Tag: YMCA

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

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

Speaking of workouts…

Last Week’s Workouts

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

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

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

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This Week’s Workouts

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

Things I’m Looking Forward To

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

January Burpee & Push-Up Challenge {Recap}

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

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

On that note….

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

Make this week great, friends!

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

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

Last Week’s Workouts

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

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

This Week’s Workouts

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

Things I’m Looking Forward To

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

January Burpee & Push-Up Challenge: Week 2 Recap

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

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

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

This Week: Workouts, Schedule {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?

Extended Time In Maine: Spending lots of time with family and friends!

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I can’t remember the last time I spent more than a few nights home in Maine. Actually, that’s a lie. Last year for Christmas, my sister and I were able to spend a lot of time in Maine, mostly due to the fact that I came down with pneuomonia and we couldn’t leave when originally planned. Thankfully, I survived the holiday sick-free this year.

Since I’ve already caught you up on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I’ll pick up after that! Thursday morning, my mom, sister and I all went to the gym, which is my favorite way to start the day 🙂

After we got home, my dad and I got busy putting together my new mini-kitchen island. I thought I could do it on my own, but I am so happy my dad suggested doing it together because he has all the tools and knowledge to make sure it’s done right.

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Charlie thought he was going to be a good helper… he wasn’t.

It took much longer than expected to put it together, but I am so happy with how it turned out! It’s not great quality, but until I buy a place and know I won’t be moving every couple of years, I don’t want to have super nice stuff that could get damaged. This is absolutely perfect for my little kitchen because not only does it give me extra counter space, but it’s on wheels so I can move it around as I need/want. Love it- thanks mom and dad!!

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We went to the movies in the afternoon (nothing like $6.50 matinees in Maine!) to see Anchorman 2, which, sadly, was a big disappointment. Has anyone else seen it? I just thought it was slow and not that funny. At least the beers were $2, which kept me entertained 😉

We made the most delicious chicken parmesan meal when we got home from the movies. Holy moly. My mom really does make the best chicken parm (Danielle and I served ours over spaghetti squash… the best way to save on carbs and calories!)!

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After dinner, we spent a lot of time listening to my parents talk about their parents and their childhood. My dad’s parents passed away when he was in his young 20’s and my mom’s mother passed away when she was in her mid-late 20’s, so we haven’t really gotten to hear much about them over the years. It was so fun to look through old photo albums and listen to their stories.

I started my Friday just like most “off” days from work: at the gym! I took a great cardio and core class, which was perfect after a weights class on Thursday. After the class, I headed to the AT&T store to get a new iPhone. I was using an old iPhone 4 and was long overdue for an upgrade, so I finally headed in and made the upgrade! So far, I am LOVING my iPhone 5S and can’t wait to see the difference in picture quality.

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My family headed to the mall in the afternoon and I scored a number of deals- have you guys been shopping since Christmas? The sales are unreal! I got 2 shirts a dress and lotion for $30! After the mall, we headed to the Back Street Grill for some happy hour wines with my mom’s friend, Jean. When the $3 happy hour wine ends at 6pm and you get there at 5:30, you order 2 😉

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We made a nice, healthy chicken and veggie teriyaki stir fry for dinner- all of us agreed we needed more veggies!

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Saturday, Danielle and I made the trek back to Boston, with a quick stop in Kittery to exchange some things (I just ended up buying more. whoops). With the looks of the back of her SUV, though, you’d think the last thing we’d be doing was shopping!

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Once I got back, I unpacked everything, went for a 5K run and then had a quiet night in. I had wanted to do something, but it ended up being nice staying in. I needed to get my iTunes updated so I could put music on my new phone, catch up on blogging and have some alone time, all which I accomplished on Saturday night!

Sunday morning I woke up pretty early, which was expected since I’ve slept a lot the past handful of nights, so I went to a 9:30 spin class, followed by upper body strength and core work. The gym was dead, which is my favorite way for it to be unless I’m teaching 😉

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The rest of my Sunday was pretty quiet… I’m ready for some serious social interaction! I went grocery shopping, prepped lunches/meals and did some other random stuff around my apartment. I hung out with my sister in the afternoon for a few hours before coming home and making a delicious chicken, butternut squash, Brussels sprouts and quinoa dish.

Although it was a quiet weekend, it was good. I started Monday feeling refreshed and ready to get back on a schedule!

Questions for you: Have you seen Anchorman 2? Do you have the new iPhone? What was the best part of your weekend? Any fun plans for NYE tonight?

So, I used to hate spinning…

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… but I may be warming up to it!

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Let’s back up.

On Monday, all of a sudden, my lower leg/calf area started to hurt as I was walking to work. This has happened to me a number of times before, and I think it happened on Monday because of my new sneakers. I think they must have different support than all of my other sneakers and my legs/feet haven’t gotten used to it yet. Whatever the reason, my plans of running on the treadmill after work went out the window. Womp.

I decided I would row and do the elliptical as a way to get cardio in, but keep it lower impact so as not to bother my leg. However, as I walked up to the locker room, I looked at the class board and saw that there was a spin class starting in 10 minutes. My first thought was “ugh. It’s a spin class. Wish it was something else.”, but immediately after that thought went through my head, a light bulb went off and I was like, “maybe a spin class is a good idea! It’s low-impact, yet supposedly an incredible workout. Maybe I should try it.”

So, I did. And I didn’t hate it! I can’t say I loved it, but it was almost enjoyable. I think part of the reason why I liked it was because we did 45 minutes of spin and 15 minutes of abs- a nice way to break up the workout. Another reason why I liked it was because we did climbs and sprints based on the song, so it wasn’t just a 45 minute slow climb. Boringggg. Lastly, the bikes didn’t have knobs, but rather levers, so you could see what level you were at, as well as the RPMs and time, so when the instructor wanted you to change, she would say “Ok, bump it up to level 12, with RPMs between 90 & 100, and we are going to sit in the saddle for 30 seconds then bring it up to 3rd for 45 seconds and then hover in 3rd for 60 seconds.” Being able to measure the intensity, speed and time made the workout much more enjoyable. I always have a hard time when spinning has the bikes with the knobs and you’re supposed to do one twist to the right, two twists to the right, 1/2 twist back to the left, etc. Call it my Type A personality, but I like to know exactly how hard I am working and if I am on par with the class.

My only issue, and I can’t believe I’m even saying this, was I didn’t leave there feeling like I had legs of jello. Don’t get me wrong, I was a sweaty beast by the end, but the only time I felt like I wanted to knock my level down lower than what was prescribed was when we had a 4 minute hill climb in the seated position. Holy crap. My legs were dead! Other than that, though, I felt like I could have worked harder… or that I could have done another workout after. Is that normal? When an instructor tells you what level to do, do you follow it or do what you need to do to intensify the workout?

So, with all of that said, I think I am going to give spinning another shot. I really WANT to like it because there are so many sub opportunities for spinning at the gym, so it would be great to learn to like it, how to do it, and feel comfortable teaching it. It would certainly make me a more well-rounded instructor!

Questions for you: Spinning- love it or hate it? What’s a tip you have for me to make sure I’m getting the best workout in that I can? Where’s the best spinning class you’ve ever been to?