Sunday, April 22, 2018

Fitting in Fitness | Weekly Wrap

I barely unpacked the suitcase from my awesome Hawaii trip before it was time to pack again. Every spring and fall mrC has work in the US. I tag along and then we add some vacay days to see family.

In the spring, we always go to New England. We fly to Hartford (and stay there when we have extra time, like this trip) and visit with mrC's family in Springfield. Then we head to Delaware for his work.

This time, mrC had a trip that put him in the US way ahead of schedule. So instead of flying back to Hong Kong only to turn around and fly back to the US with me, he stayed and I flew to the US on my own (yes, solo and my first time doing it alone). It was worth it, because we gained an extra week of family time including a weekend with the girls in New Hampshire and it doesn't count toward his vacation days!

Somehow, between all the family time and traveling, I managed to fit in fitness.


Monday - Yoga - I stayed up sooo late (in Hong Kong) watching the Boston Marathon (how about that finish???) I only slept about 5 hours, but had to pack and get organized for my trip. I did some yoga inspired by the outdoor yoga session I went to on Saturday. My goal is to run through the poses to loosen up my tight hips and legs at least three times a week.

Tuesday - Yoga - found a travel yoga video and used it as a pre-flight relaxation session. This helped me tons on my first 15 hour flight, but my body was toast after a delay on my connecting flight caused me to get to Hartford after midnight (22 hours after leaving Hong Kong).

Early morning yoga with Adriene while mrC sleeps using my AirPods 

Wednesday - Hotel room yoga to work out the kinks from a looonngg day of travel and worked through those hip opener poses. Felt pretty good, so I thought I'd do some cardio. The hotel pool is closed for "maintenance" and 2/2 treadmills are broken ---> like missing the buttons to change the speed broken (which made me realize that "maintenance" at this hotel was a euphemism for neglect. I ended up doing an elliptical workout: 10 minute WU, 10 20:40 interval sprints, and 10 minute CD. Plus 2 minutes planking and lots of stretching.

Thursday - Prepared to stride out on the elliptical again, I was totally surprised to find one of the treadmills actually working. This unexpected run put a pretty big smile on my face! Intervals have been working for me

Friday - Rest day. Spent the day traveling to NH, renewing my expired driver's license and meeting up with the girls for some quality catch-up time.

Saturday - Bootcamp. I love working out with the girls and was thrilled that Dev was able to join me as a drop-in at Granite State Fitness ---> a new studio that my SurfSet friends merged with last year. We basically got our butts kicked, but we love that ;)


This 50 minute bootcamp was a lot different from other classes I've taken.

First we warmed up with a fun game of "catch the PVC pipe." We all stood in a circle with one hand behind our backs and the other holding the pipe. When directed we let go of the pipe and moved right or left to catch the pipe of the person next to us. After some practice rounds, it became a friendly competition. If you dropped the pipe, you went to the "loser's" corner to do three burpees and then continue playing the game as others joined you. Dev was in the final three and they all dropped the pipes at the same time! I say she was a winner.

Next we worked on mobility with lacrosse/softballs. Our instructor showed us how to roll our glutes, TFLs and lats. I was impressed by this part of the class, but also wondering when does the workout actually start?

I got my answer in the final portion of the class. It was circuit time and here's how it went down. Partners work together to bike 180 calories or 21 minutes (whichever comes first). While one rides the upright bike with arms, the other sprints to stations to complete 4 kettlebell swings, 4 wall tosses with medicine ball and 4 sumo squats with kettlebell. Then you switch.

We just made it over 100 calories when the timer ended.

That 21 minute circuit is where we almost died, haha ---> and our workout had been modified because we were drop-ins. The others were doing clean & presses, using heavier wall balls and front squats. I was super impressed that we were not asked to use barbells because the instructor wasn't sure we knew the proper technique. I suppose we could have made a case that we know from Bodypump, but I still think it was a smart move on the part of the gym.

