First things first, the winner of the Wild Buddha Designs + YogaVibes Class giveaway!
Thank you all for your submissions. Your slogan ideas were all wonderful and it was difficult to choose a winner. In the end, YogaVibes and I decided that the winner of the Wild Buddha Designs Ganesh wrap is Erica! We loved Erica’s slogan idea:
Live the life you love, love the life you live
The random winner of the YogaVibes online class was actually Erica too, so I ran the Random Integer Generator again and this time it chose Sara! Congratulations to both winners; I will email you with details.
On Thursday, I held a free Refine Method class for Dori’s Shiny Blog readers. I got to Refine Method early to make sure I was the first one there. even had time for an eyebrows done before class, lest my new friends find me beastly Shortly after I arrived, I met Amanda, who is seriously the sweetest blog reader ever. I loved talking to her!  She made me feel special and I think people who have that quality are amazing.
Everyone else started arriving and I got to meet Alison, Ali, Laura and Susanne, and see my friends Melissa, Katie, Fiona and Rebecca again.
We got set up in our little stations along the wall and mirror, and Brynn explained the way the class would work with sets and cardio intervals. And then we got started!
After a warm up, some stretches we got right into the workout with a set of pushups and planks. I love planks. Then we jumped into our first set. The entire class used the pulleys to do combinations of upper and lower body exercises like rows and squats.
That’s Ali, Katie and Rebecca hard at work!
Every single exercise requires you to brace your core or else you will topple over. A good example is Brynn in this professional photo below. This is an exercise we do where we take both our hands and using our shoulders, move them to down to our waist on the outside, while keeping our hips and abs in place. I love indirectly working my abs.
In between these pulley sets we did our cardio bursts. The actual exercises change from class to class; in my last class before this one, the bursts included pushups and planks while moving our legs. In this class, we did repetitive side lunges — seriously, NONSTOP — which required us to engage our core for balance and worked our legs. I felt sore on the inside of my thighs for days!
We also did plies in a wide second position which made me legs shake, and lunges with one foot on the slider. Those also require you to use your core for balance and form. You can see Fiona, Alison, Melissa, Ali and Katie doing this here:
We eventually took our hands off the bar and did the lunges using only our balance. And we did them quickly in a row, no stopping. Hardcore!
After we finished the intervals and sets, we got onto the floor for some ab work.
Brynn is demonstrating here.
I really liked holding onto the pulleys while doing abs. It added some arm work to the abs section and it added variety from what I usually do. We finished with glutes. We put a tight band around our thighs and did pelvic tilts (I wish I got a photo but I was too busy doing it myself). Even though I do pelvic tilts in Core Fusion, having the band around our thighs adds so much more to this because you really have to engage your glutes. Our tushies were all on fire! When this section was finished the class let out a loud, collective sigh of relief. It was pretty funny!
We stretched out and then class was over. Most of the class posed for this picture. I think we look sexy considering we just had our asses kicked, yes?
Let’s see that closer up.
Yes, definitely very sexy.
I love Refine Method because it is challenging but doable, and not at all boring. Nothing we do lasts for a long time, so even if I don’t like something I push through and it is over before I know it. Â The class speeds by because there are so many sets. Â I also love the music.
Thank you to everyone who wrote an awesome review of Refine Method:
- Melissa’s review at Fitness NYC
- Alison’s review at Foster Fitness
- Ali’s review at Ali On The Run
- Katie’s review at marathons + cupcakes
Brynn put so much research and thought into creating Refine Method. She wanted something effective and based in science. She traveled the country in her research, and I am so impressed with what she has done. I am always surprised to remember that she is the same age as me because she has done so much. I hope you will support Refine Method by trying a class (first one’s free!) or Liking Refine Method on Facebook!
If you decide to try a class this month and like it, there is a new client special going on right now: 10 classes for $100. That is just $10 a class but this needs to be purchased in December and used within a month from the date of your first class in the package. The idea is that you will see such awesome results in that one month and will want to come back for more!
There is also a special offer for unlimited membership at $200/mo for 6 months, a savings from the regular price of $225 a month.
If you missed attending this class, lookout for Missy’s Refine Method blog reader class next month or just come on your own! I am sure that you will love it. I will be attending Refine Method often over the next few weeks for a few reasons: I want to see these results for myself, and I injured my hip and some exercises we do in Core Fusion aggravate my injury. Brynn can assist me in only doing those movements that will not affect my injury. I will keep you updated.
Check back next week for an amazing Core Fusion Bootcamp DVD review and giveaway!
