Weekly Workouts {Memorial Day Version}

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Achieve with Athena

Happy Memorial Day!! How is everyone’s long weekend going? My weekend so far has consisted of a lot of lounging (crappy weather is conducive to being lazy), trying out some heavier lifting, Moroccan food and belly dancers at Tangierino in Charlestown, Monique’s kickboxing class, buying my first pair of Tom’s, my cousin’s graduation party and a lot of wine and laughing, and some other random things. Today it looks like the sun might actually pop out, so we just may put those kayaks to good use. We’ll see!

Whatever your plans are today, please take a minute to remember those who lost their lives serving our country.

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Last Week’s Workouts

Sunday
A whole day of fitness related things, including some new classes, at the Wellness by the Water Retreat

Monday
30 minutes of cardio on the elliptical + 15 minute core strength circuit

Tuesday
Taught outdoor bootcamp class (did more instructing than doing), then taught my Interval class (did just as much instructing as doing) with a 3-2-1 style. This time the “3-2-1” was three strength moves, two cardio moves, and one core move per round.

Wednesday
Rest day

Thursday
Taught my 6am class with a really fun new playlist and some serious upper body Tabata work.

Friday
Did 20 minutes of sprints on the spin bike, followed by some heavier lifting (squats and deadlifts). My friend Ashley has inspired me to try lifting heavier than I usually do, and since I’m still feeling like I’m in a bit of a fitness rut, I decided to break out of my comfort zone and lift some barbells for once. I definitely have to get more comfortable with form, and I have a long way to go in terms of weight, but it was great to do something different. And it really is SO different. I also conquered my fear of box jumps, even if it was with a smaller size box. I finished up this workout with some partner ab work with Tim.

Saturday
Took a very sweaty kickboxing class taught by Monique! Then did lots of stretching and foam rolling in the Annex. Was a great way to start my Saturday.

This Week’s Workouts

This week I really don’t have a specific plan for yet, but here’s a general idea:

Sunday: Rest day
Monday: The rest of today is still TBD! Kayaking hopefully, and probably a short at home circuit tonight
Tuesday: Not sure yet if I can make Two A Day or not, but I think I’m going to try teaching my “Animal Class” in Interval. If I can’t make Kickboxing, I’ll do some cardio on my own ahead of time.
Wednesday: Rest day
Thursday: Teaching my 6am, maybe lower body Tabata this week since we did upper body Tabata last week?
Friday: Cardio and core? Studio Empower class? Deck of cards?
Saturday: Maybe an early morning heavier lifting sesh? We’ll see!

Tell me your favorite and least favorite workouts of last week. Anything good planned for this week? Do you lift heavier weights? When’s the last time you broke out of a fitness rut — how did you do it?

Enjoy the day!

Return to CBC

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Achieve with Athena

Morning.

I’m a liar because yesterday I said I would be back later, and well, I was NOT back later.

Don’t be mad.

Last night marked my return to Corpbasics. For any new F&F readers who may not have heard me talk about Corpbasics (CBC) before, it is a fitness and training club in Somerville that I joined… over a year ago now! My instructor friend at Oak Square, Liz, convinced me to help her out with a kickboxing demo at the Somerville Mayor’s Fitness Challenge in 2011 since I took her class regularly.

A month later, I signed up for the studio. A month after that I certified to teach Cutz & Kix and now teach it regularly at the Y. For more info on CBC and what it’s all about, click over to this post!

[Source]

Anyways, I have been on a little CBC hiatus for over a month. For a couple of reasons:

My hip was really bothering me, and I didn’t think it was smart to add on any more classes a week than I was already doing/teaching. Honor your injuries, right?
I went on vacation.
Before I went on vacation, I was spending my free nights apartment hunting with Tim.
After I went on vacation, I was spending my free nights getting acclimated to my new Group Ex Coordinator position at the Y which entailed a few extra meetings, etc.
My workouts have been more focused on the eight week virtual bootcamp program I signed up for.
I was working a floor shift at the Y on Monday nights, which really only left me Wednesday nights at CBC. 6:30-8:30 on Wednesday nights when you teach at 6:00am on Thursday mornings is TOUGH!

