Happy New Year! Core Fusion Challenge – First Day

Happy New Year!!! I hope you all had a good New Years Eve. I actually had the best NYE I have ever had! It was such a perfect, fun night with my two girlfriends. I usually hate NYE because it feels so stressful and nothing I ever do is very fun. This year it was very relaxed — in fact, we made our plans that very day! We went out to a great dinner where we lingered over some delicious lychee martinis (my favorite drink) and then out to a bar to meet another friend of mine. This was my first time ever at a bar on New Years Eve (and I am 26 years old — crazy!) and I absolutely loved it. When midnight hit, everyone was SO friendly! Lots of strangers clinked glasses with me and wished me a happy new year. There was such camaraderie among strangers. I loved it!

And I snagged this fancy hat:

It says Happy New Year around it. I was wearing one of my favorite dresses but you can’t tell how cool it is because I forgot to take off my scarf that was wrapped around my arms all night! I guess a few lychee martinis will do that to you. Good excuse to wear this dress again. 🙂

So I just finished my second day of the Core Fusion Challenge! I know it’s only been two days and as work begins again tomorrow and I have to balance Core Fusion with work and home responsibilities, it will get tougher. But for now, I have to just say I am LOVING this.

A big thank you to the 16 ladies participating in the challenge with me! As they begin to share their experiences with me, I will share them with you all (with their permission, of course). You can check out my Core Fusion Challenge page at the top of this blog where I will post everyone’s recaps as well. I am amazed by how motivated these women are, and very excited to hear about their progress throughout and at the end of the challenge.  If you want to join, you still can — at any time! Let me know.

My first class of the challenge was coincidentally with the first Core Fusion teacher I ever had at Exhale, back when I took a Core Fusion Beginner class. How full circle. Her name is Diana and she reminds me of my friend Emily. My friend Emily is a dancer and was in Cirque du Soleil LOVE (the Beatles show) for three years, was Shakira’s body double in her “Did it Again” video and now dances for a famous company. Diana reminds me of Emily because her hair is similar and so is her body. Eerily so! Definitely the body of a dancer. I liked her immediately just because of that. It doesn’t hurt that Diana is very nice and a great teacher.

As an aside, I took Emily to a Core Fusion class with me back in September thinking it would be so easy for her — she did climb up ropes to a very high level and then turn upside down and support herself on the ropes using just her legs to support herself — but Emily really struggled! Core Fusion works muscles you don’t usually work or think about, and even someone as strong and muscular as Emily had a tough time her first class!

This is Emily:

Anyway, back to yesterday.  The class was really, really great. It was tough but it was mostly do-able. Every class does exercises using hand weights, but yesterday we did some movements I had never done before. I loved it!

During thighs, my legs were shaking like crazy. One thing I noticed though is that when my legs are all shaky from the thighs portion, I have a very hard time when we move on to the seat (butt) moves. My legs feel too unstable to do the exercises the way I know they should be done for maximum results. I hope this gets easier as I do more classes.

I was very observant yesterday since I knew I would be documenting the class here. And I figured out why my Core Fusion socks are all beat up in the heel!

So let me first say that when you take a Core Fusion class, you need to have socks on. You can wear your regular socks, or you can buy Exhale branded Core Fusion grippy socks, seen here.

I recommend taking a class first in your own socks and if you decide you want to take more (they are addicting!), buy the socks. The socks are important because they prevent your feet from slipping and sliding during planks and other moves on the carpeted floor. They cost $10 and are worth every penny.

So anyway, I figured out why my socks are all scuffed up in the heels. When we start on abs work, we sit against the wall and stretch our legs out in front of us. Then we are supposed to raise our legs and tap our feet together, using our core to stabilize our bodies and hold ourselves up. It is HARD! While I can get my legs a little bit off the floor now, I used to not be able to at all. When you can’t get your legs up, you just do the exercise with your feet touching the ground. And I realized that the friction between my heels and the carpet caused the socks to get all weird!

Not a big deal at all, just an interesting observation. I ended up buying a second pair for this challenge so I can keep one pair at work in case I forget to pack them.

I also realized during the class as I was thinking many observations — most of which I forgot now, as it is a day later — that I should bring a small notebook with me and write down my thoughts as soon as class is over so I don’t forget what I want to say. I recently bought a set of 3 mini Vera Bradley journals and that will be perfect to carry around for this.

Another observation I had during day 1 was that although I despise the pushups we do in the beginning of the class (nothing to do with Core Fusion, I just hate pushups), I welcome the ones we do after thigh work. I realized this is because I am so happy NOT be doing thighs anymore (thighs BURN) that anything else is appealing!

I particularly enjoyed the seat section of the class. We did what I consider more standard moves, facing the bar and extending one leg behind us. I noticed that I feel the burn more on the side of my butt on my standing leg than on the side that is doing the movements. Anyone else who has taken Core Fusion or done the DVD feel the same way? Every class is different, and sometimes we do seat work with our hands on the floor. Sometimes we do it in a pretzel position, which is killer! Core Fusion is great because no two classes, no two teachers, are ever the same.

Abs was great as well. We did a couple movements there I had not done before either. I love the variety!

That was day 1! I am REALLY excited to tell you all about day 2 because this class was truly an amazing experience, but that will have to wait — and then I can discuss day 3 with it as well. Here’s a hint — it has to do with YOGA. And that post will also contain a product review that I am really excited to share with you.

I am so happy to be doing this challenge. The class was very tough at times I just wanted it to end, but when it was over I felt so amazing, so relaxed, so alive, that I had no doubt it was worth it. And today’s class, well, I can’t wait to share the details with you.

Until next time!