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Current faves: Brady’s big week, Les Mills BODYATTACK 106, fun and workouts

October 4, 2019 By Ashley 8 Comments

Hi, friends! Welcome to October, and boy what a week it was for us! We celebrated Brady’s second birthday, he started preschool, we went to his 2-year doctor’s appointment check-up (he’s as healthy as can be), I taught my three usual classes, did some work, had a conference call and we definitely enjoyed the amazing cooler fall weather as a welcome change to the heat. And today, I’ve got a selection of favorites for you, so let’s get right to it …

Current faves

Family and fun

Brady’s 2nd birthday

Over the weekend, we had a very small celebration for Brady at our house, and it was just perfect. We had balloons, a delicious cake, brunch food and a few friends, as well as Dave’s sister, Gwena, and Brady had the chance to run around outside and party hard — as a 2-year-old toddler boy often does.

Brady's 2nd birthday party September 2019 by A Lady Goes West

Brady's party food spread September 2019 by A Lady Goes West

Brady's party food September 2019 by A Lady Goes West

Brady's 2nd birthday cake September 2019 by A Lady Goes West

He was very pleased with the whole event, except for when we asked him to stop playing and sit in his high chair for us to sing to him, and when we asked him to stop playing and keep still so we could take some pictures …

Brady's 2nd birthday singing September 2019 by A Lady Goes West

Brady's 2nd birthday party family pic September 2019 by A Lady Goes West

Brady's birthday party family September 2019 by A Lady Goes West

We had a big birthday for Brady last year and so decided to keep it smaller this year, which I think worked out awesome, because there wasn’t much to plan or prepare for — during an already very busy season of life for us right now, with Dave’s work. I ordered the cake and balloons two days before the party and picked up the food the night before — easy as can be. And I’m positive that Brady thought it was about as fun as he could have ever hoped for, especially when he got to open this brand new basketball hoop, which our friends bought for him. He is already obsessed with it and now has to play basketball during every free moment we are at home.

After Brady’s nap and once we had cleaned up the party that day, we went over to the Tilden Park Steam Train in Berkeley for a ride, which is another one of his favorite activities — and he had a ball there too. And just like that, he’s two!

Brady’s first day of preschool

The big stuff doesn’t stop there. I’m very excited to say that Brady is officially a preschooler. We had to wait until his 2nd birthday to take him for his first day of school, so he started this week. He’ll be going on Monday and Wednesday mornings for three hours each time, and I have no doubt he’ll love it. He loves to be around other kids, loves all sorts of activities and seems to do quite well when dropped off — which he has probably learned from doing gym daycare from such a young age, as well as a few weeks of summer camp too.

Brady's first day of 2-year-old preschool September 2019 by A Lady Goes West

Brady's first day of preschool September 2019 by A Lady Goes West

On the first day, Dave and I both went to take Brady, and once we got inside the school, he immediately started playing with the toys with the other kids and barely said goodbye to us. He was not even slightly worried about being left in a place that he’d only visited a couple times. You definitely couldn’t tell it was his first day at all.

Brady's first day of 2-year-old preschool with mommy September 2019 by A Lady Goes West

(By the way, I’m wearing a brand new outfit from Fabletics that I just ordered. The pants, sports bra, tank top and sweatshirt — from the SculptKnit camo pattern line. I highly recommend this line for fit and function — perhaps my favorite Fabletics outfit ever. Here’s my link to shop.)

Of course, I cried a little inside the school and when leaving, but it wasn’t necessarily because I was sad — I was just emotional to know that my baby boy was big enough to be in a preschool. But I know this will be an amazing change for the both of us each week, throughout the whole school year. After dropping him, I headed off to a coffee shop and opened up my computer and got to work, and yeah, that felt GOOD — the tears were long gone by then.

Later that morning, when I picked him up, he was so excited that he just wanted to run around in the grass outside the building. I had to get him into a football hold to make it back to the car to go home, kicking and screaming. Guess that’s the sign of a successful first day.

Brady after his first day of preschool September 2019 by A Lady Goes West

Fitness

Review of Les Mills BODYATTACK 106 

It makes me happy that some of you still like to see my reviews on the latest Les Mills group fitness releases. I don’t dedicate full blog posts to these anymore, but didn’t want to miss a chance to share about this one.

