Felling Trees - That time I became a lumberjack (June 26, 2015)

I love the DC metro area.  There are great restaurants, lots of cool museums, and of course, a ton of different gyms.  That said, the DC metro area suffers from the same cons as many big cities - horrendous traffic, constant noise, and no shortage of individuals with an almost alarming level of self importance.  An escape from this atmosphere is sometimes necessary.  It was in the spirit of escape that my friend decided to purchase land down in the Shenandoah Valley, which is roughly two hours outside of the city.  I attended James Madison University, which is in the Shenandoah Valley, so I am a total sucker for that region and the gorgeous mountain views (the second picture in this post is the view from one of my favorite spots on campus).

My friend went on www.landwatchusa.com to find his patch of 25 acres in the mountains.  His intention was to clear a little portion, perhaps a quarter acre.  He plans to camp and eventually build a cabin to enjoy the quiet of the wilderness during those times when the noise and the douchebagery (yes, I've decided that is a word) of the city get to be a little too much.  After he purchased his land, he began soliciting help from his friends to clear some of the trees to make space for his camp site.  Though the thought of camping terrifies me, I do love the outdoors (before nightfall because that is obviously when the bears and the ax murderers would come for my tent), so I volunteered to help with clearing the brush and some of the trees.

Though I had no flannel to don, I did have super cute boots and came equipped with cheese, crackers, wine and a picnic blanket.  Those seemed like lumberjack staples.  That turned out to be as dumb as it sounds.  There was no clear, flat land for a picnic.  Also, wine should be limited when using a hatchet or ax.  Finally, woodland creatures also like cheese and crackers. I am not sure exactly what I pictured happening, but upon arrival I realized whatever was in my head was entirely off (not an uncommon occurrence in my everyday life).  That said, I did house the cheese because cheese is appropriate for every occasion...and, I got scared that bears would smell the cheese.

Now, we did not go down and just start chopping down trees willy nilly.  On the contrary, the purpose of this land is for it to forever be preserved and be nothing like the DC metro area where we live.  We just needed to take down a few trees and eliminate some brush.

To my surprise, clearing land is extremely fun and it is a great workout!  Right off the bat, there was no road to get to the portion of the property where we were clearing.  We had to hike up an old ATV trail while carrying tools.  Everyone had a tool.  I had bolt cutters for the saplings.  Fun fact, bolt cutters are heavy.  To cut the saplings, I held out the big bolt cutters (hello, shoulders) while squatting (glutes) under brush to cut at the bottom of the sapling.  Once I cut the sapling (biceps), I had to drag the sapling to our pile of brush and trees (Every. Muscle).

Eventually, I felt very bold, and I took a turn with the hatchet.  Huge arm and oblique workout.  There was also another brief cardio workout when I ran away from a spider.

There were no electric saws involved in the entire endeavor, which was probably for the best since we were all first-timers in the tree clearing business.  In spite of our basic tools, we got pretty far in the excavation process.  That picture to the left is the land with the sun peaking through the trees.  Very beautiful.

There was another added bonus to the clearing.  In case you haven't read any previous posts, I work in an office.  I am a desk jockey.  Some days, I would love to reenact the scene from Office Space where they destroy office equipment (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjsSr3z5nVk).  Unfortunately, my office printer is twice my size and probably three times my weight, and there aren't readily available isolated fields in the DC metro area.

Tree felling allowed me to get out the aggression everyone has towards their office equipment in the seconds before calling the IT guy for the 3rd time in a week (just me?).

The other thing that was pretty cool was that we were creating something, but there were no real boundaries except to stick to a certain area of the woods.  There was also no judgement regarding my process or product (even if I looked like an idiot and failed to take down some trees).  As adults, you rarely get the opportunity to participate in an activity with no boundaries and complete freedom of methodology.

The next day, I was incredibly sore.  It was the second weekend in a row that provided me with an unexpected workout.

Unfortunately, unless you have a friend who has purchased land and needs free manual labor, I cannot recommend this workout.  People frown upon the random destruction of trees, and I like my parks pleasantly shaded.  Maybe go take your office printer into a field?

Firefly Music Festival - Just hear me out (June 20, 2015)

The news is constantly highlighting the obesity epidemic in the United States, which is incredibly unfortunate.  However, I have noticed that there aren't a lot of overweight hippies or hipsters.  Given that I would assume the former always has the munchies and the latter is always trying restaurants in Brooklyn, I was confused by my observation.  However, post-Firefly, I have a theory - music festivals provide a huge calorie burn.  At first glance, a music festival does not seem like it would provide an intense workout, but it does. Standing. Walking. Dancing. This weird game that involved running circles around a pile of different hats until the music paused (obviously, a hipster contribution).  You burn a ton of calories at music festivals!

I am neither a hippie nor a hipster.  I look terrible in tie dye and my glasses are prescription, not ironic.  That said, I do love great live music, which I believe is a love I share with most living, breathing humans.  I love the shared experience of music.  People from all different walks of life singing the same song  in unison. For example, when Paul McCartney performed "Hey Jude," at Firefly this year, tens of thousands of people of all ages and all walks of life were singing and holding up lighters together.  That kind of shared experience doesn't happen on a daily basis.  Someone also pointed out to me that no live music performance is exactly the same, so you and a group of people are experiencing a one-time event together, much like seeing a cloud (okay... perhaps I have a little hippie in me).

