Update:  I no longer take barre classes religiously. Here’s why.

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One entire month of the Core Fusion Challenge is complete!

That just flew by, huh? On Saturday, my last day of the first month, I took class with Catherine, who is also the health counselor I’ve been working with. Catherine’s classes are always packed and everyone just loves her. I even overhear people saying how great she is.    😀

Great yes, and a very hard class. Catherine really pushes everyone and because she remains so upbeat, you just want to please her! I left her class a few minutes early to get to Yoga Level 1 with Diana. I’ve taken a few beginner yoga classes before at other places, and I’ve hated them. But I love Diana’s class at exhale. As do many others, since the class is always packed. She teaches in a way that is easy to follow, makes sense and she always gives modifications to each pose. I feel very comfortable and I feel like I can hold my own in her yoga class. It is a much needed stretch for my half marathon training too!

After class I met up with Catherine to take photos and measurements now that the month is over. As we did each measurement, I couldn’t believe the results. I seriously could NOT believe the improvements!

Remember, my challenge was to take class 4-5 times for an entire month. From January 1 – January 31. I ended up taking a total of 21 classes. This included two gentle yoga classes, three Core Fusion Yoga classes and one Body Sculpt DVD use. The rest were Core Fusion Open level.

I also did very little cardio during this time. I started my half marathon training towards the end of the month, but plan to ramp it up in February and run three times a week. I can then get a better sense of the changes that happen when I combine Core Fusion classes with a regular cardio regimen.

I’m not going to go into my specific before and after numbers here because I have a very small frame and my numbers were already on the lower end – which, I need to add, is normal for me. What is normal for me is not necessarily normal – and could potentially be dangerous – for someone else.

That said, I will give you the total numbers lost in each category:

Some notes on these numbers. The most dramatic – and most telling – change is the body fat percentage. This number is considered a better measure of your health and fitness than BMI, because BMI does not take into consideration if you have lean muscle mass causing your BMI to be higher. The same issue is with weight. A scale can tell you if you’re “overweight” but you might not necessarily be “over fat”, which is where the real health issues lie.

So the fact that I lost 4.3% of my body fat in just a month of Core Fusion is MAJOR. I did not change how I eat, as I always ate on the healthier side with occasional indulgences (read: French toast). But if someone without the healthies habits were to eat better and take Core Fusion regularly, I really believe the results would be incredible.

My BMI and weight basically remained the same, which makes sense because while I lost fat, I gained lean muscle. And that is what you want! Additionally, if my weight dropped too much it would no longer be a healthy weight for me. It is a very good thing that my weight is still in the same healthy range.

So please remember not to rely on the scale. How you feel in your clothes, in your body, is a much better representation of how you’re doing with your health. And I can say that my clothes are fitting much better these days, even though my weight is about the same.

As for the inches lost. Well – wow. As I said, I am pretty small to begin with, so I didn’t expect to lose much and this is more than I ever could have imagined. I lost on average .5 inch all around – just imagine what someone with more to lose can lose in the same amount of time. And keep in mind that I gained muscle. That’s why my thighs didn’t change by the way – because I can reach down and feel hamstring muscle! I lost the fat and replaced it with the muscle. I am most impressed with the change in my arms – many women have issues with arm flab around the triceps. For me, .5 inch and that is basically gone now.

Now that my body and strength have dramatically improved, here are some observations I’ve had about Core Fusion over the past month:

• I don’t get sore anymore. In the first couple of weeks, taking class two days in a row was painful because I was so sore. My thighs, my calves, my triceps – they all burned so much I couldn’t do any movements full out. I remember when I could barely do reverse pushups if I did them the day before! Now, I don’t feel so sore if I take class every day in a row.
• Thighs never get easier. Never. As strong as I get, it still burns!
• Pushups do get easier. I still do “girl pushups” (on my knees) but I can get much farther down than I was ever able to. I can also do all the pushups without stopping, which is a huge improvement.
• Reverse pushups get easier. I used to dread them and the pain and difficulty that ensued. I had a hard time even bending my elbows. Now, I can bend my elbows and stick with the movements without stopping.
• Planks get easier. I went from having to collapse during planks a few times to not collapsing at all on most days. This move hurts less and I feel stronger.
• Glutes got harder. That’s right. The more I work my tush, the more burn I feel during glutes exercises. Wonder why that is?
• Arms got easier. At the lower weight, that is. I was using 2 lb weights when I started this challenge. Now I usually use 3. It burns much more, and sometimes I want to go back to 2, but I feel like I am getting a better workout and really, I should be pushing myself, right?
• Abs haven’t gotten easier (yet). Part of the reason abs will always be hard is that there are always modifications you can do to make it harder, but I can’t even do those yet. It’s still hard for me in the “easier” positions. I do believe that I have much more to improve upon here and I do think it will happen if I keep taking class. My C Curve is not where it should be, but I am working toward it in each class.
• Core Fusion was what I needed to heal my shoulder injury. For a year before I started the challenge, I’ve had a shoulder injury that came out of nowhere and really got in the way of my life. I’ve had MRIs and been to physical therapy. The problem was identified but no one knows how I got it. Nothing made it feel better (aside from a cortisone injection that lasted a few months). When I started this challenge, I was concerned about my shoulder and how it would hold up. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to do the pushups, planks or some of the arm exercises with weights. I did all these things anyway, figuring if my shoulder hurt I’d stop. Well, it didn’t hurt. A couple weeks into this, I realized that I didn’t feel the constant ache in my shoulder anymore. Another week into it, I realized my bad shoulder didn’t feel as strange compared to my good one. A month in, I think it is safe to say my shoulder injury has healed. I attribute this 100% to Core Fusion. After a year of pain, I took Core Fusion for a month and feel all better.
• Core Fusion is helping my knee injury. Much like my shoulder injury, I’ve had the knee pain forever and been to physical therapy, had MRIs, all that good stuff. While my knee has given me trouble this month, I do believe Core Fusion is helping my strengthening the muscles around my knee. And I am proud to say that I ran 7.5 miles on Sunday and for the first time, had absolutely NO knee pain at all. I attribute this to Core Fusion as well.