I’ve now taught Les Mills BODYATTACK 106 three times, and I’m happy to say that I LOVE it. I think this is the best release in a very long time, certainly since I’ve been back to teaching the program the last seven months. My favorite part is that because I teach the 45-minute BODYATTACK Express version, we can now do the interval track as part of the workout, whereas it used to be one of the tracks we had to leave out. And the interval track has ALWAYS been my favorite — it’s the essence of BODYATTACK fun and movement, if you ask me.

(By the way, BODYATTACK is a sports cardio group fitness program, and you can read more about the class in this post.)

Les Mills BODYATTACK 106 review by A Lady Goes West

Here are my thoughts on all the tracks that I teach …

  • Warm-up: This song is the best, perhaps the perfect welcoming warm-up, with the words “I’m So Excited” streaming through the room over and over. What’s different about this warm-up is the squat/plank/tricep push-up combination is introduced very early on in the first set and then is repeated across all three warm-up sets. I like that the sets are quite similar, the moves are simple (running, bouncing, step touching, etc.), and we stay with each move for long enough to get the technique down. Overall, this is sort’ve a laid back warm-up in the best way. Thumbs up.
  • Mixed impact: This remix of Ariana Grande’s popular “7 Rings” song is fun and fits the moves so well in this track. There are three sets, and a lot of side-step runs, bounces, gallops and step curls. I absolutely love the new arm lat-pulldown pattern with the step curls, because it turns on the back muscles and feels great. The third set of this track gets into some pulsing squat-to-lunge moves, which have a little jump and definitely get the heart-rate up while opening the hips. This track has the perfect difficulty level and is fun to teach and to do. Thumbs up.
  • Plyometric: This plyometric track is quite challenging, but the moves are simple, with a focus on lateral and vertical jumping. Set one is all about plyometric lunges, set two is all about skaters, and set three, an extended set, puts both moves together. I’m really glad that the tuck jumps weren’t introduced until the final set and there are only four of them, otherwise this track would be a bit too hard. You definitely have to stay alert in this track to count down your six lunges or six skaters with the 3-step run, and that keeps people engaged. The addition of shuffles during the working set is new, but is a welcome change. And then the final 40 seconds of this track are killer, with all those lunges and skaters with reaches to the floor. Overall, an awesome plyometric track, and even though the song doesn’t have any words, the beat drives the moves well. Thumbs up.
  • Conditioning: Maybe one of my favorite upper- and lower-body conditioning tracks ever, because the moves are so straightforward, and yet they are effective and you get a great burn all over. I love it when the track is made up of two identical sets too. We do a few lunges, then a lot of squat pulses, tricep push-ups and chest push-ups, and that’s it. The 16-bottom pulses for the push-ups are intense, but doable. Thumbs up all the way for this one. Oh and the song is by one of my favorite former “Voice” winners, Chloe Kohanski.
  • Agility: I have to admit that agility is always my least favorite track of the class, because oftentimes the moves are complicated and too fast, and I just don’t like all the side to side. This agility track is split into three sets, yet we switch sides of the room within the sets, in addition to between them, so participants really have to stay on their toes. The track starts with really fast side-step runs, and those are fun, because we get to move really quickly with a lot of repetition to perfect the technique. The new move in this track is the hurdler run, which is sort’ve like a ladder, but you lift your knees up and over — it’s tough, but it works. There’s also a squat pulse/snowboard combo which is really quick, but I like it. Once again, this track has just the right difficultly level. Thumbs up, which I rarely say for agility. Catchy song too.
  • Interval: This one is all about the BODYATTACK love, with a great song to guide us through. We do kicks, side flicks, an arm reaching pattern and all of that good stuff in three sets. There’s a new move in this track, which is the double kick, and it’s rather challenging to keep your legs nice and straight with the fast repetition. I like it a lot. The interval track is the best part of the workout for me. Thumbs up.
  • Power: This power track is four sets long and is sooooo hard, but there are plenty of options to get participants through, and you can choose your options along the way and even mix it up. Lots of high-knee square pattern running, knee lifts, jumping jacks, burpees, burpees to tuck jumps and air jacks too. By the end, I see everyone mixing it up and trying everything, which is just how it should be. I like the freedom in this track for participants to do what they want in the working sets to max out in their own way — that’s important, because everyone is at a different level. The song is good, the drive is good, and this is a challenging and crazy end to a great workout. WAY better than BODYATTACK 105 and that strange “Purple People Eater” song. Thumbs up.
  • Core: Nothing too exciting here. The track starts out with some knee drops to work the waistline, followed by pulsing crunches, scoops and some mountain climbers in three total sets. It’s just right.
  • Cool-down: Strong cool-down for sure. We do a downward dog calf stretch and dynamic hip to hamstring stretch, which is a nice change. I love the song too and wish I didn’t always have to cut it short for the next class to come in when I teach. An excellent ending to an excellent group fitness workout.