Sara Cuesta, whose awesomeness I have mentioned in a few of my posts (she is the lovely blond right next to me in the first picture), is an incredibly energetic music junkie.  She knows everything about music, so she was leading the charge for Firefly.   We drove to Delaware Thursday night. I should mention that Sara and I went to neighboring high schools in Delaware long before there was anything remotely cool to do within a 20 mile radius.  Like most Delawareans, we believe it is our duty to attend Firefly since it is finally something awesome to do in our hometown.  Sara mapped out all the bands that we should see.  Firefly is held on a huge compound, 154 acres, and many of the acts overlapped or were timed back to back, so we would have to hustle quite a distance from show to show.

Now, according to the internet, standing for 8 hours burns roughly 600 calories (see this nifty link https://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc).  This doesn't include all of the dancing, jamming and scurrying from band to band that you will do.  This explains how the above-mentioned hippies and hipsters can stuff their faces and still fit into their skinny jeans and look flawless in their half shirts.

The Friday shows were fantastic, but I definitely was the biggest fan of the Paul McCartney show, which came as a total shock to myself.  He is not my generation, but there was something incredibly cool about his performance and how it captivated everyone.  On Saturday evening, a huge storm rolled in requiring evacuation!  You can see the ominous colored sky in the background of the picture of myself, Erin and Sara.  Again, more calories being burned walking/running to shelter.

Luckily, like a truly mature 31-year-old woman, I called my mom and she picked me up from the concert venue and rescued me from the storm. #adulthood.

I couldn't stick around for Sunday's events, which  bummed me out, but I had to get home to prepare for work the following week.  Sara and Erin stayed to continue the "workout."  Erin reported that walking in the mud the following day was probably also a very good butt workout.

My necessary return to work brings me to the next mystery that I would like to solve.  How do people constantly go to music festivals?  I ask this because I assume that I have solved the mystery of slender hippies and hipsters.  Feel free to call me Nancy Drew moving forward.


 Most of the people you chat with at Firefly are also attending Bonaroo, Lollapalooza, etc. They just follow the music festival circuit.  I want to ask them what they do for a living?  You look like you are (barely) old enough to work.  Do you just have the coolest job in the world that lets you follow the music festival circuit?  You must get paid an awful lot for taking time off because three-day passes, plus your travel expenses, probably cost as much as a car insurance payment. Additionally, you had to purchase festie gear, and unless you robbed an Anthropoligie at the beginning of the summer that has also set you back.  I suppose I may never solve the second mystery, but it gives me food for thought.

Please, go to a music festival at least once.  Eat terrible food (like cookie ice-cream sandwiches).  Dance, stand and run around.  Enjoy the fabulous shared experience and the calorie burn!

Zengo Cycle - More "Go" than "Zen" but awesome regardless (June 9, 2015)

Zengo is described online as "a full-body, cycle-centric workout for your body and mind that will Rock Your Day."  http://www.zengocycle.com/about

Admittedly, I have no interest in giving my mind a workout in my spare time.  My mind gets enough exercise at my place of work and received more than enough workouts during my years of education.  That said, I had heard nothing but great things about Zengo, and it was available through Classpass...so there was no way I wasn't going to give it a try.

Though I rarely say this, the studio lived up to its glowing reputation.

I first attended Zengo on Memorial Day, but I quickly became a repeat customer because I got a great workout!

The class is 50 minutes of cycling with a few minutes of light weightlifting done around 30 minutes into class.  The weightlifting consists of roughly five minutes (a song's length of time) doing biceps curls, shoulder raises, etc. with two to five pound weights.  Essentially, Zengo's class structure is very similar to SoulCycle and some of the other cycling studios.  Zengo is by no means reinventing the wheel, but they do a great job.  You start off the class cycling and usually doing some push-ups on the bike while you cycle. Throughout the class you are encouraged to "dance" on your bike...as much as one can dance while cycling on a stationary bike (basically - bounce from side to side while biking).

The music is fantastic.  They play a lot of upbeat DJ remixes.  If you know the DJ Girl Talk, the tracks played remind me of his mashups.  If you have never heard Girl Talk, I highly recommend listening.

On Memorial Day, the mashups were patriotic.  Picture a blend of Billy Joel and Bruce Springstein that make you want to start dancing and chanting USA.  Since then, the music has been the more traditional exercise fare - a cocktail of rock, hip-hop and pop blends.  The music is always loud enough to get you pumped, but never deafening.

The instructor I had on Memorial Day, who I have had a few times now, remains my absolute favorite.  I am pretty sure her name is Kelsey.  I suspected she would be great when I walked in on Memorial Day and in addition to the America-themed soundtrack, she was dressed like she was about to star in a 1980s patriotic music video.  She had an incredible amount of energy - an adrenaline rush to rival Jesse Spano on caffeine pills.  Ironically, she looks just like a girl I went to high school with who always seemed stoned.

