Rooftop Yoga

Isn't it the best when fitness opportunities seem to fall directly into your lap?

strike a pose - a yoga pose, that is.

I was beyond delighted when I saw a poster in my apartment building advertising free weekly vinyasa yoga classes on my rooftop for the summer.  If you're like me, it's hard to do anything on Monday nights, let alone drag myself to the gym.  But a free yoga class right upstairs?  Where do I sign up?

I attended last Monday, and it was wonderful.  The weather was breezy and cool, and our instructor played calming music the whole time as well. Because of the focus on meditative breathing in addition to movement, vinyasa yoga was a perfect way to get my mind relaxed, focused, and in gear for the week - a very worthy Monday evening workout.

Our teacher, Amanda, was great.  She also teaches classes at BicycleSPACE, an awesome spot downtown that serves as both a bike shop and a community gathering area.  The space offers multiple yoga classes a week on a donation basis - very cool stuff.

On days when it's tough to get my butt in gear, it's nice to know that easy and accessible options can exist nearby.  But they can exist for you as well! Deal sites like LivingSocial and Groupon offer class packages for yoga quite frequently, and if you live in or near a big city, there's a decent chance that yoga classes, like the ones at BicycleSpace, are available on a donation basis as well (the ones I'm familiar with in DC are usually around $5-$10 a class).

I highly recommend checking out a vinyasa yoga class if you haven't already.  It's doable for beginners (as I definitely consider myself to be), but advanced and complicated adaptations of the poses are presented as well, making it a worthy challenge for more experienced yogis too!  

Strike a pose - and feel good all week long.

Yoga Bear! (source)

DC Bar Method

I have never been one to turn down an opportunity to hang at the bar.

Had I known that this was the bar in mind, however, I might have reconsidered:

Stretching out my muscles post-class.

Just kidding.

I loved this class.  It kicked my butt three ways to Mars, but I loved it.  To date, this was the hardest class I have taken, and I hope I can go back again as soon as possible.

Margo, my now-dubbed exercise-class-partner-in-crime, joined me as we took on the world of barre-style fitness at Bar Method DC downtown earlier this week.  They offer free classes every once in a while, and Margo and I jumped at the opportunity as soon as one became available online.  

Bar method is quickly becoming one of the most talked-about, trendy, intense ways to strength-train and lose weight.  It involves using poses, small movements, and stretches focusing on your arms, shoulders, legs, back, and abs for a full-body muscle-strengthening workout.  The instructors are enthusiastic, loud, and play upbeat music to keep you going throughout the workout.  Though the moves don't look as intimidating or grandiose as some of the ones you see in hardcore strength training classes (Body Pump, for example!), they are incredibly difficult, and amazingly effective.  Muscles I didn't even know I had were burning like I had fire ants in my blood.  As I write this entry almost 24 hours later, my legs are still aching, my abs are still groaning, and my shoulders are still smarting.    

Let me put it this way - this class is not for the timid or unsure.  

While in one, it's impossible to go anything less than 100%.  Why?  Because the teachers memorize your names before you start the class, and then proceed to call you out, compliment you, and come over and fix your body/posture throughout the entire session.  Suffice it to say I got called out by our awesome instructor, Kate, a lot.  A lot.  I even had to stand at the ballet bar in front of her (and the class) at one point so that she could monitor me closer, hahaha.  I'm not embarrassed about it, though!  It was my first class, I have the flexibility of a plank made out of solid steel, and I basically had no idea what I was doing the entire time.  I'm sure that if I go back, I'll continue to be called out to push harder and to adjust my movements to get the ultimate workout, and I'm totally okay with it.  Because if I'm not there to push myself to the best of my ability, why even go in the first place?  

One of the interesting aspects of bar method is the encouragement from the teachers to make sure your muscles are shaking. And shake they do!  During the leg routine, my thighs and calves were trembling like my body was the East Coast earthquake of Summer 2011.  And that was the goal!  I was engaging muscles I don't typically use on a normal basis, and the trembling was a sign that I was doing the moves correctly.  It's a crazy concept, but true.

Another cool thing the bar method incorporates is a heck of a lot of push-ups, which are actually a welcome respite from some of the tougher intricate moves required by the class.  Yep, you read that right - this is a class where push-ups are a respite.  It's not easy.  It's not meditative or calming like yoga.  It's intense, and it will push you very hard, but in a very good way!

Post-class!  In all honesty, I can't believe I was able to lift my left arm as high as I did in this picture.

After just one class, I already feel like my muscles are tighter.  I can see how people who attend these classes frequently can shape and tone their bodies in record timing.  People rave about these classes and the results they get from them, and with good reason!

The one drawback is the classes are quite pricey, so it would seem hard to commit on a long-term basis.  But on the flip side, perhaps spending a fair amount of money on these classes would be a good way to keep me tied to going on days when I'd rather lay on the couch watching How I Met Your Mother re-runs with my cats (I'm really cool, I promise).