I’m not going to comment on tracks 3 or 6 (aerobics or running), because I only took them and didn’t teach them. They seemed fine. 🙂 

Overall, this release is awesome and is definitely one that I’ll go back to over the next few months. It’s hard, but doable, the moves are fun, the music is great, and the vibe is 100 percent upbeat, positive and motivating. It was very easy to learn as an instructor too, because of the repetition, which is always fine by me. All of the participants I’ve talked to love it too, so it’s unanimous! Well done, Lisa Osborne and team. 

If you want to try Les Mills BODYATTACK for yourself, you can get a FREE 21-day trial to Les Mills On Demand by clicking here! 🙂

Weekly workout recap

Let’s move into a look at my latest week of workouts from last week …

Weekly workouts by A Lady Goes West

  • Monday: 1-hour BODYPUMP, 10 a.m.
  • Tuesday: Taught 45-minute BODYATTACK, 4:45 p.m.
  • Wednesday: 30-minute weights workout (shown below), 10 a.m., taught 1-hour barre, 5 p.m.
  • Thursday: Taught 1-hour barre, 12 p.m.
  • Friday: Practiced BODYPUMP for 45 minutes, 10 a.m.
  • Saturday: 45-minute BODYATTACK, 9 a.m.
  • Sunday: Rest day

This past week of workouts much much lighter than the week before, and I expect this to be more of the norm moving forward. I taught three classes, took two classes, did a solo weights workout and practiced BODYPUMP, which I’m subbing this weekend. This was a good mixture of weights and cardio, with a full off day, and I felt good. 

Here’s the short weights workout that I completed at the gym … (and you can find more of these on Instagram under my workout story highlight or in this blog post, Gym inspo: A selection of short resistance workouts that I’ve been doing.) 

Short weights workout September 2019 by A Lady Goes West

Best reads

A few things from around the web …

  • Serum love. I had never used a facial serum until I switched to Beautycounter, now I can’t get enough of this work-horse of a product that penetrates and treats the skin, which you put on before your moisturizer. This is awesome praise on Bloomberg for Beautycounter’s Countertime serum, which I use every night. Get it here.
  • Pelvic floor. Did you know that both men and women can have issues with their pelvic floor health? It’s a very important thing! Here are three simple exercises you can do to strengthen your pelvic floor.
  • Period products. I love that you can get organic tampons at Target now, but there’s a whole slew of other helpful products and services to help women with their monthly cycle. Here’s a round-up.

Here’s the quote of the week from the Calm app …

Vulnerable quote September 2019 by A Lady Goes West

A Lady Goes West favorite archives …

  • Brady! All about Brady … “Brady’s 2-year update.”

Brady's 2-year update by A Lady Goes West

  • Breakfast. Because nothing beats a good bowl of oats, and this is one of my favorite go-to recipes when it’s getting cooler … “The creamiest warm almond butter oatmeal breakfast bowl.”

The creamiest warm almond butter oatmeal breakfast bowl by A Lady Goes West

Have a wonderful day and weekend. Stay hydrated too! 🙂 xoxo

P.S. I’m going to send out another newsletter next week, so make sure you are signed up for the list here. If you didn’t get the first newsletter and want to see it, send me an Instagram DM or email, and I’ll forward it! Also, congrats to Brenda, who won the book giveaway.

Questions of the day

What are you up to this weekend?

What was the best thing that happened in your week?

Have you ever done BODYATTACK? If you want to give it a try at home this weekend, sign up for a free trial of Les Mills On Demand for 21 days.

Filed Under: Friday Favorites, Les Mills, Weekly Workouts Tagged With: 2nd birthday, BODYATTACK 106, Brady, faves, Group Fitness, Les Mills, preschool, weekly workouts

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About Ashley

I'm a mom and fitness instructor in Charlotte, North Carolina. And A Lady Goes West is where I share fitness, wellness and clean beauty tips, as well as stories from my life.
 
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Comments

  1. Jessie R says

    October 4, 2019 at 8:54 am

    Happy belated birthday Brady!! And preschool too, what a week!!! That’s so great he was so excited to go to preschool, I bet he made loads of friends :). Your backyard looks amazing, looks like a lovely place to have a casual party. This weekend we will probably work on staining our fence, I power-washed it over the last few weekends , woo! Maybe see a movie with friends.

