The rest of the week!

Thursday~ Active Recovery and weight training. I needed the recovery. I was pooped!!! I tried to lift weights before the cardio session. It did not go so well. I got though this circuit:

3 x10
Lat pull down
Biceps Curls

(3) 30 second planks with 15 second rest between.

3x10

Shoulder press
Squats

planks again.

So as you can see, this was not much of a full body routine, but I am glad I just did something. My legs were so fatigued!

I did my cardio on the elliptical (duh) and walked on an incline for about 15 minutes to finish it off. Whew. That's all for Thursday!

Friday~
Zone 3 Heart Rate for 1 hour. My Zone is 154-167. I averaged 158 for the duration. I started on the treadmill and ran 2 miles! It's been awhile. I then hopped on the elliptical and then finished off on the treadmill again and ran 1.5 miles. It was hard in the beginning and then the feeling past and I was in my groove. It felt pretty awesome--especially when I was done!

Late that night I had to teach Spin- I kept my HR in Zone 3 ( 142-154) with a 149 average knowing I had a nice long recovery on tap for Saturday.

Saturday- Active Recovery for 80 minutes! Mission Accomplished! 80 minutes on the spin bike with an average Heart Rate of 138. Aaaaah! I am sure my body needed this. I am not good at taking a whole day off without doing anything so active recovery is right up my alley!

Sunday is to by my day off from activity..and it might be. Or I will try to go to a yoga class to help this aching body.
All in all this has been a great week. I can't wait to see how next week goes.

Epic FAIL. Lessons Learned ( I think).

Today's plan for my "new" training. Epic FAIL! I had very good intentions of doing my 120 minutes of straight cardio. Yup, 2 hours. The plan was to have a heart rate of 148-154 for 2 minutes and 1 minute of 167-168 for 2 hours! I am not sure if I am not used to the 5 am workouts anymore (horrible excuse), or that I could not work hard enough on the elliptical to get my HR up in time. I think I figured this out on Monday, but I just had to be sure.
First up: elliptical. I lasted 15 minutes.
Next up: Step Mill. I lasted 6 minutes.
3rd round: Treadmill. I lasted 8 minutes.
4th try: Elliptical (different model than the first) 15 -20 minutes ish.
5th try: Spin Bike! FINALLY. The last 45 ish mintues I kind of did the right workout.

So frustrating. I now know that:
#1 if the Spin room is occupied- I have to push myself on a different machine--no matter what.
#2 2 hours of this workout on the spin bike is going to suck.
#3 I will do it next week. Whatever it takes. That's how I roll.
I figured that this week and this new training will be me figuring stuff out and that next week will be the real deal. I like to make my own rules as you can see. I also plan on getting my eats in gear next week as well. If I want this HR thing to work I also have to fuel appropriately. I am burning a minimum of 500 cals ( that's my low estimation) a day through exercise. Today for example it was about 900 give or take a few. That's a lot and not normal for me. So I need to fuel the right way ( cookies = not the right way--dangit). I have not felt too hungry, but I can already see some changes in my body and it's only been since Monday. It's mostly water I know that, but still. I don't want to be a skinny chick with no energy. Not good.
Sooooo, after that lesson on HR and pushing myself I had to venture back to the gym to teach my Spin class. It went well, and I was not as pooped out as I thought I would be. Probably mental. I am pooped now. I am also very sore from my first personal training session. I hope to do it again on Monday. I am on my own for weights tomorrow though.....hope I am not as sore and tired. Off to FUEL ( homemade pizza night). Yum. * picture of Miles--he must be pooped too......or he just likes to sleep in the hallway at night.

Monday-Spin, Weights, elliptical. Tuesday-Active recovery and yoga-yup, yoga!

Monday- Race Day Spin today...... I used a repeat class and revamped it a bit. New music and a few new moves and viola. New class. I used my new HR parameters as well. I like having something that makes sense finally!

