snowga + AFAA G.E.A.R. Indoor Cycling Workshop

hey hey everyone. Hope you all had a lovely weekend.

I still a bit bummed that my AFAA Group Fitness Certification workshop was cancelled due to the snow, but I attempted to make the most of my free Saturday.

 

Hate to say it but winter is my least favorite season… although the snow did look purrrrty on Saturday morning

 

so. much. snow.

Saturday afternoon I went to a yoga class at my favorite studio Yoga Vida with one of my favorite instructors Jessie. The class featured live music from an acoustic guitarist. I’ve never taken class with live music so it was a pretty sweet bonus. The class was absolutely PACKED… I guess everyone was feeling a bit stir crazy thanks to the storm and craved some yoga.

After yoga, I decided to take advantage of the storm and head to Time Square to score a cheap ticket to “Nice Work If You Can Get It”

 

I’ve been waiting to see the show since last year so it was awesome to finally see it…… and for relatively cheap. Win win! I loved that it was an old fashioned musicals with good music and an immensely talented cast.

 

 

Today I attended AFAA’s G.E.A.R. Indoor Cycling Workshop.

It’s hilarious that a year ago I hated spin. Like, absolutely detested. Recently, though, I’ve been on a total spin kick and can’t get enough of it. Goes to show you that first impressions are everything because I loathed every second of that first class!

I really enjoyed the workshop. It’s rare that I get to spend time with other fitness instructors who share my passion for group fitness so I love hearing about where they work and learning as much as I can from people who have been in the business awhile.

AFAA’s course is NOT a certification, so there’s not test at the end, but it is an extremely informative workshop that covers the basics of indoor cycling safety and procedures. I will say that if you are someone who frequently spins at various studios there won’t be a whole lot of new information but it’s still a useful course to attend.

Since I’ve been on a total spin kick I really want to teach my own class, now it’s time to get practicing!

Do you enjoy spin classes?

Why or why not?

Anyone out there teach spin and have any tips for a newbie 🙂 ?

Finding Nemo? Captain Nemo? Blizzard Nemo?

Blech, I’m not a fan of winter. This mega blizzard  makes me real reminiscent for the Los Angeles sunshine.

Tomorrow was supposed to be my AFAA group fitness certification and exam. I already got an email that the exam has been cancelled. While safety is a priority, I’m definitely disappointed that I have to wait to take the exam. Between NASM and AFAA I’ve been non stop studying for an exam since October, so I was looking forward to finally being done. Eh, such is life.

Crummy weather did give me the excellent opportunity to tidy up my mess of an apartment.

 

YAYYY organized bookshelf. I’ve been living here since my junior year of college so all my old textbooks, notebooks and folders slowly took over my bookshelves. I was always too lazy to organize school papers and throw out what I no longer needed at the end of the semester. Today was finally the day! Ah it feels so good to have my school stuff organized by year and my books all organized. Making use of being trapped indoors, oh yeah!

Earlier this week I put my food processor to work and finally made some amazeballs. Just what I don’t need, more peanut butter in my diet.

 

Totally enjoyed eating the leftover “dough”.

 

Trust me… these tasty peanut butter balls are not gonna last long in the fridge. It’s taking a lot of restrain to not eat them all.

The theme of this week has been getting back to yoga and lots of spin classes. The perfect yin & yang. Whenever I took yoga in the fall my pesky, previously injured, right shoulder would bother me (really arm? Trapeze doesn’t hurt, weight lifting doesn’t hurt, but yoga?) Finally I can practice yoga without pain! I forgot how much I love yoga and how good it makes me feel afterwards.

I’m still on a total spin kick, which is hilarious considering I hated spinning the first 10 times I tried it. Actually, I hated yoga too until last year, I guess my fitness preference has changed. I love that spin classes are a guaranteed sweat fest– no matter what I leave a spin class drenched in sweat and feeling rather zen. Maybe spin and yoga are more closely related than I thought…..