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      October 4, 2019 at 1:47 pm

      Hi Jessie! We need to redo our fences hahha — but it’s not in the plans right now. Yes, we have a nice big backyard, but it needs some work. Hope you enjoy your weekend! I haven’t been to a movie in forever. JEALOUS! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Richard says

    October 4, 2019 at 11:47 am

    Hi Ashley. I wonder how Brady’s first day at school went. That’s good Brady seems to be able to be away from his parents for a short time and not be upset. This weekend besides watching the#10 Gators play #7 Auburn Iwill be watching Rays in playoffs in Houston and Cardinals in Atlanta. But since in different leagues I don’t have to worry about them playing each other till they meet in the World Series. We are going to Ray’s third playoff game Monday.

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      October 4, 2019 at 1:48 pm

      You have a busy sports weekend ahead, Richard! Go Gators!! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Salvador says

    October 22, 2019 at 9:14 pm

    Having now participated in release BA 106 around 5 times now, I have to say that this is my all time favourite release, now superseding my previous number one which was 85 (when modern day Attack became fully realised). The interval is my all time favourite track EVER and is the best advertisement for BodyAttack. I agree that the warmup is fantastic and although I cannot perform all the lunges in the plyo track due to my sustained knee problems, I was able to finish 24 burpee tucks in the power track which I was proud of. This release is the one time I truly considered teaching, but I just love participating too much! 😉

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      October 23, 2019 at 10:45 am

      Salvador! YESSSS! This is an amazing comment and great feedback, I must say I agree with you that BODYATTACK 106 NAILS it totally. That’s impressive you can do 24 burpee tucks — VERY nice work. I don’t think I’ve done them all while teaching actually ahhaha. Let’s hope we see more great releases like this in the future. Oh, and you should be an instructor. 🙂

      Reply
      • Salvador says

        October 29, 2019 at 5:12 pm

        I went to the filming for 108 in Sydney so I can assure you that things are still looking very solid indeed 🙂 To participate with 600 other like minded fanatics was a glorious experience. Also, I’m finding the 24 burpee tucks quite do-able now, that’s a sign the instructors need to mix it up again 😉 One day I may become an instructor, never too late I guess even if I just turned 44!

        Reply
        • Ashley says

          October 30, 2019 at 9:53 am

          That’s amazing, Salvador!! One day I want to go to a filming — bucket list experience for sure! 🙂 YESSSS you should become an instructor, it’s never too late to get started! Find a training and go for it!

          Reply

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Hi, I'm Ashley. I'm a mom and fitness instructor living in Charlotte, North Carolina. I love to help you live a balanced life with no extremes, making sure you never skip a rest day. A Lady Goes West is where I share my workouts, simple meals, clean beauty tips and wellness insight with you. Find out more about me and stay awhile!

