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I am literally counting down the minutes over here until the weekend. It’s 9 days until my half and I’m taking this last weekend to celebrate before I start tapering. That means partying it up for one of my Philly girls’ birthdays with some of my girlfriends and getting my rest on, two things that I’m very much a fan of.

This week has been tough workout wise. I’ve started coming up with new routines for myself on days where I’m not running and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t kicking my own butt. I’m working on incorporating the training I learned from getting my NASM certification to build a solid plan for myself to really start seeing results. I built a pretty solid foundation with the BBG and I’m ready to turn it up a notch.

Which means more food, which really means more pancakes. And that, my friends, is one of the best things in the world.

Along with switching up my workout routine a little bit, I’ve been trying to get back to kickboxing. I’m going to be 100% honest with you guys and let you know I haven’t been to kickboxing in probably a good three weeks and it wasn’t because of lack of motivation.

I started resenting the instructor. I know that sounds really dramatic, but hear me out. The class schedule for the kickboxing gym I attend has a 5:45 am class, a 10 am class (which usually conflicts with meetings for me), a 4:30 pm class (still working), and a 7:00 class (I’m just not a night time workout type of girl). Now, I’m a morning person, but 5:45 means I have to get up at 5:15 to get ready and drive all the way there and that just isn’t something I’m willing to do the 3 days a week they list that as an option. Instead, I had just been going once a week to the 5:45 am class.

Now if I’m getting my butt up to go to class at 5:45, it had better be a good one. And this class just continually was not. We spent the first 15 minutes warming up, the next 10 punching the bag, the next 20 doing ab work on the floor, and the final 15 cooling down. So basically my heart rate went no where and while my abs were getting a kicking workout, that’s not why I paid the big bucks to go to a kickboxing gym. I went to BOX. To hit the darn bag. To get out that frustration. Finally, I realized it wasn’t worth it for me to be getting up this early and for me to be upset about it, so I stopped going.

Enter Wednesday.

I had an early morning meeting at 7:30, so instead of waking up and hitting the gym at the crack of dawn, I opted to sleep in and fit my workout into my lunch break. I realized that there was a kickboxing class at 10am that I could swing, so I laced up my shoes and headed out.

This class was just what I needed. We spent an appropriate amount of time warming up and then we got down to business. There were burpees. There were laps around the gym. There were squat jumps. There were intervals of speed punching and power punching. And at the end, I was out of my mind tired and sweaty, and I loved it.

But more than anything, I loved the mantra that the instructor kept instilling in us. “Why are you here” she was say over and over as we punched the bag. And it got me thinking. We’re all working out for different reasons, but something brings us to the gym every day. Something lights that fire that says, it’s time to do something for yourself. Going to the gym is a very selfish activity, but selfish in the best possible way.

The best part about the “why are you here” question? If you don’t like the answer, change it. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: not everyone works out the same way.

If you hate running, don’t run.

If you hate circuit workouts, choose something else.

If you hate working out alone, go to a class.

You have a million options and maybe you just haven’t found the perfect one for you yet, but when you ask yourself “Why are you here” and finally get that answer you’ve been looking for, you know you’re doing something right.

And I’ll leave you with an obligatory picture of the Boo getting her speed on. I have been taking her on runs lately since the weather has been so nice, and good god is she improving. Literally break neck pace over here.

-sj

So, I tried something new the other day. First of all, I’m obsessed with Groupons and getting a good deal. I peruse the emails whenever they come in and thoroughly comb them for a bargain. I saw one for a local kickboxing studio called CKO Kickboxing that was relatively inexpensive for 6 classes and a pair of gloves. I had done a couple cardio kickboxing classes when I lived at home and always really enjoyed them, so I thought, why not?

The class was different than I expected. I consider it kind of a “choose you own adventure” workout. The instructor had us run some laps around the gym and then made us do classic drills like jabbing, crossing, hooks, uppercuts etc. and occasionally would have rounds called “attacks” where you just do whatever you want for 30 seconds or so. When I first took the class, I’m going to be honest here, I didn’t love it. I didn’t feel like I was really doing anything and the instructor who was teaching made insanely long combinations that I couldn’t follow. Luckily, I went back.

The instructor of a class makes a world of difference. This class was everything I could have hoped for. Instead of spending 10 minutes at the beginning stretching and 10 minutes at the end doing abs, we were working for the full 60 minutes and I was a puddle of sweat at the end. I felt invigorated having really challenged myself. The instructor was funny, energetic, and motivating; the true trifecta of a good coach in my book. Her music selection was good and she was constantly pushing us to do crazy things like a burpee with a push-up into a squat. My legs and arms were burning after her class. So, I bit the bullet and signed up. Honestly, if you had asked me after that first class if I would have signed up for a year long membership, I would have laughed in your face. But the power that I’m feeling when I’m attacking that bag is a stress reliever that can’t be beat. My heartbeat is racing and my head is pounding as I come up with my own combinations to dominate my 125 pound sandbag of an opponent. I’m hooked.

Have any of you tried out kickboxing classes?

-sj

Love & Lunge

“why are you here.” and picking the right workout for you.

newest obsession: kickboxing