January Cross Training: Week 1 #xtrainJan16

My whirlwind life wound down a bit in December, so I took the lull as an opportunity to get back in the fitness habit.  But, I’m a runner, and I’m allergic to the cold, so winter is hard on me. I decided to do a different workout each day in January to keep things interesting. I posted on Facebook as asked folks to tell me their favorite workout. I got a huge response with lots of different answers. It seems there truly is a class for everyone out there. So, each Friday, I will do a little post to recap my workouts of the week. You can also follow along and show me your own workouts with the hashtag #xtrainJan16.

Friday, Jan 1 – Running

Ok, I know I said I hate running in the cold, but it seemed fitting to start out the new year with what I know best. My faithful running friend Jessica offered to let me tag along with her for the end of her longer run, so I did. It was 24 degrees, but with two layers and lots of conversation, I made it 3.4 miles without really even thinking about how cold it was. And, Jessica’s a morning person, so my workout was done by 8am. That rarely ever happens with me, but what a nice feeling to start your day off with something that makes you feel strong and centered.

Saturday, Jan 2 – Ice Skating

The whole family headed to Mediacom Ice Park for an open skate session. Turns out all of Springfield was there too. The rest of my family have a lot more ice time under their belts than I do, so it took me a while to get acclimated, but once I did, it was very fun!  Again, I had to dress strategically, because it is cold in there, but once I got moving, it was fine. Although I did not feel like I was getting an especially intensive workout at the time, my inner thighs were pretty sore the next day. Hooray!

Sunday, Jan 3 – Yoga with Adriene

So, we were planning to head to the local community center to climb on the rock wall, but it was closed, so my sore thighs and I got out the yoga mat. Yoga with Adriene was a suggestion from my FB post, so I queued her up on You Tube. She has a 30 day Yoga practice, so I did the day one session, which was heavy on the introspection, relaxation, and stretching with a couple series of poses in the middle. Adriene is very nice and funny – it felt like going to do yoga in your friend’s living room, if your friend is really good at leading yoga and kind of looks like Jennifer Garner. If you’ve never done yoga before, this seems like a great place to start.  Also a great practice for a sore muscles day.

Monday, Jan 4 – Total Body Conditioning class

Word to the wise – if you’re going to try out a bunch of different classes at a fitness center, it might be good to find out which ones are considered hard/easy before you just show up. Turns out the Total Body Conditioning (TBC) class at the Ozark Community Center is the hardest one in the building. The trainer let me know that about half way through. The class is like circuit training. We started by running up and down the stairwells, then laps around the indoor track, situps, pushups, in and outs, burpees, arm presses, curls, bent rows, dead lift, clean and jerk, and probably a few more that I blacked out on. The class is 40 minutes long, and you just keep doing the circuit until class time is over.  Very little talking/chatting, lots of calories burned. And I thought my muscles were sore yesterday…  I liked this class, but I was severely underqualified for it.  I need to work my way back up to it.

Tuesday, Jan 5 – Hot Yoga

This was my favorite workout of the week, and in the end, the one that kicked my bootie the most. I had never done hot yoga before, but my friend Diana invited me to join her for a class at Sumit’s Hot Yoga. We did a drop in class, which they do every Tuesday. The class is only $5, but you have to wait outside until 30 minutes before class starts. So, I arrive and get in line. There are 9 people in front of me. As we wait, the line continues to build behind me.  In the end, we hit the max capacity of 55 people in the class and some folks were turned away. CRAZY! When you first get into the room, it’s warm, but not crazy hot.  As the class goes on, the room gets warmer. This particular class was 80 minutes long, and there were all shapes and sizes of yogis in there – guys and girls. The instructor was super, very supportive and encouraging, and made sure that everyone knew it was ok to take a break when needed. It was an awesome workout, and by the end I felt like a faucet. I was soaked and could literally feel the sweat pouring out of me.  I will definitely be going back for more!

Wednesday, Jan 6 – Tai Chi

I woke up Wednesday morning with plans to do a spin class, but with abs so sore I felt like I might throw up. Thank you down dog. My arms also seemed to be non-functional. I could have counted getting dressed as my workout with all the grunting and straining I had to do, but I did manage to drag myself upstairs to the xbox for a little tai chi. I have Your Shape Fitness Evolved for xbox that uses the Kinect to “see” how you are doing. It has several different workouts on it. Tai Chi is what you see old people doing in the park. It’s slow-flow and more about balance. Perfect for my current situation, although the Kinect was not impressed with my form. I tried to concentrate on stretching those sore muscles out!

Thursday, Jan 7 – Bike Trainer

Since my upper half is still kind of sore, my lower half is doing all the work today. My awesome husband was nice enough to set up my tri bike on my trainer so that I could ride inside. I found some fun workouts on YouTube where a guy in Australia go-pros his rides and then turns them into trainer workouts. I try really hard to pretend I’m there, riding along with them on the beach road, instead of going nowhere on a cold and rainy day.

Today, though, I had a bajillion things to do, so I decided to try a 20 minute HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workout by Global Cycling Network. It was pretty fun too! I definitely felt the burn, so we’ll see how the legs feel tomorrow.

Next Week

When this post publishes, I will be flying to northern Illinois with my mama. I’m hoping to find some snow to play in up there. No matter what, it will be a challenge to keep this going while traveling. I’ll let you know how it goes next week.

Still looking for suggestions – do you have a favorite workout that I should try?

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