Now that I've taken a few classes, I realize that there must be a high energy requirement in the secret Zengo training manual.  Periodically, the instructor (every one that I have had so far) gets off of the instructor bike up front to dance and hop back and forth across the room to get you pumped up.  To my surprise, this is an effective tactic.  It is a skill to hop up and down in someone's face and not annoy them. Kudos to the Zengo instructors who have mastered that art.

Now, as far as I can tell, the "Zen" portion is one song in the middle of class where the lights go off and you are instructed to close your eyes, focus on the intention you have set for the class, cycle your little heart out, and find your Zen.  The first time I was instructed to Zen (?) I believe it was to Katy Perry's Firework...because Katy Perry is synonymous with Zen?  I would have assumed Enya would be the Zen soundtrack of choice.

Although I am not one to set an intention, I do think about what one of the instructors recently said.  She instructed the class to be thankful to for having the physical capability, the spare time, and the financial means to be in the class, which is something that I think we all take for granted.  When we go somewhere to workout, it means we have the time, the money and the physical capability, which is pretty special.  I think that everyone should be particularly grateful for any way they are able to exercise and don't have permanent injuries or other ailments that restrict their workout, or totally preclude them from working out.

The studio is very relaxing.  Unlike SoulCycle, there aren't a ton of flashing lights - just a large, dark room with the instructor's bike lit under overhead lighting.  During Zen, the lights go off, and you just see some small blue lights on the floor.  Soothing.  See the lovely Google image of the studio to the left.  The atmosphere is very nice.  The people are pleasant and the studios adds nice touches like offering you a pad for your seat in case you are prone to getting sore while riding.

I enjoy Zengo.  It is one of those studios that I have come across using Classpass that makes me wish there wasn't a three class per month restriction on the pass.  The instructors are great.  I will say that Classpass puts you automatically on bikes, and in Zengo, those bikes happen to be on the side of the instructor's bike, so you can tell when the instructor is fake turning the resistance knob on their bike.  As far as I can tell, my favorite instructor never fakes it - as mentioned, she is a rock star.

Added bonus - I go to Zengo Cycle in Mosaic, which is a cute little town center in northern Virginia.  Across from the studio is a bakery, Pastry Xspo, that serves probably my favorite cupcakes in northern Virgnia (not to be confused with Baked & Wired, which serves my favorite cupcakes in DC).  I am not sure if fitness studios and bakeries are in cahoots, or if I subconsciously select workout studios located next to bakeries.  Either way, I consider the bakery an added bonus.  My post-Zengo spin usually ends with a cupcake (try the strawberry with white chocolate frosting).

The first class at Zengo is free, so there's no excuse not to try it out!

U-Jam - U-don't without shoes (June 5, 2015)

I am terrible at packing a gym bag.  Really, I am terrible at packing any bag. I notoriously under pack, which doesn't bother me, but sometimes results in me wearing the same thing for a few days and almost always asking a hotel for a toothbrush.  For example - I did 8 days in Europe...in the winter...with a carry-on bag (I wore that outfit to the right almost the entire time).  This lifestyle seems totally reasonable to me - probably because my mother never packs anything.  She is like MacGyver.  She just throws random objects into a bag and survives for days (though usually her keys fail to make it into said bag).

With that preface, as you can imagine, I often forget to pack staple items in my gym bag.  This is annoying, but I can purchase the occasional hair tie.  I have even purchased a sports bra from a workout studio, which I hated because as a small-chested woman I am particular about my sports bras (buxom women are probably also particular, but I do not know that burden).   Anyhow, I digress.

The night that I was supposed to take U-Jam, I forgot shoes.  Unfortunately, shoes are too expensive to purchase on a whim if forgotten, and even if they were cheap, I have never seen them for sale in a gym.  It was Friday after work, and I knew that if I went home there was going to be no working out, so I made the executive decision that U-Jam was not a workout that required shoes (I based this confident decision on nothing).

U-Jam is described online as an "intense cardiovascular workout [that] takes you around the world from hip-hop to Bollywood as you dance and move to high-energy music."  I figured that U-Jam was probably a typical dance class, and I could dance without shoes.  People do it all the time at weddings, right?

I wandered barefoot through the gym (which I am sure was incredibly unsanitary) and up to the group fitness studio.

I notice there were a ton of gentlemen in the class, which was a little unusual.  In my experience, you don't see a ton of men in those types of aerobic dance classes.  Then the instructor walked in, and I suddenly understood the unique class demographic.  She was gorgeous and wearing well-painted in spandex.  The dots instantly connected, and I wondered if she had any idea that her fan base might not be focusing on the calorie burn or the beats.

I decided that I should let hot stuff know my situation instead of just looking like a barefoot random in the back of the exercise room.  I walked up to her and said, "I forgot my shoes.  Can I take this class barefoot?"  In hindsight, that was probably a weirder question than I realized at the time.  The instructor just looked at me a little surprised and goes, "No.  Probably not...but you are welcome to stay?"  That is not a typographical error.  Her response was said with a questioning tone. Understandable.
Well, I was not prepared for her response.  I was prepared for, "yes, of course you can workout and pioneer the new concept of barefoot U-Jam." I was delusional because I was determined to workout.  Fortunately for me, the instructor technically gave me the "welcome to stay," so in a truly awkward fashion that is exactly what I did.


