Trading TV Time for WHAT?!
Good morning! Coming off of Father’s Day weekend and a week vacation from the office, it’s good to be back to routine. And back to morning workouts! Typically I have to take off a minimum of one week from physical activity after each bleomycin treatment, which is almost the hardest part…ha! I’ve reunited with the treadmill and all is right in my world.
Which brings me to my topic of conversation today:
Adding in nighttime “Group Fitness” classes this week instead of lounging on the couch.
Long-time readers know that I’m not naturally inclined to make time for yoga and meditation. Child’s pose makes me giggle. Vinyasa makes me antsy. Not wearing shoes freaks me out.
But every 10 months or so, I decide to give it a try again because I know the incredible benefits that yoga practice can have on the body and overall fitness.
Being “fit” encompasses a well-rounded mastery of elements including strength, speed, stamina, and flexibility. Beyond that, overal “health” involves mental and emotional health, physical fitness, and nutritional balance. Even top-tier athletes have some element of total fitness that they struggle with. For me, running and endurance exercises come easily. Speed has always been a little more challenging. I’d rather run 10 easy-paced miles than 1 fast one. But in order to be well-rounded, we have to get way out of that comfort zone and work on those areas need a little extra attention.
During my senior year, I grew out of the habit of watching TV at night, and honestly there’s nothing particularly interesting on during these summer months anyways. (Except I am curious to watch ‘The Astronaut Wives Club’ for the outfits and updos alone!) This week, I am swapping reality TV for group fitness classes at my LA Fitness.
- Monday: Yoga
- Tuesday: BodyWorks Plus Abs
- Wednesday: Mat Pilates
- Thursday: Yoga
- Friday: hahaha just kidding, I’m not doing yoga on a Friday night.
This four-nights-a-week schedule definitely won’t become my “usual”, but I thought this would be a good sampler week to find which classes and teachers I like. I’m trying these classes in addition to my regular running and HIIT routine during the week. A little extra stretching and strength work can’t hurt. My only dilemma is…. when/what to eat for dinners…the classes are from 8pm-9pm, and I don’t want to eat a full meal before-hand. Anyone else have suggestions for fueling late-night workouts?
Sunday was the longest day of the year and the first Sunday of the summer without my normal LONG RUN. But I guess that’s the theme of the week: break out of the normal. :)
Questions of the Day: Are you a group fitness person? Which classes are the best/worst?
When I first joined the gym in high school, I didn’t know what exactly an Aqua-Aerobics class entailed. About 8-10 elderly people with swim caps greeted a 16-year-old me in a neon bikini. We lightly bounced around the shallow end for 45 minutes. I’ve never returned.
XOXO NAMASTE ;)
Posted on June 23, 2015, in College, Fitness, Healthy Lifestyle and tagged exercise in college, fitness in college, group fitness, group fitness classes, healthy college blog, healthy college girl, Healthy college student, yoga. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
When I got to college I ran track for a year before deciding the student athlete role wasn’t for me anymore. I was in limbo for awhile missing workout with other people and having that outside motivator, I could only handle so many early morning runs by myself. I decided to take up a kickboxing and yoga class this past year with a roommate. Despite her dropping the class, I stuck with them both and fell in love with the group fitness classes.
Kickboxing was high energy with an instructor who really made the class awesome. It was also something totally different from my usual running. It added a new cardio element and our instructor threw in a lot of body weight exercises. It was a nice change of pace compared to just running the trails.
Yoga was great because I had it the mornings after kickboxing. Hello stretch out for the sore muscles. I enjoyed it as a time to clear my mind and get ready for the day. However, what I’ve found is that now I’m getting bored with it. Our class is more of a hatha, or stretching yoga, where you hold poses for an extended period of time. I’ve been debating taking up the power yoga class though which is more high paced and the next level up from the basics.
What I’ve found as far as eating before the night workout classes (kickboxing was from 7-8 and I usually did a 5k after) was that eating an earlier, lighter dinner and then a more substantial post workout snack really helped. Generally, a half portion of a salad and an apple before around 4 and then a banana and PB after.
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