The only thing that surprised me was that we did not cool-down/stretch as a group. Considering how much was put into the beginning of the class I thought for sure we would do this. Plus, every class I've ever taken has included at least 5 minutes of cool-down/stretching.

Sunday - Rest day. Another day of travel back to MA. I guess I could claim a workout from moving a bunch of stuff around in our storage unit, but mrC did most of that. (#ootd details below)



What's the worst hotel fitness room you've ever seen?
Does your fitness class include mobility and/or cool-down stretching?

I’m linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap!


20 comments:

  1. I don't know how you do it. It would be so hard to leave my bubble and live overseas! I'm glad you get a lot of trips back to see your family. I've never had to use a hotel fitness room. I think I'm glad.

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    1. I try to focus on the adventure side of it and that helps. But I've also created a new little bubble. I hope if you ever do have to use a hotel fitness center that it's in better shape than this one!

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  2. I'm glad you are able to visit your family and friends in the US a couple of times a year. But, I can't imagine airline travel for 22 hours. UGH. I balk at 3. LOL. That sounds like an interesting boot camp class but it is odd you didn't stretch or cool down. Thanks for linking!

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    1. It's all about the choice of seats - that's what helps me get through (since I'm not flying business or first class...oh to live that life!) Right about now, my legs are wishing I had done more stretching than I did after that bootcamp class. Ouch.

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  3. That's a lot of air travel! I always get so stiff w flying. Great job fitting in all that yoga. Hope you had a nice time with your family and friends

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    1. My neck suffers the most from long flights - if I'm lucky I end up somewhere I can see a chiropractor! I've made friends with a few in different cities ;)

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  4. Well, you probably know I'm not a hotel fitness room gal LOL (Although, the daughter did get me to do some stuff with her recently when we were in Florida on spring break). I'd rather just do some calisthenics in my hotel room (lunges/squats/push-ups/burpees, etc.).I know, #boring ;-)

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    1. Not boring at all! Considering the condition of some fitness centers, a hotel room is a much better choice unless you can do a workout outside.

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  5. That around-the-world trip takes a loooong time - yoga was a great idea. I think I've blocked out the bad hotel gyms - some I've walked away from because they were just too depressing. That boot camp sounds fun.

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    1. This hotel fitness room is almost bad enough to walk away from :( I might just take my workout outside if I can. It has been warming up here.

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  6. That sounds like alot of travel- nice job still getting in your workouts! I have been on some really old/creeky treadmills in hotel gyms and usually when that happens I end up switching to the elliptical. Weird that your fitness class didn't have a cool down portion!

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    1. Thank goodness for ellipticals! What would we do without them?

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  7. Hooray for solo travel. When we lived in Europe I remember the first time I headed back to the states alone...and then it became very "normal" to do so. Now I don't bat an eye flying anywhere by myself. Yikes on that hotel fitness. I've never seen anything that poor. The pipe game sounds fun!

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    1. I don't know what I was so worried about...I've traveled internationally to meet him different places in Asia. I'm just spoiled I guess. Now I can see doing it again like no big deal. haha!

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  8. Wow, what an extremely busy week for you! I don't know how you were able to fit in fitness through all of that - major kudos to you!

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    1. Fitness keeps me sane and happy! I think we can all attest to that, right?

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  9. I didn't realize you were living in Hong Kong. Very cool! I've spent time in Singapore, the Philippines and India for work and really enjoyed the experience, even on my own. Enjoy!

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    1. Ah, three places I have yet to travel to but that are on my Asia bucket list.

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  10. I love how you manage to squeeze in fitness no matter where you are - home, in-transit and final destination! My gym classes don't do enough stretching so in the end I have to do quite a bit of that on my own (which I don't always do!)

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    1. That's my problem and why I love when we do it as a group! Plus, I often learn a new stretch or do ones that I don't normally do on my own.

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