The class started.  I thought to myself "this isn't so bad."  The moves were pretty low impact.  Traditional dance moves, a little Zumba-ish, and a little air grinding (the instructor's fan club was extremely happy).  Then, the instructor added the jumping.  I guess that was part of our rhythmic world journey? They incorporate jumping into a lot of the dancing in other countries...and in our American hip-hop.  As a non-dancer, I was unaware of all the hopping involved in choreography. The jumping is where things quickly deteriorated for this shoe-less idiot.

I lasted a total of 35 minutes into the one-hour class because the lack of ankle support and jumping made me think my Achilles were going to snap.  The workout seemed like it would be great.  I was expecting it to be a knockoff of Zumba, or some other dance class, but it really had its own feel and the music was awesome.  Please, please, check it out if it is something that your gym offers.  Just remember to wear shoes.  I will definitely give it another shot...next time I will bring proper footwear (and probably forget a shirt).

Kudos to the instructor for great music, what seemed to be a great workout, and a high tolerance for both the awkward, barefoot attendees and the creepy, oogling attendees.

Note - I didn't have any pictures of this class, so I just Goolged "awesome shoes" and have sprinkled images that came up for your viewing pleasure.

Pound - It could use a better name (May 6, 2015)

I recently read about Pound in one of my Women's Health, or Shape, or Self, or other workout magazines (I really need to do something about my subscription addiction).   Here is a link describing Pound: https://www.poundfit.com/the-workout/

Pound is described as an intense cardio jam session, combining light resistance with constant stimulated drumming.
Of course, I found the class being offered via Classpass and knew I could not resist this kismet.

I must admit, Pound makes me a little bitter.  My friend Sara and I have discussed how we could have come up with Pound, or something similar.  Sara heard that two friends invented this simple, but genius workout. They are probably cackling on a yacht (I assume this is what exorbitantly wealthy people do based on tabloid pictures).  I will get into more detail regarding the class momentarily, but let me momentarily lament about how I really could have invented Pound.

During my second year of law school, I developed mono.  Yes, I developed the teenage kissing disease at age 23 because I shared a drink with my friend Marisa.  I have included a picture of Marisa below.  This was roughly about the time that she taught me that important lesson on the transfer of disease.  Thanks, Marisa.  Anyhow, I didn't realize I had mono for a few months.  Apparently, everyone is so miserable and lethargic in law school that it is hard to distinguish mono from the general misery.

My insides had deteriorated so much by the time of my diagnosis from months of untreated mono that I was relegated to staying in on the weekends doing nothing except sleeping.  Lucky for me (always try to find a silver lining), the video game Rock Band was released and my neighbors purchased the game. I spent the first few weeks of my second semester playing the virtual drums for my entertainment and exercise.  To this day, I could probably play Creep by Radiohead in my sleep.  Rock Band drumming was so challenging that it often left me out of breath.  I assumed this was due to my failing insides and not due to the "workout."  Turns out, I was wrong.

Fast forward 7 years and air drumming is the newest workout craze.  Screw me for being too busy sleeping or focusing on my Rock Band score to see the gold mine in front of me, but I digress.  On to Pound.

When I arrived at Gold' Gym for the Pound class, I was a few minutes early.  I stood outside the group fitness room where the class would be taking place, but the instructor of the previously class waved for me to come into the classroom.  This was a mistake.  She was wrapping up a yoga class with four people.  I awkwardly sat on the floor while the other four people finished up their final poses.  The instructor who was teaching the yoga was also teaching the Pound class.  It turns out, I was the only one who had signed up for Pound.  Fun fact - that was not the first time that had happened to me with Pound.  I bailed on the previous occasion.   Unfortunately for the unsuspecting yoga class, the instructor forced them all to stay for Pound.  It is weird how people can convince relative strangers to do anything.  The instructor had that power, so there were some warm bodies in my company.

Pound is great!  Do you know how therapeutic it is to beat the shit out of the floor with drumsticks?  Probably not, unless you are a drummer or have some special anger control issues.  It is fantastic.  The instructor played an interesting combination of Latin beats and 80s hair bands.  It didn't matter.  She was telling us to drum to the beat, but we were all just hitting the ground hard whether we were listening to Shakira or Guns N'Roses.

I assumed the workout would only be good for the arms, but I was wrong.  Most of the moves you are doing with your upper body, such as hitting the sticks together overhead, are being done while you are in the squatting position.  This means your lower body is heavily engaged the entire time.  This is an added bonus, but one I wish I had known since I opted to take the class the day after a long run. The class ends with some abdominal exercises incorporating the sticks, and I must admit that the sticks made a difference.  For example, we sat on the ground holding our knees in the tabletop position and touched the drumsticks on the left side of our bodies on the ground and then the right side.  This is a common oblique workout done without the sticks, but the sticks added an extra challenge that I did not expect.

