Category Archives: barre

March 7, 2013

Three Things Thursday

I’ve been slacking in the Three Things Thursday department! Whoops. But today I am feeling good, am back to being a normal human, and my anxiety is finally at a low, which brings me to my first “thing”…

Thursday

1. I AM OFFICIALLY AN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST! Whew, this is my biggest news maybe ever. After a lifetime of schooling and months of studying for my licensing exam, I found out this morning that I passed and am officially an OT! I’ve been waiting for over 2 weeks for the results and could barely sleep last night in anticipation, so I woke up super early to check my results online. To relax myself I have been baking excessively (as you will be able to tell later on in this post) and offsetting the calories by working out/running. Luckily this morning it was GREAT news!

Even though my graduation ceremony was last summer, passing this exam actually marks the completion of everything I’ve worked towards. Today I am the happiest girl in the world and can’t wait to celebrate. I love OT!

And now its official!

And now its official!

2. Last weekend I was lucky enough to attend an event hosted by Pilates Pro Works NYC and organized by my friend Kristine. I am already in love with this studio and go here often for TRX and Pilates Reformer classes so I was thrilled the event was happening here. They have GREAT instructors and the studio itself is big and beautiful. They also have great customer service and are super friendly.

The class we were all taking that day was a 30/30 class: 30 minutes of Pilates Reformer, 30 minutes of TRX Barre. I have taken the Reformer class in the past and this one did not disappoint, it was as good and fun as it was in my previous experiences. I really love the uniqueness of this class and using the Fit Former machine!

Pilates Reformer room

Pilates Reformer room

The TRX Barre portion was also very good, although my preference was to the Reformer. I typically take a regular TRX class at Pilates Pro Works that I love, so I think Barre may just not be for me in general. But it was still a really good workout and fun to try!

Kristine really went all out in planning this and had snacks and goodies for everyone at the end of the class. She also hosted two raffles: a PPW hoodie and a Nike Fuel Band. Everyone put their name in and to my surprise I won the Nike FuelBand! I was so excited and have been addicted to it ever since. Its fantastic! (full review to come when I use it more).

Event goodies and my raffle prize (@NikeFuel)

Event goodies and my raffle prize (@NikeFuel)

This event was also a great opportunity to meet in person some other bloggers and ladies who I’ve “met” via social media! They were all amazing and we had a great time at the class. Its times like these I remember how much blogging has changed my life and introduced me to so many great people!

Such a great time with these girls!

Such a great time with these girls! Photo from Jen

3. My last random thing is just to share some photos I took recently around the city. I went to Staten Island for a doctor’s appointment the other day (yes, my doctors are all still there) and was sitting on the ferry just looking out the window. I was such a nice day and one of those that I remembered how much I love NYC. Some days its super stressful and I want to do is get out of here, but then there are those times I remember how lucky I am.

Love this city.

Love this city.

I was taking the subway the other day too and saw tiling work from the old subway lines when they were under independent operators (like the Independent Subway System) rather than exclusively the MTA. It is fun to randomly run into things like this and stop quickly to think about the history.

Love seeing old signs like this.

Love seeing old signs like this.

NYC2

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Three running items on my wish list:
1. Mizuno Wave Inspire running shoes: I want these SO badly!
2. These Pro Compression socks
3. New Nuun flavors: hello, watermelon. I need you!

Last three things I cooked/baked:
1. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pancakes: To celebrate my exam!
2. Healthy German Chocolate Cake
3. Indian Basmati rice with chick peas

pancakes cookies

Source: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/05/05/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-pancakes/

Three movies I want to see:
1. Wreck it Ralph
2. Oz the Great and Powerful
3. Catching Fire (yes, I know I still have a long wait for this one)

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Also, if you haven’t already, enter my awesome Plant Fusion protein powder giveaway here.

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Tell me three things about your week/day.
Answer any of the three things questions above.

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Filed under barre, blogging, City life, classes, Three things thursdays

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August 1, 2012

Pure Barre NYC Blogger Meet-Up

Today’s Workout: 3.25 mile interval run, LB strengthening

Monday night I attended a Pure Barre class on the Upper West Side.. my first barre class ever! The wonderful Melissa organized this event and I was so happy to be able to attend. I love trying different types of classes and this was definitely on my list for a while now! I only took one measly picture the whole time.. sorry, I was a bad blogger. This was the picture I took:

The one sole photo.. the front door

Yeah, impressive I know. That picture tells you nothing about the set-up of this class so I’ll just tell you about it.
First of all, equipment: a tiny red ball, rubber band, and a set of 2 and 3lb weights. At first I was confused on why the weights were so light, but I soon realized that in barre small movements are key. And I also realized that small movements are WAY harder than big ones.

The class started with some stretching and lower body. We also did a few core workouts including planks.. not cool. I stink at those and my core is pathetic. But I held the plank the whole 90 seconds, which is good for a girl who NEVER does them, so I was pretty happy. But I have to admit, my abs were hating me for it yesterday!

We went through a series of really tough moves before going to the bar near the mirror. By that time I was already sweating and my legs were dying, especially since I ran my longest run in quite some time the day before. Maybe not the best idea, but totally worth it :)

At the bar we basically did wall-sits without the wall by holding onto the bar and stretching your arms straight out. We did a bunch of tiny movements and what the constructor Leslie called “tucking” while in this position. At first I thought it wouldn’t be that difficult since my legs are decently strong and all we were doing was little movements. But I was SO wrong.. this was intense! I’m sold that little movements are incredibly effective.

We finished off with some more core work (again, I probably embarrassed myself here), hip exercises and stretching. I worked muscles I never worked before or even realized I had, particularly in the hip region. I love how the body positions we were in targeted very different muscles just with slight changes!

Final Verdict: Try it!

If you have a barre class near you, go to it at least once. It was different from the workouts I’m used to because of the small muscle movements but it was really a great workout. The class flew by (in a good way) and my muscles were incredible sore the next day which is how I know it was a good workout.

After the class, we had the chance to try some products from the two sponsors: Bolthouse farms and Ingo Cucumber Water. I loved the Berry flavor of the Bolthouse smoothie drinks. The cucumber water was really interested. At first I thought it had too strong of a cucumber flavor but the more I drank it, I got used to it! Its tasty but it may be an acquired taste for some.

Also, I got to finally meet some awesome bloggers including Lora (Crazy Running Girl) and Mariell (Healthy Pantz). Both these ladies are amazing, super sweet, and as awesome as they seem in their blogs. Also, I met my fantastic RTB Relay teammate and fellow Brooklyn resident Alex (Healthy Wife Happy Life)!! She and I chatted on the train for a bit on the way home about the food we are going to bring for the relay (food is crucial!) and not dying during nighttime runs! Can’t wait to sweat it up in a van for 24 hours with her…  Get ready Alex! :)

I’ve been reading the blogs of all these ladies for so long now so it was great to finally meet them all in person. Another meet-up needs to happen soon girls, lets make it happen! And if you all haven’t already, check out their blogs!

Have you ever taken a barre class before? Do you want to?
Whats your favorite fitness class?

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Filed under barre, blogging, classes, crosstraining, product review

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