Cardio Kickboxing

Tonight I actually got to the gym at 5:30! So, I was able to try the Cardio Kickboxing class I have been wanting to go to. The instructor was extremely positive and motivating throughout the whole workout! We were moving the entire time and I definitely worked up a good sweat! This class made me feel completely bad ass, like I could totally take someone on! I would definitely recommend this class to anyone who is looking for a great workout and in the mood to punch/kick out some frustrations!

Zumba

It's SUNDAY! I got so much accomplished today :)

I was able to complete everything I needed to for work, I printed off my syllabi for Chico State classes (which start next weekend), I cleaned the house, did laundry, and went to the gym.

Today at the gym, there was a brand new Zumba teacher. It was her very first class. I really liked her. She was really good at explaining the moves and letting us know ahead of time what was coming up next. She only messed up a couple of times, but considering it was her first time, we didn't care. She was super funny and the time flew by. We did a lot more hip hop dances, including a bunch of songs by Flo Rida!

Flo Rida "Right Round" video

WREC Fit Class

Tonight I went to WREC Fit at the Chico State gym. I was not sure what to expect because we were asked to get out a step, four risers, a medicine ball, gliders, and a weight bar. We started off with a "warm up" which had me sweating within 3 minutes. We were stepping up and down, running, doing jumping jacks and "push"jacks, etc. Then the instructor had us doing squats and lunges with the weighted bar on our shoulders. When we were finished with the weighted bars, we had to put the gliders under our feet and do lunges and side steps.

We also did some plyo-metrics with high knee jumps and jumps where we have to touch the floor and then jump as high as we can. We also did a sort of circuit training where each row had to do something different, for example one group was running laps as another group was doing push ups!

Finally....we made it to the medicine ball, which I thought was going to be my break. The ball I had was one of the smaller ones, but my arms still hurt by the end. She had us hold the ball straight in front of us and do circles, in both directions. Then, we had to hold the ball in front of us, do a squat and throw the ball up in the air. When the ball came down, we did another squat and repeated. My arms were definitely burning!

To finish the class off, we did some ab work. I have to admit, by the time I was exhausted, so my ab work wasn't great.

This WREC Fit class included a lot of cardio, alongside toning, and weight lifting. This was an overall good class for everything that I need, oh and not too mention... it kicked my ass!

Steps

Gliders

Weighted Bars

Medicine Ball

Zumba on Monday

So, I decided to go do the Zumba class again. I was hoping that it was going to be a different instructor than I had on Sunday, but that wasn't the case. It was a very different class though..... First, I had just been to the dentist for a filling and the whole left side of my face was numb. It was pretty funny trying to drink water. I kind of looked like I had a stroke! Second, it was the first day back to school for everyone, so the gym was packed. There were a bunch of girls in there taking the class that were first timers. They were hilarious! Most of the girls in the class you could tell were probably cheerleaders in high school, but also in the group were a couple of girls who looked like they probably played soccer in high school. They had some coordination, but when they weren't sure of the move they were supposed to be doing, they just wiggled around. It was pretty funny!

I have been so tired this week! I haven't gone to the gym the last two days because of personal drama, but I have my Weight Watchers Meeting tomorrow, so if I don't loose I will be working out like a crazy lady!

GREAT WEEKEND!

This week I felt bad because I didn't work out as much as I would have liked to. But this weekend I made up for it. On Saturday, my sister, Ashli and I went to the gym and did our own workout. I showed her some of the moves I learned in the Kettle Bell class and she showed me some moves that she has done in the past. I didn't think I was going to make it to the gym today because I slept poorly last night and was just wanting to be lazy. When I started thinking back on the week, I decided that I really needed to go. So, I got my big butt off the couch and drove over to the gym to do the Zumba class. An hour of Zumba kicked my butt. I was sweating like a PIG! It felt really good to work out that hard, so I am glad that I made myself go.

Now, I am watching "I Used to Be Fat" on MTV. It is very interesting to me that this family is so non-supportive. It makes me soooo mad! REALLY PEOPLE?!

Biggest Loser Cardio Max

Today I wasn't feeling in the mood to drive over to the gym. So, I pulled out the workout DVD's and found one that I had never even opened before! When I first turned the DVD on, the menu popped up.  On this particular DVD there is a 5 minute warm up, level 1 workout (20 min), level 2 workout (10 min), level 3 workout (10 min), and a 5 minute cool down. I thought that since I have been working out I would try to see if I could do all 5 sections of the DVD.....um I was so wrong! I was sweating within the first 5 minutes of the warm up. During the 20 minute level 1 workout, I had sweat dripping off my face. I actually had to go get a towel to wipe it off, so I wouldn't be getting sweat all over my living room carpet. When the level 1 workout was finished, I thought I would let the DVD run to see how hard level 2 was. I was dying! I decided maybe it was a better idea to work up to the other levels. So, I fast forwarded to the cool down. The 5 minute cool down was a yoga stretch. I am not the biggest fan of yoga, but this was actually a really nice stretch led by Bob, from the Biggest Loser! For anyone looking for a good workout DVD, I definitely recommend this one!

Shred the Gnar!