The Class was only 30 minutes, but the instructor encouraged the class to give positive feedback if they wanted the class extended to 45 minutes.  Although I enjoyed the class, I do not know if I would extend it to 45 minutes.  I think 30 minutes was perfect.  I suspect the other four unsuspecting Pound prisoners would agree.

Alright, I am going to go daydream about inventing a workout based on Rock Band.  Please keep your eyes open for "Strum" in roughly 2017.

George Washington Parkway 10-Miler – Still My Favorite Race becauseHumans are Awesome (April 26, 2015)

I must confess that my favorite running distance is 10 miles.  If I am going to pay, I like running farther than a 5K, at a half marathon my knees feel like they are going to snap off, and a marathon is just not even in my equation (it would take me the entire day).  Because of this preference, I try and sniff out every 10-miler that comes along.  I think that secretly a lot of people run this distance because the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler in DC and the Army-Navy 10-Miler always admit people based on a lottery system.  The GW-Parkway 10-Miler never requires a lottery (at least in my experience), and is beautiful, so I think it is absolutely nuts that people aren't knocking down the door to run this race.  And here is for why (as my dad would say).

I have made it a point to run in the GW Parkway 10-Miler every year since I have lived in the DC area.  I think I have only missed the race once or twice, and I am going to try and run in it until my lumbering stems can’t carry me anymore.  For starters, the race is peaceful.  I think that people who cheer on races are great.  Thank you for the encouragement, but I like the peacefulness of just being with the runners for a while.  Maybe it is because I am embarrassingly slow and don't need all the witnesses, but the first few miles are just the runners together as a unit.  As you can see in the first picture, it is just the masses and the trees.  There is something very calm about that experience that you don't get in a lot of races, particularly in the cities.

The race route is stunning.  The race begins at Mount Vernon, the home of George and Martha Washington, who greet you with high fives before the race.  If you don’t like getting a high five, I can only assume you are a robot devoid of emotion.  The race runs along the beautiful (as long as you aren't submerged in it) Potomac River in Alexandria, Virginia.  I stopped and took a picture around mile 6 so you could check it out (see picture to the above/right).  The race ends in Old Town Alexandria, which is probably one of the cutest places in the United States.  Old Town offers ghost tours, which I think is a prerequisite for your city to be considered adorable.  Check it out if you have a chance. 

The reason I really love this race, and actually enjoy races in general, is that it brings out the best in people.  Everyone is up early in the morning and encouraging each other.  Even though I am usually wearing headphones, I try not to blare them too loudly so that I can hear what is happening.  You hear so many words of encouragement among strangers.  “You’ve got this” and  “You can do it” are common phrases heard while running.  I can’t think of another setting where strangers are going through the same thing, but offer each other such genuine encouragement.  Seriously, I might ponder that a while.  

One of the coolest things that I saw during the race this year was a blind runner.  I have never seen a blind runner, so I had no idea how it worked.  The blind individual holds one end of a rope while a sighted individual holds the other end of the rope and runs beside the blind runner while helping the blind runner navigate the course.  That takes an immense amount of courage from both parties because it has to be incredibly challenging for both parties to navigate through thousands of people, at a quick pace, for ten miles.  It also takes a lot of trust on the part of the blind individual and a lot of coordination on the part of the sighted individual.  Given that I regularly fall down running...and walking...and standing... on my own, I will probably not volunteer to help a blind runner participate in a race, but if you have superior motor skills, you should give it some thought.  

I also love the race for extremely stupid reasons, such as the shoe game.  Folks really stepped it up this year.  I included pictures for your viewing pleasure.  My shoes are the "Down Town" NikeIDs  #shoefetish.  One woman decided to run in moon bounce shoes. She left me in the dust. I would like to say this was because of her unfair bouncy advantage, but as you may notice, most of my race pictures are from the back, so most people crushed me.  It is always fun to see groups of friends dresseed up in ridiculous costumes together, and this year was no exception.  Today I saw numerous group shirts, the usual tutus, and some bunny ears.

Though this is a brief description, I cannot say enough good things about this race.  It is held at the end of every April.  If you have any interest in distance running, please give it a try!  I will hopefully see you there in 2016...although I will probably be running behind you.

A huge thank-you to all of my friends who offered me encouragement via text message the morning of the race, and a gigantic thank-you to Danielle for greeting me at the end of the race to provide me with both support and an egg and cheese sandwich.  

Chair - Drunk off of Classpass power (April 25, 2015)

At this point, it is obvious that I am drunk off the power gifted to me through ClassPass.  I am taking anything and everything just because I have the pass.  This week, I was intrigued by a class called “Chair.”  Yup, “chair.”  I didn’t even read the description.  Who cares? That is the point of the pass, right?  Try the unknown.  Maybe it would be like lap dance power training for strippers?  Maybe it would be aggressive sitting?  It didn't matter to me.  I had the pass!

I showed up to Thrive Pilates in Falls Church, which was quickly becoming one of my favorite spots. Per usual, the class held five people.  The instructor looked like she was getting ready to sell me incense.  She was wearing flowy linen pants, clogs, multiple thumb rings, a scarf, and a head band.  I expected to be dealing with a free spirit, but as they say, assuming just makes an ass out of you and me (I think that is the saying).  Point being, the instructor wasn’t messing around.   "Kelly?" she barked (I need to stop being the last one to show up to tiny classes).