Totally Toned was next on the list. I usually sit it out after race day and today was no exception! It was a fun class to instruct, I was able to incorporate the exercise stability balls in today's class for some variety. I hope to do this more often this session. Lots of laughs were had!

So that was my classes for the day. With my new training I am not to count my class instruction as a true workout. Awesome.

I headed back to the gym after getting the girl from school to weight train with Ryan. It was a lot of fun. Not overly difficult, but I am not complaining. I have not lifted in months (regularly).

He had me throwing an 8 lb. medicine ball overhead--let it bounce no more than 1 time and then do it again for about 8 passes. Walking lunges with medicine ball rotation, 1 leg squats, 1 leg hamstring curls with the stability ball, push ups, pull-ups, jumping lunges, BOSU push ups + burpee, TRX rows and, and, and. Whew. Oh, we ended with core. I loathe working my core, but I know it will only make running as well as cycling and just about every physical activity easier!

After that torture, it was time to torture myself with my first prescribed workout- It was called Threshold 3. I had 5 minutes of intervals for 60 minutes total. I thought for sure I would stop at 15 minutes in. By minute 25 I found my groove and there was no stopping me now until that darn elliptical said 60:00complete! Ugh. It was pretty hard. Thankfully, I only have to have my heart rate up super high ( 167-168) for 1 minute. It took me about 35 seconds to get it up that high ( I was at 154 at the time). So I need to work on that next time- I was not working hard enough apparently. Gah!

That brings me to today (Tuesday!). My active recovery day! Yay! I got up at dark thirty to hit the elliptical again. My goal was to keep my heart rate between 132-142 for 60 minutes. Mission complete! I averaged 137 beats per minute for the duration. I don't get bored surprisingly. I think it's because I am constantly looking at my Heart Rate monitor --time pretty much flies by that way.

Once at home I actually did some yoga/stretching for a whole 45 minutes! Let's see if I can continue this. Twice a week would be ideal, but I will shoot for once a week for now.

I will be instructing my New Mom's class in a few hours, but I think it will be mostly a cardio day for them on the machines and track and core work and stretching is the plan so far. Well, that depends on if we have a tornado!

Sunday----Metabolic Test.

Sunday~ Kind of a rest day for me...maybe closer to an active rest day.
I took a test today. 2 metabolic tests to be exact. In a nutshell I found out my true resting heart rate as well as my active metabolic performance training zones as it relates to my cycling.
I got all my correct heart rate zones and stuff. I can't wait to use my Zone 3 ( 154-167 bpm) during my race day spin tomorrow! ( I was on the bike for about 10 minutes with a horrible face mask on-- huffing and puffing away....)
I found out that when I am active that 80% of my calorie expenditure is through FAT! Woohoo!! And 20% is through carbs. Apparently this is really good news according to my tester. The test showed that I am very well conditioned and have a pretty decent aerobic base. I just need to maintain it. I received a boatload of information too. Even a training schedule of when to be in what Zone, for how long etc. Lots to learn!
I asked my tester (Ryan) if it was realistic for me to want to fit i weights on my own. He basically said that when I teach it does not count as my own workout! I actually knew this already, but it was nice ( or not!???! depends...) to hear it from a true expert!
Sooooo, my program calls for2 days of strength training. Tomorrow might be my first crack at this, with Ryan! He's pretty tough and I have never had a trainer before, so this might be fun. Oh, it will be. I hope it all works out and I am able make the appointment.
So, it was kind of an easy day exercise wise for me even though I worked hard for a short period of time.

Saturday-taking it easy!

Saturday- It was a very easy day. 45 minutes or so on the elliptical-not letting my HR get past 150. I read a lot. It was nice! I had to take it easy because I am taking a metabolic test on Sunday (today) and was not to push myself the day before the test. I am kind of nervous and excited. The test will be hard! I have to go all out on the bike so I can get my true HR biking parameters! Yahoo..finally. I hope I don't suck! I have not eaten anything since 11 pm last night and can't eat until after my test (noon today) T-minus 2.5 hours. Please hurry up. I love to eat. I miss food.....
I will be teaching a 90 minute High Intensity Spin class that starts in a few weeks and it will be all HR based--very interested to see my results.

