the day of. I have a fun guest post coming for you later this week, so be on the lookout for that.

Things I’m Looking Forward To

It will be nice to see some of my coworkers this week and to get to meet other people in the industry. I’ve heard the Gaylord is a really nice resort, so I’m looking forward to that! The temps are supposed to be low here this week, so being in 60* weather will be a nice treat 😉 I’m also looking forward to the potential Shapleigh Girls night on Saturday- I bought a Groupon to the Brahmin and I think we are going to try to go there.

Questions for you: Fitness instructor friends- what is your “ideal” number of classes to teach in a week? What was the best workout you had last week? What are you looking forward to this week?

This Week: Workouts {lots of teaching again}, Review of Velo City & Pursuit Boston, Things I’m looking forward to

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Hi, friends! Happy St. Patty’s Day! Is anyone celebrating? Did anyone go to the Southie parade yesterday? I opted out of it this year- it was cold and I really just needed/wanted a day to myself where I could catch up on life (cleaning, blogging, laundry, grocery shopping, etc.), not to mention I didn’t want to be tempted to drink too much because my day today is too long to be hung over! I’ve got lots to talk about today, so let’s get right to the workouts 🙂

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I decided to go to the gym during my lunch break to get in a quick 30-45 minute upper body and core workout. I was SO happy I did this because I ended up having a horrible end of the day at work and stayed late talking to my manager, so it was great knowing I could just go home after work and have a huge glass of wine make dinner, blog and do laundry.
  • Tuesday- I used my ClassPass membership and tried out a new-to-me studio: Velo-City. I’ll share more on it below, but I liked it!
  • Wednesday- I ran 3 miles on the treadmill before teaching UXF Burn.
  • Thursday- I taught SHRED (did most of the workout with them, but skipped out on the cardio) and Kickboxing.
  • Friday- Nothing 🙂
  • Saturday- I went to Pursuit Boston, which is a new spin studio in the Back Bay. I LOVED it. It was especially fun since I ran into someone I went to high school with and met u with my new blog friend, Lucy. Sweating with friends is so much better!
  • Sunday- I went to Exhale Spa for a 75 minute yoga class and it was wonderful. My body and mind needed it in a bad way! So happy I have my ClassPass membership so I can jump around to all these studios 😉

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This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- By the time this post goes up, I will have taught my 6am Muscle Work class and I am subbing the 6:30pm cardio kickboxing class at the Watertown BSC after work. Happy Monday and St. Patty’s Day to me!
  • Tuesday- I’m going to a 6:55am class at B-Tone Fitness in the Back Bay. I’m trying to use my ClassPass to try new studios I may not otherwise try, I’m excited about this class. After work, I am training someone who wants to get back into shape now that she’s had her baby!
  • Wednesday- Maybe some light cardio before teaching UXF Burn
  • Thursday- Teaching SHRED and then cardio kickboxing
  • Friday- Rest 🙂
  • Saturday- Teaching kickboxing at the Oak Square YMCA
  • Sunday- Not sure. I’d like to get something in since I’ll be traveling the next week, but I haven’t figured out what I want to do yet.

Velo-City Review

As I mentioned above, I went to an indoor cycling studio in the Back Bay on Tuesday night. I had never been, but it came up on ClassPass and there was a class at a good time for me, so I decided to try it out. The staff was SUPER friendly, and the instructor, Megan, was actually someone I knew when I used to work at Prana Power yoga- small world! I loved the music Megan played and really loved a lot of the song choreography that she had- we did some things that I hadn’t done at any other studio, so that was fun- I always love learning new things. I also loved that the studio had black lights…. I just wish I had worn something white! The one thing that was kind of a bummer was the fact that the class was not filled, so it felt like the room was a bit empty. I like when these types of classes are full because I can feed off of everyone’s energy, which I wasn’t able to do on Tuesday. Otherwise, though, I really liked the studio and would definitely suggest going, especially since they offer a free first class!

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Pursuit Boston Review

Saturday morning I headed back to the Back Bay for another spin class, this time at Pursuit Boston, which just opened in January. I loved the studio because it was on the second floor in a building on Boylston street, so it was really bright and sunny. They had showers (huge plus for me), changing areas, a weights/stretching area to use if you wanted to do something before or after class, and really great specials (5 classes for $59!!). The only downside is that they don’t rent shoes, but they do have a handful of shoes you can borrow, which I ended up doing because I hate spinning without spin shoes now.