I have included a picture of the chairs at the top because I don’t even know how to begin describing the chair without the visual.  It sort of resembles a chair...I guess.  Perhaps it resembles what a Pilates reformer machine would look like folded into the chair position?  You can look for yourself and come up with your own description in your head.

Interestingly, we would not sit on the "chair" very much during the class.  At one point, we did straddle the chair and use our legs to push down the foot bar, giving our calves and quads a workout.  That was the only exercise that I could perform with some ease.  The rest were crazy difficult.

The chair was an especially tricky contraption when we had to sit on top in a "V" position.  I have supplied the picture to the left to help you visualize.  I do not have the balance for the "V," but everyone else around me knew exactly what they were doing.  Apparently, the "chair" class isn't just a one-off event for people who have become too confident with their Class Pass - people actually do the chair class on the regular, and they are badass on a "chair."

Other exercises we did on this magnificent creature were triceps dips.  We put our feet on the foot bar and held the two handles while we dipped.  We also did what I can best describe as "sort of pikes" using the chair.  Please see the side picture to your right.  I note these two exercises just to make it clear the chair provides a full body workout.

The instructor played some good early 2000s jams, which brought back fond memories of high school and college.  The music was a surprise.  Based on the instructor's ensemble, I assumed we we would listening to Enya.  That is what I get for judging a book by it's cover.  Although I liked the instructor, she tried to drive home that we should use our abs during a lot of the exercises, and to get that point across to me, she repeatedly poked me in my in my belly button.  I am sure it was unintentional, but I started to feel like I was auditioning to be the Pillsbury doughboy.  I get it, tighten the abs.  And yes, I know where mine are located (in theory). 

After the class, the instructor, who seemed to be a bit of a chair rock star, was asked to do some sweet moves on one of the chairs.  Being that I am not a chair groupie, I did not stick around to see the show, but I have no doubt that her moves are impressive.  Perhaps another time.  I assume some of the crazy moves on the Pilates chair poster were demonstrated.  

To my own surprise, I would totally “Chair” again, but I would only want to do it once in a while, and I am not sure if that is the work out style of a chair-er (?), or acceptable among the chair community.  There definitely seems to be a group.  I do recommend trying it out if you have the opportunity!

P.S. With the exception of the first image, all of my pictures are courtesy of Google images. Thanks, internet! 

CorePower Yoga Sculpt Heated Power Yoga with Weights - Lots of things happening with Lucy(April 18, 2015)

I am not sure if you remember me mentioning Lucy from my previous post, but it turns out that Lucy does Classpass, so when we ended up at the same brunch the following Sunday, I picked her brain regarding her Classpass experience.  

Lucy raved about one particular class - CorePower. Heated Yoga Sculpt with Weights.  I know what you're thinking, and yes, it did sound like there were a shitload of things going on in the class. CorePower is at least technically the name of the studio, and not an additional element of the workout. However, Lucy said it was her favorite, and I was intrigued.  When Lucy mentioned she would be taking it the following Saturday, I decided to join her.

I stepped into the class and the first element hit me like a ton of bricks - heat.  This was not just heated yoga, this was some Bikram heat.  It had to be 105 degrees.  It seemed a bit amiss if there was going to be some sculpting involved, but oh well.  I decided to quell my fears by focusing on the instructions.  We were told to get two sets of free weights and a yoga block. Class started.   

The instructor opened by explaining how to modify certain yoga moves when we had the weights in our hands. Fantastic. I'm awful at yoga, and I'm now going to have to navigate the class in sweltering heat with weights. What was I thinking?  

The instructor asked us to set our intentions.  From what I have gathered, this is a big thing in yoga.  The instructor tells you to set an intention (I guess it is a goal) to focus on throughout the class.  My goal in yoga is generally not to hurt myself or make an ass out of myself.  Otherwise, I actually don't like to think about anything while working out.  Exercise is actually my time not to think, but that is just me.  The lights are dim, and we start with few of the traditional downward dogs, sun salutations, etc., to warm up.  That was pretty much the end of what I would consider yoga, or at least traditional yoga. 

The lights came back on and Kesha started blaring. We picked up the free weights and started doing yoga moves with the free weights in our hands.  For example, chair pose with overhead press.  Again, please do not forget that it is like a sauna.  People are tearing off their clothes like it is a strip club.  I had never removed an article of clothing during a workout class...until this adventure.  We moved on to various warrior poses with our arms extended out with the free weights in our hands.  Okay, this was technically yoga, but yoga with heat and weights, so I guess the title fit…

Then, the instructor had us put down our weights and told us to start doing jumping jacks.  What?  You want me to do jumping jacks in the sauna?  Also, at is point, an obscure Ludacris song is blasting in the studio.  I love Luda, but who can focus on their "intention" when they are doing jumping jacks in 100 degree heat listening to a hook about the ATL?  No one.  Also,I am pretty sure that jumping jacks are the opposite of yoga, as were the high knees and the football runs we proceeded to do. Don’t get me wrong, I prefer cardio work to yoga, but nothing in the title Heated Power Yoga with Weights prepared me for jumping up and down. Oh, and those yoga blocks.  We placed the block between our legs and squeezed it while we performed squats.  It did not provide me the safe comfort and assistance as yoga blocks had in the past.   

