A Killer HIIT Class

I'll try almost anything once, and sometimes I'll want to go back for more even if I got my butt kicked.

But first. 30 Day Pilates Body Challenge 

Day 3 - booty
Lots of bridges, but the most intense variation? Feet together (not pictured) activates the glutes, hamstrings, and inner thighs! 

My goal for this challenge:

Keep up and keep in touch. Simple, right? It should be since the workouts are 10 minutes or less.

So today I tried another new fitness center and class. I left the apartment with plenty of time to walk to Vitality Fitness Center. Thank goodness they have a nice lounge area because I arrived for a 10:00 class that actually starts at 10:40. Oops. I was super early, but entertained by the videos playing and the Zumba class that looked like a group of professionals.

HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) Class was the epitome of intense. The instructor (who had just led the Zumba class BTW) gave us a fierce mix of exercise circuits.  Squats to shoulder press to skaters. Mountain Climbers to pushups to jump squats. Jump rope to dead lifts to plank. Crunches, crunches, crunches! We never stopped moving.

My body. My legs. I'm pretty sure I haven't had a workout that intense since SurfSet and Boot Camp in the fall. I got my butt kicked and then I bought a 10 class pass.

When I got back to the apartment, I tried to keep my lunch healthy. Pineapple berry protein smoothie with quinoa and tuna. On the side I added one cup of dry Rice Chex cereal. I have a need for crunchy.

I was exhausted. And I loved it!

Do you like HIIT workouts?

Fitness Accountability and a Bike Ride

I started the 30 Day Pilates Body Challenge today.

The challenge actually started on March 1, so I had a couple of workouts to do before time zones start messing with things. By that I mean, when I wake up on day 3, it is still day 2 in the US and I don't have the day 3 email yet. I work out in the morning. Yada yada yada...you get the idea.

So today, I reached out to my BFF in the US to sweet talk her into joining the challenge too. She will be my workout buddy (aka accountability partner). My other accountability partner is YOU, my blog friends. I promise to share something from each daily workout to help me stick with the program.

Day 1 - legs
I honestly had a flashback to Booty Barre. In less than 10 minutes my legs were shaking and burning. Ah, I miss that.

Day 2 - arms

Ok, I have done triceps dips on the floor, but never while raising one leg into table top. Wowzer, that is hard and my arms are going to feel that later.

After my little Pilates workout I grabbed a quick breakfast. I am so excited that we found GF Cheerios at our favorite international store. These are perfect on days like today when I have a bike ride date with mrC.

We finally rode all the way to the Mangrove Ecological Park located on the Shenzhen Bikeway. 

Shenzhen is an interesting city with large districts that feel like they could be cities on their own. We left Shekou behind us, rode toward Futian and that's Lohou in the distance.

One of my favorite parts was the Coconut Grove, a perfect spot to escape the sun, have lunch and/or take a nap.

Because biking and selfies always go together, right?

Who/what is your fitness accountability?
Do you bike ride?

Practice, Practice, Practice!!

mrC and started the day with a walk before he had to go to work. Sometimes the environment just invites me to strike a pose. Even though I was just playing around, I noticed right away that doing this pose was A LOT easier than it was a couple of months ago. Consistent yoga practice really does work.

Speaking of yoga practice, I went back to my regular studio for a Flow with Alignment class. This studio has more space than the new one I found across the street. I tried to take a picture of the removable wall they use to open up the room when the class fills up, like today. I decided to get another pass even though it is more expensive, because sometimes I like to just be a part of the crowd. 

This class felt good. I was feeling a little sore from yesterday's yoga and Pilates workouts, but I felt strong. It also felt good to know what I was doing most of the time and I was able to keep up just by watching since the class was ALL in Chinese!

While scrolling through my Instagram feed, I came across a new challenge. I've been talking about Pilates a bunch lately and I believe that everything happens for a reason, so I took this as a sign that I was meant to do it. 

What new challenges are you taking on lately?

Try It Tuesday: Mindfulness Yoga

This morning I tried a new yoga class at a new studio: PD Yoga. The studio is across the street from our apartment community, in an area called Sea Taste, so super convenient. It's a small studio with three small rooms and a variety of class offerings. The studio is clean, offers lockers for storing belongings and a changing area. More importantly, for expats, everyone I've met so far speaks English.

Mindfulness Yoga was a hatha style class that focused on poses that will help improve posture. It was perfect for me. The instructor came around many times during class to assist, correct, or challenge us in our poses. I didn't exactly work up a big sweat, but I loved feeling looser and relaxed when I left.

mrC met me after yoga class at the studio and we took a walk to pay some bills. It was such a nice day that we decided to have lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant because we can sit outside. We always laugh at the portion size difference of the chips and salsa here versus the US.

Later in the afternoon after doing a little work around the apartment, we took our second walk of the day and picked up some clothes I had hemmed. The weather has really been perfect the last couple of days, so we have been taking advantage of it.

After our walk, I was hit with a wave of fitness ambition so I went to Booya Fitness for some more Pilates. One thing I love about the video selection is the variety. There are traditional classes like the one I did today, The Classic Pilates Body, where the workout format follows the time-honored routine (see Pilates 100 picture below). There are also classes that put a twist on tradition and create a high energy class like Cardio Pilates. 

Don't forget that you can try Booya Fitness classes free for 30-days (sign up here) Every workout you do until March 15, enters you into the Cardio Blast Challenge for a chance to win some great prizes!

What new fitness activity have you tried lately?

This is not a sponsored post, but Booya Fitness will compensate me for any referrals. So, if you signed up using my link, thanks!!

Mountain Monday & Leap Day Fun

Winter might be over here in Shenzhen. We officially sweated our butts off climbing the mountain today. We were met by our local park employee who loves taking group pictures for us. Getting to the top of Nanshan wouldn't be the same without a photo to prove it.

It was so nice to be greeted by such amazing weather on Leap Day. No one had to twist my arm to get my #OiselleLeap on and show off my favorite #flystyle for a chance to win a head-to-toe Oiselle outfit. 

Lately I have been really enjoying my Yoga Camp daily videos, but I've also been missing Pilates class at the studio. The instructor is having a baby, so they have taken the class off the schedule and I don't know when it will be back. This afternoon I popped over to Booya Fitness and found an awesome 30 minute Pilates video to do at home.

If you haven't tried Booya Fitness yet, now is a great time to do it. Today they are launching the Cardio Blast Challenge. Check out these great prizes up for grabs.

To enter all you have to do is sign up for Booya Fitness (free trial, monthly, quarterly or annual subscription) and complete a cardio workout! That's it. You're going to work out anyway. Why not enter to win an awesome prize too? I did!! Click here to sign up.

To round out all this fitness, I made another batch of my banana peanut butter protein bars.

How are you spending Leap Day?

This is not a sponsored post, but Booya Fitness will compensate me for any referrals. So, if you signed up using my link, thanks!!