The class at Pursuit was a traditional spin class, so we didn’t use weights or anything like that, which I thought was a bummer at first, but by the end, I didn’t mind at all. It was only a 45 minute class, but I was legit spent by the end. I was sweating SO much and my legs barely got me down the stairs after class- I call that a success 😉 The instructor was great and really encouraging and I liked that she jumped on and off the bike a lot to get closer to us to push us harder. I definitely suggest checking out this studio as they have different kinds of “rides” (they are going to start a spin boot camp class, which I think is totally up my alley) so you can pick one based on what you’re looking to accomplish in your workout that day. They do a free first class, too!

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Thing I’m Looking Forward To

Last week was SO fun, so this week definitely has big shoes to fill! I’m excited to try out B-Tone fitness on Tuesday, as well as train my friend’s sister-in-law. It was so sweet of her to reach out to me for help losing her baby weight, so I’m excited to put a plan together for her. I’m looking forward to my sister coming home on Friday- she will have been gone for 2 full weeks! On Saturday, I’m going to a wine tasting with my friend Jessi, Cristina and Lauren (and maybe my sister), which is going to be a blast! Nothing better than a wine-filled afternoon (heads up to my kickboxing class on Saturday- we will be working out for me to earn my wines… you’ve been warned!).

Questions for you: What was the best workout you had last week? Did you try out any new classes or studios? Do you like regular spin classes or do you like indoor cycling classes that include weights? What are you looking forward to this week?

A jam-packed weekend full of working out & dining out

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Do you ever have those weekends where you’re so busy you feel like you need another day just to breathe and catch up on everything you didn’t catch up on over the weekend? That was me last weekend… and, well, all of last week, actually. I have spent the majority of the beginning of this week catching up on everything I wasn’t able to do last week or this week- my floors need to be washed desperately, but that keeps getting pushed further and further down my list, which is totally ok 🙂

Anyway! After work on Friday, I met up with someone for drinks at Vintage Lounge, which I hadn’t been to in years! From there, we headed to Sakurabana for sushi (as a Catholic, I’m not supposed to eat meat on Friday’s during lent, so sushi was a perfect option!).

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Saturday started with kickboxing (loved seeing Jen, Mary, Valerie, Dani and all the other familiar faces!) as my first workout and then I met my sister at Exhale Spa for a Core Fusion Cardio class with my sister. We met up with our friend, Jessi, for lunch at Anthem. It was such a beautiful day in the city- perfect for walking around and having lunch out (actually, who am I kidding- any day is a great day for lunch out in my mind!). We shared a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, the Fondue (cannot go there without getting it- SO SO SO good) and a pizza.

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I did some serious bar/restaurant hopping on Saturday night, which was great at the time, but not so great when I had to wake up at 7:45am on Sunday to teach a 9am class, after having gone to bed at 1:30am and losing an hour of sleep due to the time change. Womp. Oh well, I made sure to not drink too much so at least I wasn’t hungover! My Saturday night locations included: Prima E Dopo, Back Bay Social Club, M Bar at the Mandarin Hotel and finally Towne… phew! I wasn’t kidding when I said I hopped around 😉

Sunday I taught my 7th class of the week, puttered at Target and then did my CPR recertification. Not really my favorite way to spend a Sunday, but I didn’t really have a choice!

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Lunch at Pizza Etc. after the recertification did make me happy… I’ve missed their Greek salad with grilled chicken. When I lived in Brighton, Rachel and I would get that salad once a week!

By the time I grocery shopped and got home, the last thing I wanted to do was cook dinner. I ended up going to Santarpio’s to grab pizza… not the healthiest choice, but I had been craving it for a while so I decided to just do it. It did give me a crazy bad stomach ache later on- I wonder if it was the pizza or just the fact that I had eaten out literally all weekend.

By the time Monday rolled around, I was so ready for my usual clean eats! Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy eating out and would never deprive myself of it, but my body just likes it better when I don’t eat out consecutively for days in a row. I used to let it bother me when I would eat out a lot, but at this point in my life, I’ve gotten to a place where I just let it go and enjoy it because I know as soon as Monday rolls around, I’ll be back on track with my eats. No better way to do that then kale & onion stuffed turkey meatballs served over spaghetti squash and sautéed veggies, right?