I must have walked out of the class 3 times to the water fountain. Next time, I will bring a bottle of water.  By the way, the lounge at CorePower is fantastic.  Very relaxing and tranquil.  The opposite of doing jumping jacks in 100 degree heat. 

I will say that the impression that I got from Lucy and others in the class was that the classroom was exceptionally hot that day. The class is heated, but not stifling, which makes sense because you can’t have people doing cardio work in a room that hit for safety purposes.  I will say that I have taken the class a few more times since then, and the heat varies.  Regardless, people are always ripping off their clothes like they are on fire.  I have never sweat so much in a class.  It felt
great.

Despite how the description may sound, I loved the class. The instructor was very nice and encouraging.  A lot of "you can do it," being yelled, save for the moment she went on a tangent about her new bird, but whatever.  It was a phenomenal workout.  If I am going to do yoga, this is the kind of "yoga" that I want to be doing.  I was not prepared for what I was walking into the first time, but now that I know what the class entails, I am more prepared (aka - I bring water). 

CorePower is also a fantastic facility (just look at the tranquil lobby - above).  I can see how it is spreading around the country like wildfire.  As mentioned above, I have now gone to this class a few times at a few different facilities, and I am particularly partial to the Georgetown location.  The woman who teaches the class on Friday nights is probably one of the best instructors I have had of anything.  More importantly, the studio is located across from my favorite bakery, Baked and Wired.  See the picture of the massive cupcakes to the right.  The only problem with the Georgetown location is all the clinking of the David Yurman bracelets the Georgetown undergrads find it necessary to wear when they are working out.  Lululemon should just make yoga pants that says "Trust Fund Baby" on the ass, so these poor girls can leave their bangle collection at home.

Thanks, Lucy!  I really enjoyed your suggestion!  I look forward to suggestions from anyone else trying Classpass.

Reformers Pilates - Me vs. the Machines (April 9, 2015)

If you asked my friends, some would say I am punctual, while others would find that statement laughable.  That is because I believe punctuality is like a cocktail dress - sometimes it is appropriate/necessary, other times, it is totally superfluous.

For example, you must be on time for work (unless you hit the jackpot with your boss), you need to be on time for surprise parties (no one should be that asshole who arrives at the time of the guest of honor), and you should be on time to the doctor (even though we all know we won't be seen until at least a half an hour after your appointment time).

Then there are the times where being on time really isn't necessary.  Happy hours.  Though you probably want to get there right at 6, in the scheme of things, actually being punctual to throw back a few is not necessary.  Movies.  There will be at least 30 minutes of previews.  Use those minutes to finish up your dinner, or have your kids go pee one more time, or even drink that cocktail that you missed out on when you were 45 minutes late to happy hour the week before.

Exercise classes are a special beast because they fall somewhere in the middle.  Large group classes at big gyms are really easy to slip in and out of, so timeliness is not vital, but other classes are not so easy.  I learned this lesson the hard way in my Reformers class.

As mentioned in my previous post, I love Thrive Pilates, so I used my Classpass to sign up for a Reformers class.  Reformers classes involve the use of fancy machines (see to the right), so the classes are often very expensive.  If you enjoy Reformer classes, Classpass is a particularly great deal because it offers a few options.  Anyhow, I was going to the Falls Church location for the first time, and it was an early morning class, so I was a few minutes late.  I walked in to exactly 5 other women.  The instructor goes, "Kelly, I assume."  Awesome. Strong start, Kelly.

The instructor points out a machine to me (the only empty one, which was located directly in front of her). As I get on the machine I hear, "Kelly, is that you?"  I turn to see a girl I went to college with, Lucy.  Lucy is not your average bear. Lucy is superhuman.  She is a executive recruiter for a big, successful company, and she is the youngest member of the Board of Visitors at our alma mater, JMU (we are both mildly obsessed with being Dukes).  Basically, Lucy is bad ass.  Lucy and I had not seen each other in a few years, but we share a close, mutual friend.   So to sum up, I know Lucy well enough to be naturally intimidated by her awesomeness, but not well enough for her to understand that I am not some derelict who shows up late to things.  I was also not going to be impressing her with my Reformer skills.

You can see a picture of a Reformer machines above.  If someone traveled to the present day from the 1800s, they would no doubt assume the Reformer machine is some kind of torture machine we put traitors in while throwing tomatoes at them in the town square; however, they aren't as bad as they look.

You can get a full body workout with the Reformer, and it is easier on the joints than traditional weight lifting.  We sat on the carriage, which is the long black piece in the center that moves back and forth, and grabbed the bands at the front of the machine to perform bi
ceps curls.

The pulley system results in you moving all around the machine.  The action uses your body weight, but there are also springs that you adjust under the machine for each exercise to change the resistance.  In addition to performing curls and chest presses, you can also do a great lower body workout.  In one instance, we put our feet in the loops while laying on the carriage and did leg circles.  We also did a variety of squats and planks integrating the machine.