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I've got to be honest, I'm much more of a writer t I've got to be honest, I'm much more of a writer than an Instagrammer and many times I feel like what I want to share doesn't fit well into a grid. But I'm able to bring much more long-form content to my blog each week. Speaking of that, this week, I debuted a new series called "A Lady Goes West Advice Corner" which has been something I've wanted to put together for a while. In this series, I'm taking totally anonymous questions from YOU and giving you some neutral third-party advice on it all. Here are the questions I addressed in the first advice corner edition:
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-“I became a first-time mom last spring and am currently dealing with all things motherhood. How do I deal with my expectations vs. reality of being a mom?" (such a good one, and I've been there)
-“How do you deal with days when you don't love your body? I think we can all relate to looking in the mirror and being disappointed with what we see?" (this happens to us all)
-“How do you deal with comparing yourself to others on social media and not feeling like everyone is doing things better than you?" (spoiler alert: everyone has their issues that you don't see)
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The answers are long, they come from my heart, and I hope they can provide some value to you! If this is something you're interested in, head over to A Lady Goes West today to check it out, and you can submit a question for the next edition.
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Here's the direct link: https://aladygoeswest.com/ask-me-anything-a-lady-goes-west-advice-corner-first-edition/
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Have a great night, friends! And when in doubt, talk it out.
G.I.V.E.A.W.A.Y!🎉 Who doesn't love a collagen g G.I.V.E.A.W.A.Y!🎉 Who doesn't love a collagen giveaway? As a little thank-you for following, I wanted to do a giveaway of one of my favorite products. I've been using Vital Proteins collagen in my morning tea latte for years, and not only does the collagen creamer add a great taste, but it also supports healthy hair, skin, nails and joints too. Today, I'm giving away not only one canister of collagen creamer, but also a canister of collagen peptides to one lucky winner.
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Here's how to enter:
(1) Like this post.
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You can leave as many comments as you want, and each one serves as an entry. You can earn an additional entry by sharing this post to your stories and tagging me. This giveaway closes on Saturday, February 27. The winner must live in the U.S. And this giveaway is not associated with Instagram. Good luck, and thanks for being here! 🙂 xoxo
HOME! We closed on and moved into our home in Char HOME! We closed on and moved into our home in Charlotte over the weekend, and we're so excited to get settled in our new neighborhood, city and state after many weeks of transition. In honor of this momentous occasion, I thought it would be fun to look back at the places Dave and I have lived together over the last 12 years. Here's what it has looked like -- and each place has been special for different reasons:
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-2009-2012 in a high-rise condo in downtown Orlando, where we lived when we got married.
-2012-2013 in a one-bedroom apartment in South of Market in San Francisco, which was always freezing no matter the time of day or year.
-2013-2014 in a tiny studio apartment in Nob Hill in San Francisco, which was only 550-square-feet, but we could hear the cable cars out of our always-open windows, so that was cool.
-2014-2017 in a two-bedroom townhouse in Walnut Creek, where we brought home both Rudy and Brady and had many sleepless nights.
-2017-2021 in a house that we owned in Pleasant Hill outside of San Francisco, which was across the street from a Starbucks so we went there way too often.
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And now we're here in Charlotte. It's good to be home! I'd love to know: Where do you call home?
Soulmates. ❤️ Whether you’re loving on other Soulmates. ❤️ Whether you’re loving on others or just yourself today, my little crew is wishing you a wonderful Valentine’s Day!
Good additions! Even though I'm all about simplify Good additions! Even though I'm all about simplifying life, I also like adding more good, if there's room for it. And the last year has given me ample opportunity to make some changes and add a lot of good. Here's my super-random list of things I've added to my life in the last year that I now love:
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-Using oat milk as my milk of choice (it's literally the creamiest, and I can’t go back to others now)
-Choosing to be outside as much as possible (can't believe I stayed indoors so much before, never exploring the beautiful Bay Area and now Charlotte until the last year)
-Teaching and taking virtual fitness classes (I was a gym rat for years, and now I actually love to work out at home with my virtual fitness friends)
-Wearing my Apple watch for notifications so I don't always need to be on my phone and tracking some beneficial metrics (I've only had my watch for about 9 months, and I love to check my heart-rate and close my rings)
-Appreciating the ability to work for myself and giving myself friendlier deadlines (I've been my own boss for several years and used to be so strict with my deadlines, until I realized it was stressing me more than it needed to, so now I say no to a lot of things and only do what works well in my life, without adding too much unnecessary stress)
-Shorter workouts (full-hour workouts are a thing of the past for me)
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I wrote a whole post about this topic on A Lady Goes West this week if this is of interest to you, and you can head on over and check it out. I'd love to know: What's something (random or not) that you've added to your life in the last year that you now love?
Over the weekend, I stepped foot into a big-box gy Over the weekend, I stepped foot into a big-box gym for the first time in more than 11 months. How did I feel about it? Mixed ... When we left California, gyms were still closed, and once we got to North Carolina, I was so used to not going to the gym, I didn't even think about going. After being here a month, I finally decided to get a guest pass at a gym near me, and I went twice. Here are my thoughts on the experience: 
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At first, I felt so excited to drive up and go in and work out in a big space with a lot of equipment and not be at home. But then reality sank in: Even though masks were required and there were signs everywhere reminding people, about half the folks in the gym had their masks off or had them down around their chin. Ummm, not cool. I get it, working out with a mask on sucks, but rules are rules, folks. I also didn't like that it was busier than I expected, and quite a bit of the equipment I wanted to use was occupied. That never happens at home.
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Overall, I'm glad that those who need to get to the gym are getting the opportunity, but right now, I think I'll go back to sweating safely at home for a little while longer. But at least I got my first locker-room selfie in almost a year. I'd love to know. Have you been back to the gym yet?
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A Lady Goes West is a personal blog meant for entertainment purposes only and does not serve as a substitute for professional advice from your own doctor, trainer or nutritionist. While I'm a certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor, the workouts, food and plans I post are what works for me and may not work for you. Please enjoy these stories and tips from my life, but proceed with caution. Also, know that affiliate links and sponsored posts appear from time-to-time, and I appreciate your support. For more information about how your data is stored, visit my Privacy Policy. Thanks for reading!

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