I also have a Race Day planned for tomorrow's spin class where I can do my first "test" using my heart rate numbers.

Friday!!!!

Friday!
Early Spin. My class numbers are still good-whew!
I taught the same giant hill/strength class as I taught on Wednesday. I rearranged the music and all went well. After that, my friend and I headed to the Human Performance Lab to fiddle with the TRX contraptions again. I was pretty much tired and sore from Cardio Sculpt last night, but I was able to bang out a few (4) pull ups for 4 sets. I also did 3 sets of TRX rows. I did a few planks and stretched a bit and that was enough for me.

Totally Toned looked fun ( from where I sat). They used the exercise ball for ball lunges, abs, back and wall sits today. TGIF!

Thursday- no spinning today....

Thursday-
Well I got my hair did today! That consisted of 3 hours in a chair. That always makes me sleepy. I was not able to take the noon spin today ( Booo!). I taught my Cardio Sculpt at 4:15 though. It was a combo of kickboxing/weights/core/more cardio....lots of stuff that did not make sense, but I guess it really did! My 1 participant enjoyed herself....so did I!
That's all for Thursday.

Tuesday and Wednesday Recap-- Elliptical sessions and Spinning....

Tuesday- The elliptical and me are attached at the hip lately. Nothing else in the gym seems appealing at this time. SO that's what I did...about 30 minutes on the elliptical before I met with my new mom's group. I put their butts on the elliptical this time for 20 minutes and then 2 laps around the track. We moved it to the studio after that for some weights and core work.
I try to do something different each session- we use the Body Bars this time. I made them ( OK, suggested) use heavier bars and dumbbells this time. A few of them mentioned that they want arms like me...I assured them 1-2 lbs weights is not how to accomplish that......
We went through 2 sets of 12 reps:
Squat/lunge sequence
1 arm rows
----------------------
front squat
lat pull downs
---------------------
triceps exts.
and about 5 minutes of straight abs/core
--------------------------------------------
I can see a lot of improvements each week (attitudes and effort)-whew!

Wednesday- 30 minutes on the elliptical with a HR between 150-159.
Spin class after that. Strength workout today--long hill intervals and new music = successful and happy class. One girl mentioned that she thought she was gonna hurl--not my mission, but she was either working at her max HR for a while or is coming down with something!
That's it for today-I have a PT client this evening.

Monday, Monday......

Monday~ I think I am done with my pity party- until race day! Just keepin' it real up in here! The Boston Marathon made history when it sold out in 7 hours! That is amazing!!!! I knew I was not going, but it made me feel a little bit better knowing there was no chance now! Ha..whatever it takes. UNTIL my friend texted me saying a woman in our running group can't use her confirmed entry to Boston for some reason and I might want to see if I can get hers. I didn't ask any questions, but I am doubtful she would just donate it to me cuz that's the only way I would get to race in Boston- if someone else paid for me! My lovely friends that are going there let me in on all the ways to save $$-drive and stay with strangers for free! I would be fine with that! No need to dwell on the shoulda/coulda/woulda-it just gives me a headache.

So on to Monday's Spin class. I did a repeating interval class. I have not taught one in a very long time. I always get frustrated trying to come up with the timing that works....well I figured it out and I think the class went very well! It was 6 minutes of fast intervals ( runs, jumps etc) followed by a 5 minute progressive hill. I let the class decide what type of hill they wanted to do, as long as it was different every time. Some people like that they get to choose, and some freak out and just do what I do! I am fine with that. Sometimes you just don't feel like thinking too much and rely on the instructor (me) to tell you what to do- that's what it's all about!
Totally Toned- I had every intention of participating, but I guess I changed my mind. There were 3 ladies that showed up today. We had a great time scaring the non-mother in class with our birth stories! Ahhhh! We let her in on things we wished our so called friends had told us! I hope we did not scare her too much...it was all in good fun though.