"This is a term traditionally used by skateboarders, and now is used by snowboarders. It means to go skate or ski enthusiastically or agressively. I thought shred had to do with snow like how skiiers/snowboarders shred the snow by carving/shredding it up. Gnar comes from "gnarly" as in, totally cool"


Yesterday, I went with my sister and two other friends up to Mount Shasta to go snowboarding for the day. I love going to Shasta because it is so much cheaper than Tahoe and it is less crowded. We had an awesome day of snowboarding. The weather was great and there were no injuries! My body is a little sore from using muscles that I don't usually use, but that's a good thing!

Day off

Today I decided to take the day off from working out. There weren't any classes at the gym tonight and all I really wanted to do was relax after a long week at work. I was supposed to go out with some friends for dinner, but plans ended up changing. So, instead I worked on a presentation that I am giving to my staff on Tuesday. I was able to finish most of it and think it is going to go very well. The only thing I am nervous about is my timing. I only get an hour and a half for my presentation and there is so much I want to fit into that time. Luckily, whatever I am not able to complete another colleague of mine is going to pick up where I leave off about a month from now. So, it will all work out!

Tomorrow's workout is going to consist of SNOWBOARDING! I am going with my sister and a couple of friends up to Mount Shasta Ski and Board Park. The weather is supposed to be nice and it will be a full day of EXERCISE! I am very excited!

Zumba!

Tonight I decided I wanted to do a fun exercise! One of my colleagues was talking to me the other day about how she really wants to go with her daughters, and it made me want to do the workout too! When I got home and looked at the group schedule I saw that Zumba was on there and for an hour. I have never done this class at Chico State before, so I knew I may not get all the moves immediately, but I went anyway! I only looked like a little bit of a goober, there were a couple people in there that were worse than me. So, I didn't feel too bad about it. I know that if I go again and again, I will get the moves down and look like a pro!

Cardio Blast

Wednesday evening I made the decision to go for a cardio class instead of doing kettle bells again! I weighed in at Weight Watchers and since the last time I weighed (the week before Christmas) I gained five pounds! I knew I didn't do great, but I didn't realize that I did that bad! But that just motivated me more to go and workout and to workout harder! I was so sore from the last couple of workouts that I decided I needed the cardio instead of the lifting and sculpting.

The person leading the cardio class was really nice and super friendly. We worked on the steps and used sliders. We incorporated the sliders into our lunges. I didn't realize what a huge difference it was going to make, it was definitely different than regular lunges. We also did a lot of jumping jacks, firecrackers, and jogging. The class was only 30 minutes long, but in that short amount of time I was sweating and breathing hard. So, it was a good one to go to!

Total Tone at Chico State

Tonight I decided to try the Total Tone class. This class was high intensity strength training! After two days of other intense workouts, I am pretty sore. But I know that in order to lose weight I need to continue working out, no matter what! So, I decided to push through. In this class we used two different sets of weights (a light one and one that was a little heavier), a resistance band, and a bosu ball. We began by warming up our legs, then we moved to warming up our arms and using the weights on the ball. By standing on the bosu ball, you really have to keep your core tight (which creates abs!) in order to stay balanced. We also did lunges on the ball with our weights, which was a great exercise. The instructor was very good at making sure that we also got abdominal work in. We did all kinds of abdominal workouts. The hardest one for me was doing the plank on the bosu ball. Not only do you have to hold yourself up, but you also have to keep yourself balanced on the ball. The instructor wanted us to hold the plank position for one minute, I am pretty sure I could only do it for about 10 seconds. So, my goal for next time is to see if I can go longer than today.

I am super sore, but I really like the feeling because I know that the workouts are working. The key for me is keeping it up!

I am watching The Biggest Loser right now. This show definitely motivates me to workout even harder. Tonight during the plank exercise (as my whole body was shaking uncontrollably), I caught myself wondering what Bob or Jillian would do if I quit! On this show, you never really see the people shaking because they are working their muscles so hard. Would they tell me to keep going and be screaming in my face (Jillian), or would they be encouraging me to hold it for longer next time (Bob)?

Kettle Bell Class at Chico State Gym

On Monday, I decided to try out the Kettle Bell class. I did not know exactly what the class was going to consist of, but I had heard from a friend that it is one of the best workouts she has ever had. Over the Intersession, at Chico State, the Kettle Bell class had no fee required. So, I decided that this was the time to try this class. FYI: a kettle bell is just a weight with a handle on it.

In this class:
*swings between our legs
*circles around our waist
*floor presses
*bicep curls

There were a lot of push ups, squats, and lunges involved during this work out. I don't remember everything that we did on Monday night and what everything was called, but I really enjoyed the class and am going to try it again on Wednesday night!

The Beginning

Sunday I decided to begin my weight loss journey! I joined Weight Watchers in December, but with the holidays and vacations it was really hard to stay on track. Now that I am back at work, I want to get into a routine. So, I took the initiative and went to the gym. I started off pretty easy and did a mile around the track. I was not able to jog the entire thing, so I would walk a lap and then jog a lap.  When I was finished with the mile, I did a workout on the Eliptical machine. I did the weight loss program for 30 minutes and ended up finishing over two miles. After an hour at the gym, I finished over three miles in cardio! Not bad for the first day. Time to step it up tomorrow.