OK friends, now that we’ve got the cold hard facts right here in front of us – that Core Fusion really WORKS – anyone want to join me on my second month of the Core Fusion Challenge? I know I can’t stop now. This class has given me more than I could ever get with a gym membership. There’s no going back.

I still have lots to improve. I still have weaknesses that I want to improve on and I know I can. This class is hard work. It is in no way easy. But it is so, so rewarding. The more I saw and felt results, the more I wanted to go back to class. I feel better than I have since before I got sick with a GI illness 2.5 years ago. I fit into more clothes than I have in this same amount of time. I feel more confident and I feel much stronger.

So . . . who’s in for month 2 of the Core Fusion Challenge??!

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Class recaps!

Last Tuesday after work, I took Laurie’s class for the first time. I’d heard good things about her and class did not disappoint. I decided, after holding the beginning plank the entire time once again, that I can officially hold planks. It’s for real. Great feeling! Laurie was funny and joked throughout the class, but even better was when she came behind me to fix my alignment. Especially during thighs, I always need to be pushed forward a little to get into the correct positioning. It makes the exercise so much harder but it also ensures I am doing it correctly – and without risk of injury.

Just a few hours later, at 7 am Wednesday morning, I finally took a class with Elisabeth. Elisabeth, along with her husband Fred, founded Core Fusion. I was really excited for this class because I’ve been wanting to take it all month. The first thing I noticed was that class was packed. At 7 am. That doesn’t usually happen, but for Elisabeth, people wake up early! Class was beyond wonderful; Elisabeth is so inspiring and such an amazing teacher. She made me feel so comfortable and corrected my position throughout the class so I would get the most out of each movement. Arms were especially hard, and abs were especially amazing. I was pushed to my limit and I felt so accomplished after.

I took a much needed rest day on Thursday, and woke up bright and early Friday for another 7 am class with one of my favorite teachers, Kate. Kate’s classes are extremely tough – some of the hardest I have taken – but also the ones I feel the best about after. Her teaching style is upbeat and motivating. Also, she played Rusted Root. Any teacher who playes Ecstasy during an exercise class wins in my book.

During thighs we did all three sets in a continuous movement, shifting seamlessly from one position to the next. This made thighs even harder than they usually are – and they are usually HARD. And they never get easier. I actually have some thoughts about what gets easier and what doesn’t for my next post – which will recap my month, review my results from my measurements and discuss my plans for next month!

I did like how fast paced the thigh work was because I didn’t really have time to acknowledge my pain, it was just move move move!

For butt I did not like what we did. We had to stand at a 90 degree angle and hold our arms on the bar straight in front of us while doing to butt/leg lifts. I was so focused on making sure my arms were straight and my knee was over my 3rd toe (for proper alignment) that I didn’t get the most out of the butt movements. It was still a tough workout though!

I’m so good at the plank at the end of class, much better than at the beginning. Maybe because I am all warmed up? Teachers always compliment my form on that one and today was no different. That’s because holding myself up is so much easier at the end of class that I can focus more on my form.

Abs was doable because we kept switching what we were doing. I really liked this better than staying with the same movements for too long and feel like I got a better abs workout as a result.

After class my friend and I were so happy with how wonderful it was. In fact, I am getting our other friend to come with us, hopefully this coming Friday. The class felt like I really worked out hard and I still enjoyed (almost) all of it.

Back tomorrow with the Core Fusion Challenge 30 day recap!

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