Here’s how the CONTEST will work, if you chose to participate:
-The entry fee is $50 (100% goes to the winner’s pot)
- It covers 8 weeks – May 2nd – July 2nd
- Winners will be announced within 7 days after the end date
- Cash prizes will be given for the top 3 placements.
- A MAXIMUM of 2 people from an affiliate could be doing the activities to count as an affiliates total.
-Take a photo of yourself participating in as many of these activities as possible.
-The person with the most activities “tried” AND most diversity wins. (Example: a person with 10 basketball game photos and 10 beer baseball league photos (from separate events) is not as good as a person who goes to 1 bowling, 1 kite surfing and 1 spinning class, etc.)
- Enter your name in the BIZ discussion forum as “IN.” By doing this you will automatically be entered and are responsible to getting your entry fee in. In addition tell us if you have a partner to help, who that person is.
This sounded like such a great idea that I decided to incorporate it for this month, even though I'm not officially "in" the contest.
This past Monday I went to a "Barre Method" class. It's basically ballet exercises turned into a class format. Lots of crunches, leg lifts, core work, etc.
This morning I went to class at a place here in LA called "Burn 60" which is a group class where you go back and forth between running on the treadmill and doing basic strength exercises for an hour.
Hmm... I'm thinking we're going to opt out of the challenge -- I feel like having our gym plus a full-time job means we can only pursue so many things at once.
BUT...
The spirit of the idea sounds great and along with Kelley's post, got me thinking about how I can network with the sports activities that my friends and family members are doing. The first thing I'm doing is meeting with the president of my fiance's roller derby team -- this is a group of women who are very dedicated to their sport, are always looking for an edge, and aren't afraid to push themselves.
I went to a Pilates class last night and am hitting up the famous Power Yoga tomorrow morning. I'm learning a lot -- both about being a client and what makes a good instructor. It's interesting experiencing each studio as a brand new person and seeing how I'm greeted, taught, etc.
There were definitely challenging aspects to it, but I feel that with 2 or 3 practice sessions on the "reformer" I would definitely diminish the level of difficulty quickly. Otherwise, the structure of it was definitely my idea of workout hell. The floor stuff felt to me a little like Jane Fonda, and the repetitive movements (tricep presses! calf raises!) made me pray for the class to end. So, it was a little hard, but reminds me why I do CrossFit!
This is mostly for the "looky-loos" reading the post and not jumping in... you know who you are...
There is a natural reaction to seeing a challenge like this and think "I've got too much on my plate." But if that's your reaction, which is really understandable, then you will have the same excuses from your clients. More importantly, when you need to say something to them you will have no true experience to be useful coaching - if that's what they need at the time.
There will be no perfect time to "jump in" cause this merry-go-round doesn't slow down for anyone. Life doesn't get easier, we get stronger. And you don't have to "win" to get a benefit from this.
Monday, May 11, 2009 1.5 Hours of Flow Yoga at Exhale, with Debrah (my private training client)
This was great - it was a perfect way to start the week. It also reminded me how little I have been stretching lately and how quickly and easy it is to lose flexibility. I hope to continue to work yoga into my schedule, on a regular basis - maybe once every 2 weeks or so. It can only help. I also think that incorporating yoga and stretching into my routine, on a regular basis, will help reduce the soreness that I experience from my CrossFit workouts.
I went to an awful yoga class this morning! lol! I'm trying out different yoga studios around town trying to find one that works for me, and this was NOT it. I'm not even sure what style of yoga it was. There was a lot of talking by the instructor, but no actual instruction. Monday night I'm trying 'Yoga Hop" -- yoga with hip hop music, which is very popular. We'll see how it goes!
I enjoyed this one. I sweated a bunch and that is what I was looking for. The class consisted of 20 minutes on the treadmill (doing intervals of different inclines and different speeds), then 20 minutes on the floor of movements using resistance bands, light weights, etc. Then, 10 more minutes on the treadmill (with more intervals using a steep incline, some running, and some power walking) and lastly, 10 more minutes on the floor (doing some core, ab and plank exercises).
I certainly didn't love the bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, etc. It made me remember how boring the weightlifting I used to do was. This type of setting also reminded me why I love the community aspect of CrossFit so much. None of the students in this class really talked to each other today. No one introduced themselves to me or asked if I needed anything. The instructor (who I reminded that it was my first time) gave me a very brief tour at the beginning of the class - but other than that - everyone seemed to really keep to themselves.
Roller Bladed on the boardwalk, at the beach - about 2 hours.
We started around the place that Arizona hits the beach. We roller bladed down to Washington Blvd. in Venice and then back to Arizona. It was a relaxing, leisurely pace - great day to hang at the beach. I miss doing this, I used to do it more often.
This was my first class at Revolution and I enjoyed it. I was a little worried that 50 minutes of straight rowing would be too much for me to handle, but we changed our stroke rate, pace, etc. so often that there were little built in recovery times.
The first wave we did was 14 minutes long and we spent different lengths of time focusing on different stroke rates, some sprints, etc.
The 2nd wave was 19 minutes long. We spent 4 minutes at 22 strokes per minute, 3 minutes at 24 strokes per minute, 2 minutes at 26 strokes per minute, 1 minute at 28 strokes per minute, 2 minutes at 24 strokes per minute, 3 minutes at 26 strokes per minute, then 4 minutes at 22 strokes per minute. I was able to continue rowing and stay pretty close to the stroke rates we were aiming for, all throughout.
Next, we did a little bit of ab work, on the rowers.
Finally, one more wave, I think it was 7 minutes long and included some more sprinting.
I would have enjoyed a little more instruction on form and technique throughout the class, but this was still a good class. The instructor did take a few minutes before class to work with me, on my stroke, and make sure I knew what I was doing grin
Worked out at Easton Gym on the 3rd Street Promenade
I did "GI Jane" at a local gym to see if I could drum up some conversation about CrossFit. At about rep 70, the girl next to me (I was working out in the middle of one of those multi-station cable pull towers connected by a pull up bar) said "How many of those are you going to do?!?" When I was done I had a conversation with her about CrossFit as smoke came out of her trainers ears.
The guy who was going to do triceps presses while I did my "pull ups" dutifully waited out of the way until I was completely finished
Friday, May 22, 2009 1.5 Hour Vinyasa Flow Yoga class at Exhale Spa.
This one seemed much tougher than the one I took at the beginning of last week. I was extremely sore going into it - and it was a different teacher, with a slightly different style. I really enjoyed it. It actually felt good to struggle, I liked the challenge and my flexibility is definitely something I need to work on. We went through the movements much quicker during this class and I was sweating up quite a storm. Of course I was sweating so much - since I forgot to bring my towel to class this morning wink
I chatted with the instructor after class and he gave me some advice about really focusing on engaging my core and not arching my back (and sticking out my butt). The arch in my back comes so naturally to me in CrossFit since we do this with our Olympic lifts. This is something I will need to focus on, in my yoga.
