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!

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Welcome to week 2 of my Core Fusion Challenge. I can’t believe it’s only been a week because I feel like I have been doing this forever! As I type this, I am getting ready for our very first Core Fusion Challenge participant conference call with Fred DeVito, co-founder of Core Fusion and Catherine Hesse, Core Fusion teacher and certified Health Counselor.

As for changes in my body? Well, it has only been a week. That said, my work pants are already fitting more comfortably. My jeans? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Maybe I’ll have courage to try them on next week! I also notice more definition around my abs and maybe I am imagining it, but when I make a muscle in my arms my bicep does seem a bit more defined.

I last left you after my fourth class, when I had two days off to rest and recover. On Friday, I went to day 5 of the challenge with my friend Missy’s favorite teacher, Page. I heard great things about Page from other people as well, so I was excited to try her class! I heard she was funny and a tough teacher.

Class was at the Gansevoort at 6:45 on a Friday evening. Needless to say, class was on the empty side. There were eight of us there. It was a fun time for me, since I had two other challenge participants in class with me: Missy, who is my good friend and fellow blogger, and Kristine, who I met as a result of this challenge. I was so excited to meet Kristine because we tweet back and forth all the time on Twitter!

I got to the Gansevoort way too early. People tend to leave work early on Fridays, and I stayed until after 5 because I knew I had class. But eventually I couldn’t take it anymore and headed over. I got there at 6 and had 45 minutes to kill! Missy got there right after me, so we just sat in the locker room, talked, played on Twitter and waited for the class before ours to let out so we could get some lockers.

I was the only person in the room that Page didn’t already know, so I introduced myself to her and told her about my knee injury. I always try to tell the teacher before class so they understand why I do modifications. Sometimes I forget or don’t have time to tell the teacher and then I feel like such a slacker when they see me not doing some thigh moves full out! Page was very sweet and seemed really happy to have me in the class.

I had looked for Kristine before class, but she arrived a few minutes late.

Page had everyone in the room take yoga blocks, which is an unusual request for a Core Fusion class! I always take blocks because my flexibility is poor, so I wondered what Page had up her sleeve for this class.

Page had lots up her sleeve.

We put our hands on the yoga blocks to hold our planks. This made the plank much harder. Maybe it was just because it felt a little uncomfortable, or because it was different. Either way, it was a challenge. We also held the blocks for some pushups, and we did some combination plank/pushup move that I can’t remember now, but it was brutally hard.

The reason I don’t remember the specifics, by the way, is because I didn’t get to take notes in my notebook after class because I was busy chatting with Missy and Kristine!

Arms were arms. It hurt. Page is a motivating teacher, though. She talks throughout the class and says some pretty hilarious things which makes the time – and the pain – go by faster. I definitely recommend trying her out!

Thighs were especially brutal. My legs were shaking more than usual. We put a yoga block between our thighs during some parts, which seems to be more challenging than a playground ball. We did so many low down plies where we didn’t come more than halfway up, and it hurt so much. I wanted to cry. Since Page talked us through it, I was able to get through most of it without taking a break. I did let out a loud desperate moan at one point, which I had never done before. I couldn’t help it. Thighs hurt! Page is tough. Funny, but tough.

We did glutes at the bar and it was hard. The first side always feels so much longer than the second, and on Friday it really felt like it went on forever. The second side was definitely better, although my legs were still shaking from thighs.

Next was abs. One of the exercises I have noticed a significant improvement is when we sit flat against the wall and lift our legs up off the ground, and open and close them repeatedly. I keep my knees bent during this movement. I used to not be able to get them off the ground at all, but now I can lift them and keep them up for about 10 counts at a time! Then I stop and rest and do it again. My goal is to keep them up for the entire time, usually about 30 counts I believe. I love seeing this improvement!

During the part where everyone lifts their legs straight up and I can’t do it and have to stretch with the strap, I looked over at my new friend Kristine to see her legs straight up in front of her, close to her head, effortlessly! I was jealous. But then I remembered that we are all different, and just because I am not able to do what she can do doesn’t mean I am getting any less out of this class.

C Curve was brutal as always, more so in fact because we used the yoga block. We did abs like that in Core Fusion Yoga and it was especially difficult. That block is heavy and it really makes abs so much more challenging. I did struggle during this part and had a tough time holding the position and following the movements. I found myself just trying to hold myself in the C Curve and not following along with the arm movements – even though I knew I could do them. I just was not able to get my position right and I was getting frustrated and I knew I wasn’t getting the best ab workout I could have been. Towards the end, Page saw me and corrected me and it was so much better! I was in the position and doing the movements, but then we were done!

I wish she had fixed me sooner – but of course, there were 7 other people in the class and Page was busy demonstrating the movements, so I understand. And really, I never struggled with abs like this until the day last week I took Fred’s class. It was almost like I got it in my head that everything I was doing on my own was wrong and things kind of spiraled from there, and I haven’t been able to do abs the same ever since. I think I need another tutorial.

After class ended, I did feel fantastic. My legs would not stop shaking though! In the locker room they were going nuts. I had a great time talking to Kristine and Missy after class and on the way to the subway. Kristine usually only goes to the SoHo location and she told me Music Yoga Flow is a great class, so I will try that out with her next week!

Page’s class was a great one and I totally see why everyone loves her. However, the Gansevoort location is too far from my apartment so I won’t be going back to her class anytime soon, unless she is teaching or subbing at Central Park South or Upper East Side.

I do feel like I didn’t push myself as hard as I could have in Page’s class, even though it was really difficult anyway! A couple of reasons. The first is that I was worried about straining my calf again. Luckily, my calf felt fine! Crisis averted. The rest days were just what I needed. And the second is that I had an 8:15 am class scheduled for the following morning. Only having 12 hours in between classes sounded scary, so I wanted to make sure I was good to go on Saturday.

But that is an update for another time, as this post is long enough!

*Note – Thank you so much for your generous donations for Dori’s Shiny CHARITY AUCTION, happening on this blog on Thursday, January 21. You would not believe some of the goods and services I’ve got to auction off for you. I am SO excited I can hardly contain myself! I will post a list and description of each item for auction early next week so you have time to think about what you might want! Or, you can donate right to my donation page here: http://www.active.com/donate/thinkpinkrocks/dysterious

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