Recaps.........

Saturday- Elliptical for about 15 minutes and then off to Power Spin. I pretty much kept it low key in Spin. I am liking using it for a long non-Power Spin day. I still get the exercise that I NEED and can do it at a lower intensity if I choose. I think I averaged a 150 heart rate.
Saturday was also Amara's Kid's Marathon! She ran the whole thing which was her goal! YAY! She was so proud of herself...I was proud of her too. She appeared to have a lot of fun and even said, " That was a lot easier than I thought!" She had a nervous tummy before the race and even hit the bathroom (#1) at least 3 times in 3o minutes before the race! She is an athlete folks! Ha ha! After the race we stayed at the YMCA for the Harvest Fest they were putting on. While there she ( done by yours truly) got her nails painted, face painted and played a few games. It was a nice afternoon.

Sunday~ Sunday was the Grand Rapids Marathon! Lots of people from my running group were there and did a great job. My husband's fishing buddies sister ( does that make sense???) won the over all female marathon (2:45 and some change) She is set to go to the Olympic Trials now. It was so awesome to see her running to the finish-I can't fathom running that fast--ever!
The weather was perfect and I had fun taking pics and watching friends qualify for The Boston Marathon. A friend of mine squeaked by with 40 seconds to spare! Talk about a nail biter!
With that being said, today is the first day of signs ups for the race....I have gotten multiple emails/texts/ and Face Book messages asking/telling/ exclaiming about this. Ugh! I am happy for my friends ( really, I am.) This is harder than I thought though!! I think it's because it's such a fun group going that has me down. Not so much the race itself ( who am I kidding??), but the company and the fact that they think this will be there last marathon ever too ( we all say that though....).
My brother knows of my wallowing in self pity today and brought over a wine cooler! Ha ha. My cycling buddy gave me homemade baked goods--pumpkin cookies and some pumpkin bread!! The baked goods are easing the sadness a bit I must admit! It's too early for the wine cooler! I still have to pick Amara up from school!

Spin and hanging from the ceiling.....

Friday~

Early Spin. I am liking how packed my Friday class has been for the past 3 weeks! It's very motivating, especially when I am as tired as I was (Miles strikes again). I did a repeat of Monday's tough strength interval. I just changed the music and it seemed like a brand new ride. I was able to push myself more today-- most likely because I did not ride 60 miles the day before.

After class I was able to try out the TRX System we have at our gym. You can do so much cool stuff with these..the bands hang from the ceiling and you are more or less using your body weight and balance at the same time. It is tricky, but I am sure very effective once you get the hang of it. I did abs, rows, biceps, triceps, chest and deltoids on this contraption! Hopefully I will be able to incorporate this system in my workout--which I plan on revamping next month! Story of my life.....

Thursday

Thursday~
Some elliptical, some weights and a spin class was on the agenda today. 20 minutes on the elliptical and about 6 upper body exercises to be exact ( chest press, shoulder press, bicep curls, triceps ext. and up right wows) I guess that's only 5--close enough!
Spin class was good. I decided to keep my heart rate in the 150 beats per minute range, because my body was kind of tired. I think it's more because I have gotten broken sleep all.week.long. (thanks Miles). I really need a nap or a massage or a nap after my massage! (I like to dream big-what can I say?)
Feeling a little less sorry for myself after my vent/rant post yesterday. It's healthy to do those posts sometimes. I swear. It's proven! I hope I don't do that too much though..I am sure it's proven that that is not helpful!

Wednesday spin..I forgot something important today.

