Tag Archives: spin

Ready to PUMP YOU UP!

So remember how I posted last night that I was going to meet Ashley at the gym this morning?

I tweeted about it, too.Picture 18.png

And then I slept just late enough that I wouldn’t be able to make it. I should have left by 6:15 to allow extra time for waiting for the subway and still make it there a few minutes before 7. I woke up at 6:10 and texted back and forth with Ashley. Sure, I could have taken a cab…but I guess I just didn’t want to go badly enough. Frustrated with myself, I snoozed so long that I overslept a little and even totally forgot to grab my oatmeal on the way out the door, so I bought some at work. (But brought my own Barney Butter.)

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Lunch was a free (yay loyalty cards) soba salad.

Since the holidays, I’ve had a hard time getting motivated to work out. I’ve been busy, I’ve been sick, etc. I can make all the excuses I want, but the reality is that I just haven’t been making it a priority.

I have a black-tie function coming up on 3/5 and two half-marathons next month. It’s time to get serious, yo.

What does that mean?

  • Sticking to my training schedule, which Lizzy so kindly redid for me. (But being okay with having to modify things, sometimes.)
  • Cutting back on the booze.
  • Cutting back on the bread and pasta.
  • One yoga day a week.
  • Two strength training days a week.

(Also, everything I wrote here.)

I’ve been feeling softer around the edges lately, which is definitely a result of too many treats and too many refined carbs in the past month or so. It’s also definitely a result of a lack of strength training lately, which I realized in the spin class I snuck in during lunch.

This is obvious, but…you feel stronger when you strength train. You also burn a ton more calories. The kind folks at K-Swiss sent over a snazzy pair of their Tubes sneakers as well as Jillian Michaels’ Six Week Six-Pack and Master Your Metabolism. I’m definitely going to incorporate the DVD into my schedule at least once a week, and I plan on looking at the book to see if there are any tips I can incorporate into my diet.

How do you switch things up when you start feeling a little soft around the edges?

Review: Soul Cycle!

I’ve been on this health kick for a bit over a year now. I do enjoy working out now, but still, there are only so many times a girl can hop on the eilliptical/Stairmaster/bike/AMT trainer without getting bored.

That’s a big reason why I started running. I could get outside, I could challenge myself in races of all different lengths. But I don’t want to run too much either, because I don’t want any overuse injuries.

So when I got a free pass to Soul Cycle in my Winter Ball goodie bag, I was psyched to try it out. I’d read about it on Mary’s blog, and I was both intrigued and intimidated. But it was free, so it was worth a try.

There’s spin, and then there’s Soul Cycle.

It’s billed as a full-body workout, and it definitely lived up to that.

They gave me rental spin shoes to use on the bike (it’s not an option), and the spin shoes definitely make a difference. I have spin shoes in my closet that I’ve never used, and I’m definitely thinking of finding some clips and busting out my shoes the next time I take a spin class. The shoes definitely enhance the experience, helping you focus on the up-and-down motion on the bike without worrying about keeping your feet in the pedals.

I went to the 7:30 class at their UES location with Kalla, and it was all kinds of awesome. The music was a bit too R&B for me, but it was otherwise amazing. She had us shaking our moneymakers from side-to-side when we were in third position and doing a butt bump backwards when we were doing our jumps — it felt like I was totally rocking out on the bike. Towards the end, she had us pick up one-pound weights and do a bunch of arm exercises – bicep curls, tricep extensions, shoulder presses. By the end, I was absolutely drenched in sweat – and I am not usually a very sweaty person, even when I’ve completely kicked my own ass.

But at $32 per class, it’s not cheap. At all. (Maybe that’s why I hadn’t tried it before!) I’d do it every once in a while to really mix things up, but I don’t see it becoming a part of my regular routine. I hear there’s an all-Madonna class; THAT, I would definitely try!