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I’ve been enjoying this all week!

Questions for you: What was the best part of your weekend? Did you try any new workouts/classes/studios? Did you go to any new restaurants? Have you been to any of the ones that I went to over the weekend? Do you beat yourself up after indulgent weekends of eating out and drinking? What’s the first thing you do to get back on track?

Weekending: Gym friends, Southie, How to prepare for a busy week

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My weekend recap is a little late this week, but it was a good one, so it’s better late than never, right? Although I was super tired on Friday night, I was excited to head to Needham for a gym friends party. A gym friends party, you might ask? What is that? Well, it’s when a bunch of gym-going, gym-loving ladies get together to eat good food, drink good wine and share horror funny class stories (most of us are instructors, so we’ve got stories for dayssss). Athena wrote up a really nice post about why she loves gym friends and I couldn’t agree more. It’s funny because when I was telling my mom about it on Saturday, I used the same exact “they just ‘get’ me” line that she used in her post. gym friends (photo credit: Athena!)

On top of good company, I love gym friend parties because the food is always delicious… and usually healthy! There were so many different appetizer treats to snack on- I was a happy camper 😉 IMG_6833 I brought a dessert treat that I came up with fairly quickly. Could’ve been a hit or miss, but, luckily, it seemed to be a hit. I’ll share it with you soon, but here’s a sneak peak: IMG_6829

I had so many people to catch up with! These girls all frequent the Oak Square YMCA as their “home” gym and get to see each other at least a few times of week, but I only see them every other Saturday if they come to my class. Womp. Needless to say, the wine was flowing, conversation was non-stop and before we knew it, it was time to do the Pink-themed Yankee Swap!

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I put together a cute little “relaxing night in” package which had an OPI 4 color sampler nail polish package, a candle and a bottle of wine. I wouldn’t have been mad if I went home with that, although I was SO HAPPY to go home with a stability ball. It’s been on my list of things to buy for a while now (for exercise and to use as my chair when I work from home), I just keep forgetting to get one. Problem solved!

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Big thanks to Liz for having us and thanks to all the girls for being such fun gym friends!!

Saturday started off my favorite way: kickboxing. Even better, was knowing a bunch of girls from Friday night would be there… they asked for burpees and I aim to please 😉

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The rest of my Saturday was busy with lunch plans and then going to Southie to see my sister’s new apartment. Her roommate, Amy, bought a condo in Southie and they moved in on Friday night. I was a bad sister and didn’t visit until Saturday night, but I did come bearing gifts of Prosecco, Bud Light and an AMEX gift card, so I think that counts for something, right?! 😉 We grabbed dinner and drinks at The Playwright Bar since it’s literally a 3 minute walk from their new place. I am so jealous that they are so close to so many fun places!

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Another friend from home met us out, which was a nice surprise!

Sunday was a busy day. I wasn’t home for more than 5 minutes all day on Saturday, so I didn’t have time to do anything on my to-do list. But you know what? I survived. Funny thing about that! Between laundry, baking, cooking, grocery shopping, blogging, making workout videos and prepping for a busy week… Sunday was over in a flash!

I knew my week was going to be crazy busy between teaching 7 classes, going to the ClassPass launch, going to a wine tasting, etc., so I spent some time on Sunday prepping for the week to make it a little easier! I wanted to share some things I do to help make a busier week go a little more smoothly, especially when I have to be up and out of the house super early to teach in the morning.

How to prepare for a busy week

1. Food prep!! I can’t stress this enough. I don’t have the money to buy lunch out every day (or the snacks), so prepping my salads, fruit, snacks, etc. on Sunday night makes the world of a difference.

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Since I needed to be up and out the door by 5:30 on Monday, I even had to pack breakfast!

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Nothing exciting, but it did the trick!

2. Plan my outfit the night before. And, for me, it meant packing it up in my gym bag since I had to get ready for work at the gym.

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3. Plan my workout that I’m going to teach. If I don’t plan something out, I’ll keep thinking about it, so it’s better to just write it out and be done with it.

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4. Make a meal that can be reheated throughout the week, especially for the nights I get home late (pretty much every night this week). This ensures that I have a healthy, well balanced meal that I can eat within 5 minutes of walking through the door. What can I say? I get hangry!

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5. Go to bed early. There’s no better way to end the weekend and start the week than getting a good nights rest. I’m not used to getting up on Monday mornings in the 5 o’clock hour, so that will certainly take some getting used to, but having everything literally ready for me as soon as I wake up makes it easier!