So, are you ready to start trying out some of the moves for yourself to see if you're ready for a class?  Fitsugar recently posted a great article with some awesome at-home barre workouts.  Check them out!

MM & BB Zumba It Up

Yesterday, Margo and I went to our first-ever Zumba class at the LivingSocial building downtown.  It was our second foray into the world of LS's sponsored fitness classes (the first being the yoga and wine shindig we partook in a few weeks ago).

source

I had been excited about doing a Zumba class for quite some time - I felt like people were constantly rave about how fun they are and how effective they are as a cardio workout.

I was also nervous, though.  Despite the hours I've been clocking at the gym lately, I still didn't feel that my cardio strength was up to par to endure an hour of straight hardcore aerobic dancing.  In fact, I was fairly certain before attending that I was going to be the girl who passed out in the middle of an intense number.  I also thought that my lack of grace and dance ability would be a hindrance - that I would end up making a fool out of myself and/or being the laughing stock of the room.

I am elated to report that I had absolutely nothing to worry about.  For starters, I don't think I stopped grinning the entire hour that the class was going on.  Seriously.  It's really, really, really, really, really fun. 

The dance routines and the accompanying music were peppy, energized, and completely varied (one of the songs was Mambo Number 5 by Lou Bega - need I say more?), so I didn't have time to think about how my muscles were hurting or how tired I could be feeling, as I am apt to do on cardio machines in the gym.  The dances challenged different muscles, too!  Our thigh muscles were impacted with squat-influenced moves, our arms were feeling it as we continually waved and pumped them in the air, and our chest, hips, and abs benefited greatly from the bumping, hip-swishing, and shimmying the routines required.

I did this all with a huge smile on my face, and not just me: the whole class was laughing, cheering,  and clapping throughout the class.

sweaty and happy after being Zumba-fied!

Don't get me wrong, though - Zumba is far from a walk in the park.  I was continually drenched in sweat, my heart was incessantly pounding, and I was constantly gulping down water in between songs.  It's not an easy class, but it's one that can be performed to your own ability, which is amazing.  Our instructor, Shashana, constantly reminded us that we didn't have to go 100% the entire time, and to be aware of the way we were feeling and to keep that in check (by the way, she teaches a Zumba class at Crunch Gym downtown if anyone wants to check it out - I highly recommend it!).

Zumba was everything I wanted from a cardio workout and more:  tons of fun, communal, and effective in helping me reach my fitness goals.

I cannot wait to go back.

Pump It

Last Wednesday, I went to a BodyPump class at Fitness First with my super sweet mother-in-law Judy (aka Mama Bracks) and cutie future sis-in-law Margo (remember her?).

It was challenging, high-energy, fast-paced, and made me repeatedly (and intensely) use muscles I wasn't even aware that I had.  Rhythmically set to an awesome and upbeat playlist of music, the class featured lunges, squats, presses,  bicep curls, and a heck of a lot more - all while holding a barbell (not a barbel - though that would be pretty intense too for different reasons, I could imagine).  

Mama Bracks, me, and Margo - taking BodyPump by storm!

Exercise classes used to be the scariest thing in the world to me.  I've never been athletically gifted, and the idea of being in a room with 30 other people who seem to not only know what they're doing, but do it amazingly well, was incredibly daunting to me.  I had to face a major fear of mine to go to this class.  My determination to get my body in tip-top shape had to trump any terror I had about looking stupid in front of my peers.  I had to take a chance, and I'm so very glad I did.

Don't get me wrong - I didn't get there and all of a sudden transform into Super Bizzy.  I felt like such a newbie and weakling.  My knees were wobbling, my thighs were shaking, and there were moments when I felt like my arms were actually going to fall off of my body. I was fumbling and bumbling around with my barbell, struggling quite openly with the hardest moves and at times throwing up my arms in exasperation (which was quite a painful maneuver in itself after lifting barbells for 45 minutes).

Meanwhile, next to me, Mama Bracks was kicking butt and taking names (she goes twice a week!!) and Margo is a natural athlete so she had a great grip on what to do.  But they were both sweating and feeling it too, and it was great to have moral support and someone to turn to and laugh with when things got really ridiculous (or, on occasion, to exchange looks of pure apprehensive horror with about upcoming moves).

Today is one of the first days since the class that I haven't wanted to shrivel up into a ball every time I have needed to use my legs.  It's a class that gives you pain that you feel everywhere afterwards, but it's the good kind of pain.  It's the kind of hurt that makes me know that I'm doing things to better my body and tone my muscles.

BodyPump is available worldwide, and I highly recommend it if you want a fast-paced way to get your muscles working big time with great results.  Don't worry if you're like me and have a perpetual fear of group exercise classes - once the music starts pumping, it's just you, your barbell, and a very supportive instructor pushing you through.  I ended up having such a good time that I can earnestly say that I'm  'pumped' to go back (couldn't resist that pun)!

I just have to wait for my body to stop being sore, first.

All in a day's work for Super Bizzy.