I found this workout difficult to articulate, so I included a video link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvMN4qKSvdM.  Sometimes images speak much greater than words. I highly recommend trying out a Reformers class at least once.  Most studios will give you a discount for your first class.   Because you have to use special machines, the classes are usually small, which allows for individual attention.

Ironically, I saw Lucy the following Saturday at our mutual friend's birthday cycle class and brunch.  I was late (due to traffic), so perhaps I need to spruce up and wear my proverbial cocktail dress more often. Or, maybe I need to accept that I am a derelict.

P.S. Happy birthday, Yasmeen :)  That picture is of Liane and Yasmeen, actually both April babies.

TRX - My Classpass Adventures Begin (March 28, 2015)

I'm not sure where to begin this post, but I figured that I would start with explaining my latest purchase - Classpass.  My friends, realizing my hopelessly weird fetish for new workouts, have been suggesting Classpass to me for a while.  I finally took the bait when my friend Kristin emailed me a three-month discounted trial.  Classpass is a monthly membership, which allows you to use a number of different types of workout studios around the DC metro.  There are tons of studios and hundreds of classes.  You can take everything from spinning to pilates to tabata, but the catch is you can only take each class three times.  I was wary of this at first, but it turns out there are so many offerings that this should not be a problem.   Unfortunately for Kristin, I was too incompetent to figure out how to purchase the pass online, so she had to purchase it for me.  It is now linked up to he
r credit card.  You get charged if you miss a class, so really this is the best set-up ever.  There is nothing that will get me out of bed in the morning and to a class faster than the fear of pissing off a friend by having her credit card get inadvertently charged.  It isn't so much fitspiration as it is fearspiration, but regardless, here I go! Hopefully, Classpass will add even more spice to my workout menu.


My friend Sara and I have observed that people turn all sorts of things into workouts.  She recently informed me that two friends came up with a workout called Pound, which basically entails air drumming to the rhythm of music (I think this is essentially the game Rockband).  The two friends are now rich and probably laughing their way all the way to the bank about how they gave people drum sticks and made big bucks.  Sara and I are still trying to figure out what magical workout we are going to invent.  Perhaps something related to the air guitar?

Anyhow, the point of that anecdote is that I am similarly jealous of the inventors of the TRX workout.  They tied some ropes to the ceiling/wall/door and told people to use their body weight.  Basically, the customer is the equipment, and people are spending money all over the place for the workout.

Alright, on to TRX.

Now that I have the power of Classpass, I decided to hop into a TRX class at Thrive Pilates studio in Arlington, Virginia.  I love Thrive Pilates.  The classes are always small because of the equipment they use, the facilities are nice, and the instructors are pleasant.  

TRX classes at Thrive are limited to five people, which makes for almost a private lesson, which is fantastic because it allows for up-close and thorough instructions...but it also means that I can't hide in the back like I like to do with new workouts.  As soon as I walked into the class a girl named Brit was kind enough to introduce herself.  Brit had been doing TRX for a few weeks and was very complimentary of the workout.  I asked her how she got into TRX (thinking she could be another Classpass-er), and she said that she used to walk by a TRX studio in DC and go "what the hell is that?" when she looked in window.  She decided to sign up at Thrive for a TRX class to see what it was all about.  She said she was immediately hooked.  I am not sure why she didn't sign up for TRX at the studio she walked by everyday, but class was starting, so I didn't probe any further.

We worked the whole body during the class.  We put our feet in the rope loops and did push-ups.  The picture to the right is of TRX ropes to give you a better understanding.  When I say "loops," I mean the two holes at the bottom of the yellow and black rope.  While our feet were in the loops we also did pikes, which involves lifting your butt and pulling your legs towards your arms so your body is shaped in an upside down "V."  We also did planks with our feet in the loops.  We then switched over to putting the loops in our hands and doing bicep curls and other arm moves.

There were other items we used in addition to the TRX rope.  Well, there was a box, and so we did some box jumps, which is a simple, but challenging exercise.  There was also a small, blue ball, which we pressed together between our hands for an additional arm workout.

Finally, the TRX class integrated some barre and yoga moves into the class.  The class flew by with all the different activities.  Brit asked me at the end of the class if I liked the class, which is an awkward question since she obviously drank the TRX kool-aid.  Yes, I did like the class.  Will I do it again?  Unsure (I of course told her yes
because what else am I going to tell someone I have spoken to for a total of 5 minutes).  It is challenging to use your own body weight to do the exercises, but I don't know if it is my cup of tea.  And now that I have Classpass, I have way weirder classes to put on my docket.

There weren't a lot of pictures to offer up from TRX.  Literally, that is the equipment, unless you're dying to see pictures of a ball or box.  Instead, I including pictures of Kristin and Sara for reference points.  I also included a pic of my awesome new shoes.  I recently discovered NikeID, which allows you to design your
own shoes.  It is both amazing and terrible for a girl with an obsession with both shoes and working out.  I will start looking for my second job right now.