Let’s Play a Game

Happy weekend!

After teaching 2 group fitness classes back to back..

A girl’s gotta have a little fun with it! I purposely used all blue equipment; BOSU, the resistance tube that’s equivalent of using 7 pounds of force, and an  (un-pictured) pair of 7lb. dumbbells that were obvi blue. Up first-Abs, Glutes, and Thighs..and the LAST one of the semester! We went through a circuit for the first half of the class:

• BOSU lateral hopovers
• dumbbell wood choppers
• resistance tube lateral walks
• BOSU glute bridges (double and single legs)
• BOSU decline planks

After, we played what I call a “game”*. I had each participant flip a coin; whether it landed on heads or tails, it corresponded to an exercise. We only got through 1 round of it, but it was a change-up from my norm group fitness class of me doing all of the work! I always try to do something “fun“* on the last class and involve the participants when deciding what workouts/exercises to do. It gives the participants a chance to run the class (so to speak) and show-off what they learned throughout the semester. MY group fitness classes aren’t just about getting a workout in, but taking what we do in the class and using it in your OWN workouts, with amazing form and variations so no workout is the same.

*I put these choice words in quotations because apparently what I think is a game and fun, the participants think otherwise! (cough-Stephanie-cough) ;).

Next up-cycle! I was subbing for another instructor because usually, I do not do back to back classes. It’s too much! I give those who do it regularly lots of credit. For me, I must have balance when it comes to teaching; too much burns me out and I start to dread it. ALL fitness is a PASSION of mine, not an everyday thing..moderation :).

Three people plus me for an hour-long class. I’m used to teaching my lunchtime  40-minute class; an extra 20 minutes allowed me to add in more climbs, sprints, and jumps! FYI-Kelly Clarkson’s new song, Catch My Breath, is the perfect song for jumps!

To finish..my blue crops.

Oh yes I did.

Halloween Core and Cycle Class

First things first, everyone please be safe!

Secondly..

It’s Halloween week!

This is like a fitness instructors’ dream come true..do you realize how many exercises can be morphed into a Halloween-name?! Amaze.

I taught Core & More and named all of the exercises after Halloween; descriptions of the actual exercises are below: 

1. Supine Frankenstein leg drops
2. Eerie Plank (up, up, down, down)
3. Creeping Spider (plank w/ knees to the side)
4. Scared Cat (Down down to plank)
5. About to Pounce (Down dog to plank)
6. Dead Cat (Spine Bridge lifts)
7. Witches Brew (butt on knees, lift and torso twist right and left)
8. Hexes (star crunch)

Right after was Cycle! Of course I had to include songs like Thriller, Ghostbusters, and Werewolves of London-only appropriate ;-).

Are you going Trick or Treating tomorrow night? If so, here are the healthiest candies to nosh on:

• 3 musketeers mini-24 calories
• fun-sized lemonheads- 50 calories for 10 pieces
• full-sized york peppermint pattie (fave!)- 140 calories
• peeps pumpkins- <100 calories for 6 peeps
• Tootsie caramel apple pop- 60 calories

Notice how the first 3 candies are bold? It’s all about portion size! Obviously the mini versions of our favorite candies are going to have fewer calories than the full-sized versions, but we tend to overlook those intricate details and only read “3 musketeers” and “24 calories”. Pay attention to portions and I have no doubt that you can celebrate Halloween like it’s supposed to be celebrated:

with family/friends, tons of spooky fun, and candy!

Greetings From My Current Home!

I moved back to Pittsburgh last Friday and am thrilled to be able to take a couple of weeks off before heading to Michigan! My dad, mom, brother, and Jagr drove 8 hours to Raleigh, packed my stuff up, and headed back up north for a longer-ish (11 hour) trip. It was 3 hours longer because we stopped for dinner at a quaint sandwich shop in Fayetteville, WV. It was well worth it; the sandwiches were hand-crafted using local ingredients and unique combo’s that we never would have thought to put together! I had a turkey, peach jam, carmelized onion, and blue cheese spread sammy on a freshly-baked French baguette..mouth-watering good.

