Workouts and a huge barre class giveaway

Bay Area readers, I have something great for you at the end of this post. Avant-Barre, the popular and new local studio I visited last week and reviewed, has offered to give one lucky reader two weeks of unlimited classes at its SoMa location. This is open to first-time visitors only and is valued at $125. Tell your San Francisco friends, please!

Now, before we get to the regularly scheduled look at my week in workouts, I have a few exciting fitness-related things to share.

Late last week I found out I was accepted into the newest batch of FitFluential Ambassadors. Becoming part of this group is a seal of approval in the healthy-living blogging world. You’ll see the new badge on my site to the right below, and you’ll also see me jumping into some new fitness campaigns in the near future. 

And today I’m the featured guest poster on another blog. Head on over and check out my tips on How to Maximize Your Results in Group Fitness Classes live on Daily Cup of Kate. 

With that, it’s time to take a look back at my week in workouts and go over both the good and the bad …

Weekly Workouts

• Monday – 15-minutes of upper-body weight training; taught one-hour BODYATTACK class, foam rolling
• Tuesday – Dynamic warm-up, mobility exercises, 45-minutes of total-body weight training, foam rolling; attended 45-minute SoulCycle class
• Wednesday – Taught one-hour BODYATTACK class, foam rolling
• Thursday – Dynamic warm-up, mobility exercises, 45-minutes of total-body weight training, foam rolling
• Friday – Attended one-hour Avant-Barre Signature class; taught one-hour BODYPUMP class, foam rolling
• Saturday – Taught one-hour BODYATTACK class, foam rolling
• Sunday – Rest day

What was good in my routine?

Cardio, cardio, cardio. I can’t remember the last time I had four sessions of cardio in my week. I taught three BODYATTACK classes and took a SoulCycle class, so that was a lot and certainly all I need in that department. While there is nothing wrong with cardio, I don’t like to overdo it and see no need to go above three a week.

I also did three total-body weight-training sessions (two at Equinox on my own and one at 24 Hour Fitness when I taught BODYPUMP), as well as an additional short upper-body workout. I decided to do some arms on Monday, a day which is usually reserved just for teaching BODYATTACK, because I’m committed to getting in a little bit more lifting, and I knew Tuesday would be an abbreviated session with SoulCycle on the agenda.

This week had me trying out two new forms of workouts. It was good to get back on the indoor bike at SoulCycle, because I haven’t done that in more than a year. It’s very easy on the joints, yet still gets the heart-rate up, so was a welcome change of pace. And Avant-Barre class offered my thighs, butt and arm muscles some burning and fatigue in new ways, with pure bodyweight pulsing movements followed by plenty of stretching. 

I threw in a rest day, I got some variety, and I worked out in the group setting and alone. That’s a good one in my book.

What could have been better in my routine?

This was my first week teaching all three of my BODYATTACK classes in their regular time-slots. It’s a lot. I’ve explained the ins and outs of BODYATTACK in a post before, and it’s a very intense cardio workout with a lot of jumping, high-impact moves and running. Even though participants are free and welcome to take the low options, which I’m always sure to demo in every class, as an instructor I have to mostly do the big moves. To aid in my recovery, I spent a lot of time foam rolling and stretching with a resistance band after all three BODYATTACK classes, but I still felt very sore this week. I’m going to need to lay off other cardio, impact, jumping and plyometrics outside of my BODYATTACK classes to ensure I don’t overdo it.

Oh and once again, I just didn’t fit in a full yoga session. There’s only so much time in the day, and I almost chose yoga over weight-lifting on Thursday, but decided against it due to scheduling between my clients. There’s always something to improve on, and for me, lately it’s getting that extra hour of mind/body which helps me relax and stretch out. 

You can’t win ’em all.

FOR BAY AREA READERS: Avant-Barre class giveaway

Now on to the fun stuff. Do you live in the Bay Area or know someone who does and who may want to win a chance at two weeks of classes at one of San Francisco’s newest and hottest barre studios? This contest closes at midnight on Thursday night.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Alright folks, go forth and have an awesome Monday! 

Questions of the day

Do you have any fitness-related events coming up like a race or competition? What keeps you motivated to get moving and exercise? What’s one good thing that happened during your weekend?