Questions for you: What was the best part of your weekend? Do you have a group of friends that “get” you? How do you prepare for a busy week? Do you plan ahead and do prep work to make it easier or just go with the flow?

This Week: Workouts (lots of teaching!) & Things I’m Looking Forward To

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Happy Monday! I’m hoping that we didn’t actually get as much snow as the weather was predicting all weekend… I’m also hoping that by the time this post goes up, I’ve successfully taught my first 6am class at my new gym 🙂

Last week was a really great week of quality workouts (not necessarily the quantity of workouts), mostly because it felt amazing to be back in the gym and teaching, partly because they actually were good workouts. Even though I stayed active last week, it wasn’t at my normal intensity and didn’t involve weights, so being back at the gym last week with normal intensity AND weights left me tired and sore. And, I kind of loved it! Even though I like to have a consistent workout plan and schedule each week, being forced to take a step back, slow down and change things up is a nice break 🙂

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I got up before my work trip to Dallas (like 5am style. yuck) to squeeze in a quick 30 minute workout: 10 minutes cardio, 10 minutes strength, 10 minutes core. I’m going to post it for you this week.
  • Tuesday- Nothing. My trip to Dallas was quick and I knew I wouldn’t be getting up to workout before the sessions, so I didn’t even bring my workout clothes!
  • Wednesday- I ran 3 miles on the treadmill before teaching UXF Burn. I did most of the workout with the class (except the cardio) so I was beat by the end.
  • Thursday- I taught SHRED and Kickboxing. I randomly used body bars in SHRED and loved it!! I ended up making up most of the workout as we went so we could use the bars and it was a nice change up. Kickboxing was super high cardio and super sweaty. I hadn’t taught that class in 2 weeks so it was great to be back!
  • Friday- I walked about a mile… so mostly a rest day
  • Saturday- Taught kickboxing at the Oak Square YMCA. There were 62 people… it.was.sweaty.

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  • Sunday- I filmed a standing ab routine (I’ll be posting it this week!) and did some at-home yoga. It was just what I needed!!

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I was seriously SO sore from kickboxing on Saturday, so stretching out my muscles was wonderful. At least I wasn’t the only one sore… these girls were suffering in my pain, too!

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This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I’m teaching my first 6am Muscle Work class in the morning (pending the snow doesn’t ruin that plan!!) and then teaching cardio kickboxing at the Watertown BSC after work. Nothing like a Monday double to start off the week!
  • Tuesday- I was invited to participate in a new program that’s being brought to Boston (more on that later!), so I’m going to Flywheel for the opening event. SO excited to get back in the saddle there!
  • Wednesday- Probably some cardio before teaching UXF Burn. I’m thinking it will be a lower-impact cardio based on my Monday and Tuesday workouts.
  • Thursday- My second double of the week! SHRED followed by Kickboxing.
  • Friday- REST 🙂
  • Saturday- Amy and I switched Saturday’s at the Y so I’ll be teaching kickboxing there again this weekend!
  • Sunday- I’m subbing a 9AM UXF Burn class at the Allston BSC- looking forward to being back at that gym- BSCers… come hang with me 🙂

I’m glad that last week ended up being a lighter workout week than normal (3 mostly “rest” days, which I never do in one week) because this week is a bit intense with teaching 7 classes. I’m going to make sure to listen to my body and instruct/coach rather than actually DO the workouts with the class when I feel like I’ve done too much.

Things I’m Looking Forward To

So much!! I’m excited to have a week where I am mostly back to my normal schedule, although, now that I think about it, it’s not really “normal” since I have a lot of things going on after work… hmmm…. I’m also looking forward to the blog event on Tuesday night- it’s always fun to meet fellow Boston bloggers. I’m looking to expand my blog reading list, so I know I’ll get to add a few to my list after Tuesday night 😉 I’m going to another blog event on Saturday afternoon- a wine tasting event. Umm, perfect!! Wine and blogging… after teaching… sounds like the perfect Saturday, right?

Giveaway coming up-

Be on the lookout for an awesome giveaway going up on the blog tomorrow. I think you ladies are going to LOVE it!

Questions for you: What was the best workout you had last week? What are you looking forward to this week? If you had to pick one blog to tell me to read, what would it be?