Wednesday- Spin day today. But first I was able to get to the gym by 9 AM. I normally leave my house at 9:15 ish......so I hopped on the elliptical for a bit to get some intervals in while leaving my heart rate under 160 for the duration. I must have been in la la land when I left my house today. I cleaned out my bag-- that just means I took out a few CD's and 2 notebook since I did not need them at 10 am spin. Or did I? Yep, My spin profile and music were at home. Not in my bag. Ooooops! It was 9 :40 when I noticed so I panicked. Long ( not really) story short; I was able to borrow a fellow spin instructor's iPod--luckily we pretty much have the same taste in music so it worked! The spare CD's in the spin room are 70's rock and the Glee soundtrack--umm, not so much thanks! I learned my lesson!
Today's ride was an endurance one...it went over well I think/hope!

**On a personal note-kind of a pity party rant thing--or however you want to look at it.
The Grand Rapids Marathon and half are this weekend! I won't be running, but plan to spectate and snap some pics of my teammates. The day after the race is the first day to sign up for The Boston Marathon. I won't be doing this race either ( boo sniff--no really. It SUCKS!). I am tired of people asking me why I am not running it; and that I had a whole year to plan/save/prepare etc. Duh. Tell me something I don't know people!!! I had plans of taking a month or so off from running and then really training hard for this marathon ( u know the Boston one?!?). I have a lot of fast(er) friends and I hoped that their speediness would rub off on me this winter! Boston would have been my 3rd and most likely final marathon ever. It's not my favorite distance to train for or run, but wanted to go out with a bang. I was contemplating running really well there OR running with a camera and snapping pictures along the way--guess that does not matter much now ( boo sniff again.) Ok, I think I got most of it out of my system. Happy , happy, happy!

Tuesday- nice and easy!

Wednesday- I took it fairly easy today. I am sure the 1300 cals I burned on Sunday have something to do with it! I did a nice easy 35 minutes on the elliptical.
I had my new moms class after that. They did a treadmill hill climb for 15 minutes and then we headed to the studio for some weights. I did not let anyone use less than 5 lbs today. Those 1 and 2 lbs were not doing anything! I was not so easy on them today being that it is week 5 and they noticed! They pushed themselves today and they noticed! I was pretty much non-stop with the weights, planks, mountain climbers, squats...you name it we did it. I told them to expect to be challenged even more next Tuesday!
Amara is well on her way to getting in her 25 miles before the 1.2 mile "marathon" race this Saturday. She hit mile 20 today-- the map is hilarious to me. Its her running up and down the streets over and over. I was on the corner so I could watch her and Miles at the same time. Miles was not feeling going all the way around the block today! She is a trooper.

Monday

Monday~ I was pretty sore from the ride, but I think I did not feel as sore as normal. If that makes any sense. Half way through the ride I took a break and stretched and had some whey protein. They say that the protein will help with recovery. I'm not saying I felt super today, but I felt better then I felt after riding 40 miles. I did not do the protein then. So who knows. I might have to ride 60 miles next week and experiment again!
Spin was good. The first 10 minutes was not so fun. My legs were pretty stiff, but after the blood got flowing I was able to put in a good effort. Lots of steep hills today (what was I thinking!?!?!) It was actually an old workout. I made a few modifications and added more recoveries as well as a new play list and voila! A brand new class. Nobody knew--until I told them.

Totally Toned. I went in with few expectations from myself. Good thing too. After I performed 4-5 squats I knew it was best I not join in!
I know I keep saying it over and over, but I really need to find a yoga class. One that holds my attention and is also beneficial! I need that.

Sunday-big miles on the bike and big miles for the kid!

Big ride! ( for me!)

Big miles ( for Amara!)

50+ big ones today on the road bike. Clear skies, a bit of sun and lots of fun. Nice getaway and stress reliever too! The first 23 ish miles were mostly flat and we held a pretty good/steady pace. The last 25 ish had some nice rolling hills, a few giant hills and a scary dog that I thought was going to bite my leg. I don't think he (it had to be a boy dog!) had the invisible fence either. That made me ride faster; that's for sure! We started to fizzle around mile 32, but somewhere around 41 we started to pick it up again. The trails were busy today with people--it got harder to keep a good pace from slowing down to move out of the way, but I am still pleased with our pace overall. I am already sore...spin class and totally toned should be eventful tomorrow.

