Core Fusion Catch Up: 1 Class + 1 DVD

Oops!

How did I get so behind in my blogging? Today is Friday and I left you all with LAST Friday’s class. Let’s get caught up now, shall we? I’ll discuss through Wednesday here, and in my next post I’ll cover Thursday and Friday of this week.

So I mentioned that last Friday I didn’t push myself as hard as normal because I had an 8:15 class Saturday morning. So on Saturday morning, I got up bright and early to go to class. This is because I had to be in Queens by 10:30 for spa appointments that I had gotten my mom for her birthday back in October.

I got to class a little early. 8:15 rolled around. No teacher. 8:20. No teacher. At around 8:25 someone got up to tell the front desk that we were waiting and no one was there. The front desk couldn’t get in touch with the teacher and they started calling different ones to cover, but no one was available. So, class was canceled. I did get a coupon for 25% off a spa service and a free class.

To be honest, I was pretty annoyed at first. But then I found out the teacher was stuck on a subway, and I wasn’t annoyed anymore. I’ve been there. Anyone who commutes in New York City has been there. It happens.

I quickly jetted back to my apartment to pick up my Core Fusion Body Sculpt DVD to bring to my mom’s house so I could get my workout in. After our massage, that is just what I did. My mom even did the arms section with me! For those of you not familiar, the DVD is divided into 5 sections: upper body, thighs, glutes, abs and stretch. I did all 5 sections in a row and the 50 minutes flew by! And now my mom wants the Pure Arms & Abs DVD! I’ll have to get it for her.

Then I had to take three days off from class — which is why I was so set on getting my Saturday Core Fusion in! I caved — I got my hair straightened once again. My curly girl days are over — for now. I am happy with my decision. I couldn’t wash it, put it in a ponytail or even behind my ears for two days after that, so I planned on taking a class Tuesday night. But then Fred (co-founder of Core Fusion) and I decided Tuesday would be the best night for our Core Fusion participant CONFERENCE CALL! So class waited until Wednesday.

The conference call was wonderful! There were about 10 of us on the call. I had sent Fred a list of participant questions before hand and he went through the list and took additional questions throughout. He was so informative and explained the answers so well. I took some notes I will try and type up at some point. The participants all thanked me after and told me how much this call helped. I am SO happy people are getting a lot out of this challenge!

The next morning, Wednesday, I went to class at 7 am! The teacher was Tammy, and when I introduced myself to her, she knew exactly who I was. Good news travels fast, huh? I guess that is to be expected these days. I asked her to come over to me during abs and put her knees under my back, because on the call Fred told me to ask my next teacher for help since I’ve been struggling.

Tammy’s class was great, but it was hard being back in class after being away for so many days. When we did the long planks in the beginning of class, it hit me: I HATE PLANKS. Planks are hard! They are not fun. Funny thing is, the planks we do toward the end of class are always much easier. I wonder why that is? They’re shorter, but it’s not just that. 30 seconds of a beginning class plank is much more brutal than 30 seconds towards the end.

Here’s something different — during arms, we didn’t do bicep curls! Each class truly is different. And although bicep curls are my favorite of the upper body exercises (they’re the easiest), it was nice to realize just how different each class can be. During glutes, we did a standing pretzel position, and this new form really changed how my muscles worked. It also set the stage for the rest of my glutes week, but I’ll discuss that in my next post.

When we did another plank, not only was it easier, but Tammy told me to look in the mirror so I could see how great my form was! I looked — and it was! I was doing a really great plank! That encouragement made me feel AMAZING. And just like that, I did not hate planks anymore.

Even though Tammy helped with my C Curve in abs, I still struggled. Honestly, I felt the burn in my abs much more when I used to do it incorrectly — sitting too high up. The rule is you should lift your elbows off the floor and still be at the same height in your curve. I couldn’t get my feet  to stay on the floor and I just didn’t feel the burn the way I should. Digging my heels into the floor helps a little, but not much. Maybe I should put weights on my feet?

When class ended I felt amazing.And after class, Tammy sat with me and helped me figure out my C Curve a bit better, which was so nice of her. And then I was done, at 8 am! I loved going to work knowing I accomplished this great thing already.

And, the big news . . . CORE FUSION IS WORKING!!! Now, I strongly believe that working out and improving your strength should be something that you do primarily for yourself. . That said, a little validation is sometimes just the motivation we need to push harder. And I got that!

A friend of mine who I haven’t seen in awhile — and who knows nothing about this challenge — told me, on his own, that I look more muscular! YES! Exactly what I needed to hear. I felt a renewed energy and extra motivation to work even harder during this challenge. If after just a week and a half I have noticeable improvements, imagine what it will be like after 4 weeks.

I am well on my way to having this butt:

Can’t wait to tell you about my next two workouts! And — this is nuts — over this 3 day weekend, I have 5 classes scheduled at exhale. Don’t worry — they are not all Core Fusion!

OH — there’s been lots of Tweeting going on about the Core Fusion challenge and now that I understand hashtags, I created this one to use to keep track of the challenge tweets: #CFchallenge. Please add that tag in all your Core Fusion tweets!