Now it’s a lazy Friday. I thought I was going to spend the afternoon studying for AFAA but instead I’ve been lounging around watching Say Yes to the Dress. Gotta love Bride Day Friday.

Hopefully I’ll be able to leave the apartment tomorrow and get around the city….

what’s your current fitness obsession?

fellow northeasterners, how are you making the most of the blizzard?

sweat, soup and socializing

Guys, it’s national peanut butter day! Granted every day is peanut butter day in the life of Kayla, but still!

Unfortunately I couldn’t spend all of today hibernating, so my way of dealing with the cold? Sweat, soup and socializing.

First sweat session of the day? 7AM yoga at my favorite studio Yoga Vida. It’s been a while since I took a yoga class, but this morning’s vinyasa class reminded me of how much I love yoga. Recently yoga classes aggravate my old shoulder injury, but I’m hoping that the pain-free class this morning means that there’s a whole lot more yoga in my future.

After yoga class it was time to celebrate national peanut butter with PB on a whole wheat english muffin with honey. Oh wait, that’s what I eat for breakfast every. single. day.

Post english muffin it was time for sweat session #2: a spin class at Flywheels with Jesse Alexander.

I’ve got a few confessions to make.

1. The first time I took a spin class I hated it. Like loathed the entire experience and counted down the minutes to when it would finally be over.

2. Actually, I hated my first 10 or so spin classes.

3. But now, I’m obsessed. I’ve been spinning roughly every other day since I got back to the city.

4. and lastly, I’m a bit of a spin whore and I’ve been spreading my spin love around to various nearby studios. I just love each fancy studio so dang much in it’s own unique way.

So what’s Flywheels special thing? They add a competitive factor and throughout the class you can see how you are doing in comparison to your fellow classmates.

 

Go Kayla! You spun for 17 miles! Sadly, I definitely didn’t burn that many calories because they don’t calculate based on weight. And sadly I was in second to last place for most of the class. womp womp.

But, I must say todays class with Jesse Alexander was pretty freaken awesome.

He had some of the best quotes I’ve ever heard in a fitness class

“this is only 3% of your day”

(isn’t it crazy to think that exercise is only 3% of your day? That means you can totally give it your all during that 3%)

“sexy is an endorphin”

(if you say so 🙂 )

and the real reason he captured my heart? HE PLAYED GREEN DAY. I might’ve had a rather emotional experience when “Wake Me Up When September Ends” came on. The key to winning me over in life? Play Green Day…..

 

any ways. I highly recommend Jesse Alexanders class… even if you’re not a mega Green Day fan like yours truly. His class was definitely one of my favorites because he not only pushes you to keep going, but he also approaches fitness from a mental stand point– its about so much more than losing weight and looking hot.

 

After sweat session #2 I realized that the only appropriate cold weather lunch was soup so I made a pit stop at Agata and Valentina for some fresh soup.

 

Super simple ingredient list? Love it.

1 cup of this stuff + some turkey meatballs = the perfect cold weather lunch.

 

After lunch it was time for the final sweat session of the day: teaching a zumba class for kiddies! Over the past three summers I’ve worked at a day camp as the dance specialist where I choreographed dances for campers ages 3-14 in addition to teaching zumba classes geared towards kids. It’s been awhile since I led a kids zumba class but I forgot how much fun it was. I’m so used to teaching in the sweltering summer heat that I was actually thrilled to be teaching in cold weather.

 

and lastly my day ended with thai food for dinner with some friends from high school. A lot of my friends from high school and sleep away camp are either attending graduate school or working in Manhattan so it’s been great catching up with old friends. My dream in life is to some how make all the people I love in my life move to the city so that I can see them all the time. Not gonna lie, my dream is actually slowly coming soon since so many of my friends are now moving here.

oooof I’m sleeeeepy after all those sweat sessions. Time to rest up because tomorrow I’m attending an all day TRX workshop!

 

questions of the day:

anyone else celebrating national peanut butter day?

what’s your favorite cold weather food?