Saturday and Sunday were spent relaxing with my family; we’re reunited and it feels SO good! I haven’t been home in such a long time and I’m always missing family gatherings, dinners, and random activities that are done on weekends. For instance, my dad and I are HUGE car fanatics (I like to shop, he likes what the actual car does) and it just so happens that the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix was happening in Schenley Park! It’s a car show that showcases both vintage and current car styles and raises funds

“to help provide residential care, treatment, and support for developmentally disabled individuals in the Pittsburgh area” (source)

Although hot, it was a great way to spend the day and even got me thinking about Lola #2 ;).

Unfortunately, my parents do this thing called work and the 24/7 bonding time was over Monday morning. But that’s okay- I’m one of those Type-A individuals that can keep myself busy all by my lonesome.

Here’s what I’ve been up to: in pictures!

• added onto my family’s gym membership. first membership ever! 
• went to Bartram House bakery for coffee. every morning. *if you’re in the Wexford or McMurray area-you must stop in!
• attracted construction workers attentions with my attractive get-up while walking Jagr 
• eating delicious food. daily. that I don’t buy! *when I’m home, my job is to prepare dinner for my parents. I absolutely love my job 🙂
• enjoying the amazing weather! cool enough to sit outside in the mornings and evenings. I went for a run in 58degree weather and my hands were actually numb-y post-run.
• am baking again  when I lived in Raleigh, I didn’t bake as much since I’d be the only one eating it. now, since I’m with 3 other sweet-mouthedteethed, dessert every night people, I can bake again and not feel guilty about it going to waste..or me eating it all (whichever comes first 🙂 )

I received an email from Oakland U about moving in and the teaching schedule for the fall! It looks like I’ll be heading (more) north on the weekend of August 10! I’m teaching 4 new-to-me classes in the fall;

Core and More, Cycle, BLAST, and Abs, Glutes, and Thighs. The wheels in my exercisebrary-brain are churning already; I’m hoping Oakland U. participants will like what I bring!

I have lots more to babble about but I’ll save that for the next post; I don’t want to spoil all of the fun!

Day 40

It’s my last Monday both at the internship and in Raleigh! Time really does fly..

I spent pretty much the majority of the weekend with Kathie doing girl-y things; went to the zoo, watched the Twilight series, ate lots, and just hung out. It was relaxing and the perfect way to spend my last weekend in Raleigh!

 The Asheboro zoo was fun! We went once it opened and it seemed like all of the animals were still asleep though. The hype was around the baby giraffe that was born earlier in July; it was the first baby giraffe since 1996 that’s ever been born at this zoo! Although they hid both the mother and baby, both were reported to be doing very well; we were bummed we couldn’t see the baby but that just gives me an excuse to visit NC again :).

I have 2 more sessions with my client at State, one today and the last one tomorrow. It’s crazy to think we’ve been working together for almost 1.5 years! After training, I came straight to work to get started on the last assignments I need to turn in on Friday. I finished my internship portfolio  and can’t wait to turn it in Friday and be DONE!

I planned to run this morning, but decided to postpone it til later for two reasons: 1. it was still dark at 5:30am and I needed to be out of the house by then or I’d be rushed to leave by 7:45am and 2. it was 5:30am. I’m trying to get a couple runs around Lake Johnson before Friday! The park is so beautiful and I’m going to miss it tremendously.

This week in workouts:

• Monday-run Lake Johnson (if the weather permits) or Body Pump
• Tuesday-teach Body Sculpt & Balance & ran LJ!
• Wednesday-Yoga Challenge
• Thursday-teach Cycle!
• Friday-Body Attack lite* or Body Pump. I’m not sure what the “lite” entails; I love the normal version of Attack and if this is a lower-impact format, I’ll for-go it and take Pump!

Have a marvelous Monday!