And not really an excuse because of course I can get myself over to CBC, but… what happened to the party bus?! I miss it.

Needless to say, now that my Monday night floor shift at the Y is NO MORE (hooray for an extra free night!) I have my choice of a bunch of awesome Monday night classes. Ashley teaches Cutz at 5:30 at the Y, Ed teaches 6:30 Spin at the Y, Christina teaches Perfect Lines (a 30 minute barre class that focuses on lower body) at 6:45 at CBC, and Andy teach Kix at 7:15 at CBC. Lots of my favorite classes to choose from again for Mondays!

Oh and! CBC was also just voted #1 Kickboxing Class in Boston on the Boston A-List for the second year in a row. Woop!

Have you ever had to repeatedly miss out on a favorite exercise class or favorite workout routine because life just got in the way?

Extra exciting Two A Day Tuesday tonight! Liz and I are both teaching our OWN classes, AND can stay for each others, AND we have a special guest!!! 🙂

The Awk Spot: The Time I Needed Mothballs and Pantyhose

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Achieve with Athena

Hi friends,

Hope everyone has survived the hurricane! My heart goes out to those whose homes were unfortunately damaged by the storm.

Weird/Awk Story of the Day

Sometimes my uncles tell me that I should have a TV show because the weirdest things happen to me. Today’s “episode” is car related. When driving my Camry on Saturday, I noticed this awful stench emanating from the front of the car. I almost gagged by the time I drove the short five minutes across town. Since it was a Saturday night and Irene was coming on Sunday, I knew I wouldn’t be able to take it anywhere until this morning. All weekend I was conjuring up horrible images of what dead animal could possibly be in my car. And then I actually started panicking that there was a human body in my trunk (I always think worst case scenario). There wasn’t.

I took the car to Meineke this morning. Side note, if you need a car guy, Eddie at Meineke is THE MAN. Good work, good prices, and never overcharges or tries to rip you off. Anyways, of course the mile drive down Faneuil Street this morning took FOREVER: garbage truck backing up, dog in the road, red light, etc. I was dry heaving by the time I parked my car at Meineke and jumped out. Long story short, there was a dead mouse in my blow motor assembly. Pretty gross, but probably better than the half dead hissing feline I was envisioning stuck to the bottom of my car or the rat’s tail I was picturing all tangled in the engine parts. Luckily the mouse didn’t chew up any of my wires, but good old Eddie told me that now one mouse decided to set up camp in my car, there is a greater chance for more mice friends to join. The obvious solution? Purchase moth balls and pantyhose so the Meineke men can disperse them throughout my car parts. Apparently that combination keeps the mice away!? So random.

The awkward part? Not realizing that handing a car repair man a used pair of nylons is extremely awkward.

Anyways. That’s my episode of the day.

Food of the Day

Today’s meals consisted of:

Breakfast: Plain Chobani yogurt w/maple granola and blueberries
Lunch: Mixed greens with cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, and mozzarella cheese. With light balsamic vinaigrette. And grapes on the side.

I had a lunch date with Brett at work and told him if he subscribed to my blog I would give him a shout out. He told me I could use him as an example of “what not to eat” but I am not that mean! Plus I couldn’t judge because he was hungover. He went with turkey, provolone, chipotle mayo, lettuce and onions on a sun dried tomato wrap. And some pasta salad on the side.

Afternoon Snack: Almonds.
Afternoon Snack: Luna Bar
Dinner: Cereal. BORING but I had to pick up the mothballs at Home Depot after work so I didn’t get home until late.

Exercise of the Day

Today’s workout was Perfect Lines & Kix. I haven’t been to CBC in a few weeks, so I was happy to be back.

Remember back when I asked you all to vote CBC as the # one kickboxing class in Boston? Well, we won!

This is kind of old news, but I was waiting to post this for when I wrote about CBC again. So it’s been a few weeks since the announcement was made. Still exciting!