Amara's miles! She was a trooper. Click on the link above to see The Route! Pretty funny...it's her running up and down the sidewalk in front of our house! We did make it around the block once and then she continued in front of the house until she accomplished 1.5 miles! She was awesome. A few times I saw a certain look on her face-- she wanted to stop. She would not look at me either (I was on the driveway watching her). I asked her about it; if she was hurt. She said she wanted to stop running, because it kind of hurt, but she kept telling herself to GO, GO, GO! She said she would say it over and over and then it did not hurt as bad. I think I created a monster here! She (we) has 8.5 more miles to get in before Saturday! She is determined enough, I think she will do it!

Saturday!

Saturday~
Kind of a hurried workout today.......

Elliptical for 35 minutes..I tried to keep my HR steady ad not to drop below 150 bpm.......I pretty much did that.
I then hopped on the treadmill and did a 30:30 interval...The mile ended up being in 8:30 which is not too bad for interval style- I guess. I then walked for about 8 minutes or so on an incline still trying to keep my HR at 150. My Garmin says my avg. HR for my whole workout was 147....close enough!
I have a big road bike ride planned for tomorrow...the weather should be AWESOME...high of 77*!!! We hope to get in 50 miles..probably tack on a few more for good measure--maybe!

Tomorrow is the Chicago Marathon. Good luck to everyone and I am looking forward to reading all of your race recaps!

Thursday and Friday spins of course...and other stuff.

Thursday~ Spin again! I went early to warm up for a good 12 minutes before class started. I wish I could do this before I taught...it really seems to help me have a more productive ride!
Today was a Race Day too. It was a 6 mile loop around Central Park. Really fun!

Friday- Spin! I used the same class I taught on Wednesday, but changed the 12 minute flat road. I added some standing climb power climbs to the mix to change it up. I think it was a hit. I had about 20 peeps in class today again. I am loving the bigger classes now that the weather is cooler ( never mind that the high is 74 today!)
After spin I did a weird workout..don't even know if I can remember it all.

3 pull ups ( doing some everyday all week!)
plank to shoulder press (8)
lunges off step (8)
punches w. exertubes ( 8)
2x

pull- ups (3)
TRX bands squats (8)
box jumps (8)
plank hold ( 20 sec)
2x

I am trying to get back up to doing 5 pull ups...they are hard!
I went on the elliptical and did a 15 minute quick interval workout.
Easy walk on treadmill for 10 mins.

I was killing time. Heaven forbid I get home too early and mess up Amara's plan to pour her own cereal and milk! Such a big girl!!!

Tuesday -intervals and NO Spinning ( I ran) ( what?!?!)

Tuesday~ Well on Monday night I did do the isometrics workout. It's no joke folks. It was a killer and it only took me 15 minutes (not including my 3 minute mini warm up). I did this while watching my recording of Desperate Housewives ( love this stupid show). SO I do recommend this workout especially if you are always crunched for time or need something different to challenge your body.

Ok so I made it to the gym on Tuesday. I did some pretty intense intervals on the elliptical. 2:1 ratio with a 4 minute warm up. 2 minutes hard and 1 minute to recover for 25 minutes.
I then moved to the treadmill with no plan in mind. I walked for about .25 miles and then I ran for a full mile. Woohoo. I think you know you officially miss running when it felt good to run on the treadmill ( in beautiful weather). I need to figure out how to get my butt in the great outdoors again and RUN. There are a few smaller 5ks and 10K's this fall that I am looking into doing--well 1 or 2 hopefully if they are close to home.

After cardio on Tuesday I had my New Moms class. They ( most) came ready to work. I had them complete 1 mile on the track and was happy to see that most of the group Incorporated bouts of running/jogging. We then hit the weights --walking lunges anyone?? ( 1 participant asked me if I hated them as we started set #2---ha. )
No spin for me today- I missed it a little, but it's good to change it up-right?!?! Yes, it is!

