Let's Get FIT!

You may have noticed that when discussing my workout regimen, I frequently refer “FIT.” FIT is a group fitness class I take at the gym twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays). Since I love FIT so much, I thought I would share why with all of you :)

FIT stands for: Functional Integrated Training

According to Wikipedia, Functional Integrated Training, (or FIT) is “a classification of exercise which involves training the body for activities performed in daily life. (It) involves mainly weight bearing activities targeted at core muscles of the abdomen and lower back.”

Benefits of Functional Training:

~Muscular balance

~Joint stability

~Less chance of injury

One of the main goals of Functional Training is to make the body stronger in everyday life (i.e., lifting, picking things up, carry heavy objects, etc).

“The benefits may arise from the use of training that emphasizes the body’s natural ability to move in three anatomical planes of motion.” (sagittal- left and right, frontal-back and front, and transverse- head and tail)

In other words: no machines. When you workout using a machine, you do not need to use your core to stabilize. When you use free weights or your own body weight, etc. you use your core to stabilize and therefore engage that many more muscles. Additionally, machines rarely mimic your body's natural movements.

Equipment we frequently use in FIT class:

~free weights

~Body bars (weighted bars)

~Bosu

~Step

~Medicine Ball

~Kettlebell

~towel (to slide around on)

~resistance bands

~stability ball

Areas FIT addresses: Flexibility, core, balance, strength, and power.

Many athletes use Functional Training because it can be designed so that it is specific to the sport they are training for.**This is hard to do in a group fitness class, however, many exercises, can benefit training for a variety of sports. For example, squats build strength and power in your lower body (legs, glutes, etc.) and your lower body is needed in many sports. Furthermore, you can do single leg squats to work on balance and to engage your core.

The Lifetime class description describes FIT as an "advanced, total body functional strength training class (that challenges) your muscular endurance as well as balance and coordination by moving through all the planes of motion with multi-joint and compound exercises."

My instructor, Tiffany at Lifetime describes her FIT class as "choreographed weight lifting."

Some Examples from last week's classes:

Tuesday: Body Bars

Exercises: Back lunges, back lunges with row, side lunge w/ row, curtsy lunge w/ bicep curl, plank, side plank, 100 push ups, oblique, balance drills

Thursday: 1 dumbell of each size (5, 8, 10 lbs.)

Exercises: Forward lunges, curtsy lunges, reverse fly, back lunges, wide legged squats bicep curl, dead lift, tricep kick backs, 50 pushups, side planks, 2 pt. plank.

Obviously, FIT is good for your body, but the real reason I do it is because its fun! Okay, I may have a different interpretation of fun than most people, but I do enjoy it.

Soooo what do you think? Would you give functional training a try? Have you already tried it? Do you attend a gym that offers a class like this or would you do it on your own?

Weekend Recap

Whew. This was a fun weekend! I usually have more time to blog over the weekend (as a teacher, I can't blog from work) but this weekend I had no time! Its okay because that just means I have more to tell you about :) And I promise this is the last you will hear about my birthday until next year! Or at least I will try...

Okay so Friday was my actual birthday. After work, my Dad and I went for a birthday run (6 miles for 26 years old). Later that evening, Dan and I went back to my parents' house for dinner. My Mom made a delicious fettuccine alfredo dish with shrimp and scallops (so good!) and we had the best tiramasu cake for dessert.
How cute is this cake??



It was seriously so good! After cake we did presents:



My parents are very sneaky...they gave me...



Any empty box! They had wrapped up my empty polar watch/heart rate monitor box, then stuck it in my empty mizuno sneaker box...


Anyway, they got me the heart rate monitory that goes with my new garmin, but apparently every running store in NJ was out of it! They had to order it and I get it sometime this week. I am so excited about all my new gear. My sister got me some godiva truffles, (I have already eaten most of them...can you tell I like chocolate?) and my Mom gave me some lip gloss and a some money to get my hair done. (Dan keeps telling me I need to pick a hair color, which is true, but I can't decide if I should go dark or back to blonde...) After dinner, we went out for a drink, but I reallllly wanted to go home and watch my dvr-ed shows (project runway, and real housewives, hellllo) I can't believe how old I am. I was perfectly happy spending my birthday with my family and Dan. So after one drink, we left, came home, and curled up with some wine, a truffle, and the dvr. Not very exciting, but I did have some birthday plans with friends on Sunday to rest up for :)

Saturday was pretty uneventful, but Sunday was the big day. Birthday Brunch Day! Instead of getting all the ladies together for a big night out...I decided to do a Sunday brunch in NYC with unlimited Mimosas and Bloody Mary's! I can't hang like I used to , and I've always been more of a morning person so brunch was perfect! We went to a place called Il Bastardo, which was actually on The Hills (yes, seriously) and we had a blast!

Arielle and Me

Gillian and a very large Bloody Mary...

Dan and his ladies (the one on the left is his sister)

Part of the group

Dan and the ladies...

And what would a birthday be without one shot??
I may have had to ask the bartender to make mine 1/2 juice...

