Category: Exercise class reviews
Spin, Confessions, and Kitchen Antics
| January 4, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Exercise class reviews |
Hey friends! 
Today was my last day of freedom before getting back to the routine tomorrow. So I made it a good one! 
I’m also going to try to get in a early speedwork run tomorrow mornin’, but I’ve never been good at early starts…
Confession #1: I hit the ‘off’ button on my alarm clock instead of the snooze button. So I missed BodyPump 
. But I still made it in time for spin though, which was amazing!
Confession #2: When the instructor asked if anyone was new, I didn’t raise my hand. I just went along with it! 
(I know I should have done, and if you are taking a new class, you should let the instructor know if it is your first time!)
My thoughts
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Such a great workout! This class gave me the toughest cardio workout I think out of all the classes I’ve been to!
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Love the mix of high-impact and low-impact stuff. The class is mixed up with sprint sections, slow high-resistance sections, etc.
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Great use of music (Black Eyed Peas ‘Pump It’ for sprints= pure genius) and instructor was great.
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My legs were dead afterwards. This class is obviously great for the leg muscles! Spin instructors (*cough Janae cough*) must have leg muscles of steel!
I actually don’t have any negatives at all for this class! I will defo be going back when I can!
Runner's high? No, spinner's high!
Confession #3: I had to dash straight after class to make it to my dentists appointment, so didn’t have time to shower. Sorry Dr. Lincoln.
After spin and the dentist (and then a shower!), pretty much the whole rest of the day was spent in the kitchen!
I made an awesome lunch, based on Freya’s recipe for Spicy Pumpkin, Red Lentil and Chickpea Smush, but with a few small tweaks (re.g. ran out of chickpeas, so used canned mixed pulses, etc). Delish!
Then it was time to get ma bake on! First up was raspberry scones, from this god-send of a recipe book (Babycakes) that I have been raving about non-stop since I got it. And it did not disappoint.
I love raspberries.
I love making delicious baked goods.
I love that vegan goodies can be just as good (or better in this case!) than non-vegan.
I love all that stuff so much, that once I had finished those, it was on to the next thing. Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream. (From the same book). I’m going to a get-together thing tomorrow evening, and there’s going to be a buffet. (Alert the Buffet Monster!) So this is my offering!
My trick that I learned from the last time I baked cupcakes, was to make the buttercream first. That way, you can chill it so it’ll be ready to pipe once the cakes are done!
Wrapped tightly in film and refrigerated.
Ooooh buttercream…
Tell me you love buttercream as much as I do, and we will be BFF. Seriously. 
Of course, cake and buttercream didn’t provide quite enough sugar to feed my friends with. There had to be more.
Sugar stars. Win.
Confession #4: There was a lot of leftover buttercream. Any guesses where most of it ended up? 
Man I wanted to eat one of those cupcakes so bad! I just had to content myself with consuming the leftover buttercream. Not a bad trade-off really! Buttercream > Cake to me. But you all know who’s gonna be first to the buffet table tomorrow to nab one of those bad boys!
So are you more of a buttercream/frosting person or a cake person? If you didn’t get the oh-so-subtle message from this post, I’m a buttercream+frosting gal! And have you ever tried spin? Thoughts?
It’s all about the exercise variety!
| January 3, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Exercise class reviews |
Hello friends! 
Today was all about the exercise variety! This is really important to me when it comes to exercise motivation. Yes, I have a routine that I like, but now and again it’s good to keep things fresh, y’know? Gabriela wrote a great post about this today- check it out!
So, I tried out a new group exercise class today! Livin’ up to my 2011 goals so far! Any guesses as to what class?
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As you may know, I am a huge fan of BodyPump (as are many other bloggers!), and both these are two if the Les Mills exercise classes.
So what is BodyCombat? Taken from their website:
“BODYCOMBAT™ is the empowering cardio workout where you are totally unleashed. This fiercely energetic program is inspired by martial arts and draws from a wide array of disciplines such as karate, boxing, taekwondo, tai chi and muay thai. Supported by driving music and powerful role model instructors, you strike, punch, kick and kata your way through calories to superior cardio fitness.” source
A typical class (45 minutes) includes a short warm-up, followed by the main cardio section (lots of kicks, punches and jumping around!), and finally the cooldown which is strength training.
My thoughts
Positives
- Very high energy! Great cardio- really worked up a sweat!
- Enjoyable! The cardio section especially is a lot of fun, like dance crossed with martial arts!
- As with the other Les Mills class I have taken (BodyPump), the instructors (there were two) are great. Really passionate and enthusiastic.
Negatives
- Didn’t like the music very much! Okay, personal taste and a minor thing, but this was the new release, and a lot of the tracks was not new stuff and was a bit cheesy really!
- The strength training section was only legs. It would have been great to get in some arms/abs etc.
- Not long enough? Again, personal preference, but BodyPump is an hour, and I think that’s a better time for this class, as it would allow for more cooldown+strength training.
I did really enjoy the class! Not quite as good as BodyPump in my opinion, but a really great cardio option! I was red, sweaty, and highly unattractive looking when I left the class! But like with all things, you get out as much as you put in. There were people there who were half-heartedly doing the moves, and it didn’t look like they were having fun or getting much out of it! Unlike me of course! 
Be afraid, be very afraid...
Don’t I look kick-ass! 
Tried (and failed) a few kick shots too!
Fail #1
Fail #2
Why did I post these again?
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I fuelled my class with Ultra Bran cereal+coconut milk+sliced banana:
Did you know that Ultra Bran cereal has 15g of fibre per 45g serving!! And I usually have way more than that! That’s a lot of fibre! 
After BodyCombat, I finished up the hour’s workout with 15mins on the elliptical doing speed intervals, then headed off to Starbucks to meet a friend for lunch. And did you know that Starbucks have a vegan offering now!
Yummy falafel panini
You won’t believe this, but I was told by one of the baristas to put my camera away! Cheek! 
I didn’t argue though, but silently cursed him…
Later in the evening, I did some yoga and strength training.
Instead of the usual flow I do that I learned from my class, I did a strength flow from yogadownload.com. After all, today has been all about the exercise variety!
Tomorrow, I’m getting my bake on! I read through this recipe book that I bought yesterday (see previous post for details)…
…and so far, it is my all-time favourite recipe book! Yes, it may well have overtaken the Vegan Cupcakes recipe book and Veganomicon! But I obviously have to test out some of the recipes to see if it lives up to its title! 
I’m also going to BodyPump tomorrow morning, as well as another new exercise class for me- spinning! Can’t wait! 
What are your favourite exercise classes? Have you ever been to any of the ones I’ve mentioned? My favourite has to be BodyPump so far! And what is your all-time favourite recipe book?