Sunday- huge bike miles and Monday-tired girl.

Sunday~ Big miles on the road bike today-- 40 to be exact! My furthest ride eva! It was fun. It was not fast by any means--well, it had moments of fastness, but not consistent. My friend Andi and I called it A Day to Explore! Oh, she also named the ride Trust Me--because we had no idea when to turn left or right or go straight! It was fun though. The weather was beautiful ( thank goodness). There were moments of too much wind, but nothing I could not handle I suppose. There were not many big hills. just one ginormous one that we happened to HAVE to go up, because we were on the shoulder of a kind of busy road. Not my kind of ride, but it was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The more practice I have in traffic, the better. I will always like the paved paths better though.

The map of the ride actually looks planned! But, I guess you can't see how many double-backs we actually did! http://connect.garmin.com/activity/51629512

Monday~ My back and shoulders and legs were kind of mad at me (started last night actually), I felt really fatigued. Kind of like a truck hit me....or something.

Spin class today was just ok in my opinion. I am not sure if it was because of my fatigue. It took me forever to warm up and get the kinks out! I was still able to get with it and push myself and my class (I hope) to have a successful ride. I had new music and everything! The new Maroon 5 CD is the best. I "heart"Adam Levine. He is the only male I enjoy seeing in skinny jeans- he can pull them off (figuratively, not literally--well, unless he wants to) for some reason! Anyway, what was I talking about again!??!?!

Spin...intervals, heavy hills, fast runs, and a few sprints.

Totally Toned-- I sat this one out, but I am about to do the workout in a few minutes in my living room!

Today's theme was 60 second isometric holds!

plank + glute squeeze

lateral raise hold

side plank (r)

side plank (l)

ball wall sit

all for 1 minute.....

I then had the class then do 20 reps of the following(bonus):

squats

bicep curls

step touches with exertubes

*the isometric holds were done for a total of 3 times and the bonus was done for 2 sets. My 3 participants loved to hate this one....mostly hate I think, but they did rather well!

I will give it a try minus the "bonus". It was a beneficial time filler for class! The isometrics workout should take me about 15 minutes, maybe more with kid duties!

Saturday- Recovery Spin

Shhhh! Don't tell the instructor! The name of the class was Power Spin. That means POWER for 90 minutes! My average heart rate was 140 bpm. Power? Not so much. I am totally fine with that too. I needed to move today, but I also needed to be smart about it. It has been a long week for me and this morning was really just what I needed. I still knocked out 600 calories- not too bad for a recovery day. The class itself was a very good endurance profile. Those are tough classes and to make it 90 minutes is torture! The kind I usually embrace. Not today though. That is what makes Spinning such a great class. You can make each and every class your own and get out of if what you want. No pressure!
After Spin class I actually stretched in the warm pool area for at least 10 straight minutes! It felt really good. I think a massage and a nap would fit in nicely today too. It's not going to happen, but it would be nice nonetheless!
Happy Saturday!

Friday - crazy for cardio

Friday~ I am glad that last Friday's spin class was not a fluke (still knocking on wood though). I had about 15 peeps show up this morning for a great workout. I did a version of my Monday class race day profile, but gave a few variations and choices....I think it went over really well.

After spin I went to the gym and did a variation of a workout from Men's Health Magazine.
It was tough!! I was supposed to do 4 sets, but I did 2 instead. I know I could have given more if I did not teach a hard spin class before!
I changed it a bit, but this is what I did:

Squat Jumps (10)
Mtn climber to push up (10)
Jump rope 90 seconds ( I did this instead of the 10 sets of shuttle sprints)
Dumbbell swings + squat ( I added this)
rest 90 seconds
Repeat for a total of 2 sets

Next Round:
Alternating lunges ( 10/per)
Squat Thrust (10)
Jump rope 90 secs
Dumbbell swings
rest 90 secs

About 5 mins. of abs

5 walking laps around the track
Whew. Done. It was good. My butt and legs hurt already. Me likey.