See you tomorrow with that FIT post (finally!)

Speed Workout and 26!

Hello all...Happy Friday! Sorry I didn't post yesterday, after promising a FIT post, but it was a pretty crazy day. Unfortunately the post isn't done yet, but hopefully I will get it up by this afternoon...hmmm FIT Friday? I like it.

Anyway, yesterday was a fun, but busy day. My coworkers threw me a surprise bday breakfast (the surprise being that my birthday wasn't until today) and I was completely surprise. Fortunately i wore an a nice outfit to school. One of my assistants even brought/prepared me a whole wheat everything bagel with cream cheese and lox. It was the fanciest classroom birthday breakfast I have ever been too :) The school day was nuts because I got a new student, and that always makes for a crazy day. After work, my Dad and I headed straight for the track to get in some speed work. We warmed up, did 4- 400s with a 400 meter rest interval. Then did 4- 100s with a 100 meter rest interval then cooled down. My 400 splits looked like this:

1:25
1:27
1:26
1:29

Then my 100s were as follows: 16 (seconds), :16, :16, :17.

I won't post the rest splits but they were all around 2:30. Overall, I ran:

3.37 miles
28:46
8:31 average pace
4:33 best pace (those 100s)

After the sprints, I headed to FIT class with my mom (post later, I promise!) Then I rushed out of class to meet my friend Cathy for a drink/dinner and no, I did not take a shower, please do not judge! :) We had a blast, but I was ready to get home after a long day.

This morning I woke up early to shower :) since I obviously didn't the night before. When I got out of the shower I saw this:




I guess a long time ago I mentioned that sunflowers were my fav and he remembered! Also, Dan and has mom have this cute tradition where they each get one funny card, and one sappy card for each other on birthdays so that is what Dan did for me. The other night when I received my Garmin, he gave me the funny card, and this morning with the flowers, he gave me the cutesy card (and made me cry). I loved it.

Okay, I must run because I am going to be late for work! Have a fabulous Friday and a great weekend!

Early Present!

Hello!
Me again. I know, 2 posts in one day...unlike me. But its this could not wait until tomorrow :) Dan gave me my birthday present early! I know, I know, my birthday isn't until Friday but we have become accustomed to exchanging early, in private and then celebrating the actual day with friends and family. Being that we both are working on Friday, he was going to give it to me tomorrow night but I will be out for drinks with this girl:



Cathy and I have birthdays less than a week apart so we usually try to celebrate together. We even had a double sweet 16 (ahem, about 10 years ago...so crazy) we even joked about one day having a double wedding. While that probably won't be happening, :) we still like to do things together. And yes, we were voted "attached at the hip" in our high school senior yearbook.

Anwayyy, Dan obviously had to give me his gift tonight, and I graciously accepted. And I am so glad I did because I received this beauty:




A GARMIN405!!! So EXCITED!!



I LOVE it! I actually said, "YES! Now I am like a REAL runner!" Dan, of course, responded with, "um, I'm pretty sure you were a REAL runner before..." Whatever. I'm extra excited because my Dad and I have a pretty intense speed workout at the track (full report tomorrow). I also have a a post prepared about my fav class at the gym, FIT. So, see you tomorrow, I'm off to play with my new toy :)

Where in the World Wednesday - College Edition!

The idea of WITWW is to post a picture of you in someplace in the world...it doesn't have to be somewhere foreign or tropical. Just a picture of you somewhere that you consider traveling. It might even be somewhere in your own hometown!
~Classy in Philadelphia

Hello there! If you live in the northeast, happy snow day! Well not really, I just have a delayed opening but its so nice to be able to sleep in, catch up on my blogs, and blog a little myself. It reminds me of being back in Gettysburg, PA when I was only taking a couple of classes a day.

Soooo for this WITWW we are going back to COLLEGE!

I feel this post is also appropriate as I will be turning 26 on Friday and this May will be 4 years since graduating from Gettysburg. It is crazy/scary how time flies.

Beautiful Gettysburg

Chi O Senior Escorts
Mr. Fraternity

Fun times on the back porch...

College is when I got into running more seriously. Freshman year I would go to the gym to lose the freshman 15 and by senior year I was running for hours at a time on the battlefields surrounding campus. I would use running as a study break from finals, stress relief, or thinking time. When I came home from school on breaks, I would run with my Dad to catch up. When my family came to visit me at school I would take my Dad out on my battlefield route.

I learned a lot in college about work, life, lessons and friends, but it also played a part in me falling in love with running.

New Shoes and Too Many Mags?

I have a question for you all: How often do you replace your running Sneakers?
I was reading the current issue of Self last week and came across a blurb claiming:
"The life of a running shoe may be shorter than you think, researchers from The University of Texas at El Paso suggest. After subjects went 200 miles, their sneaker cushioning started to break down, causing changes in their foot strikes, possibly hastening fatigue. Although 350 miles was once the magic number, you may want to retire your pair soon, especially if you jog on pavement." (SELF, Feb. 2010)

200 miles?? I usually replace my sneakers at 500 miles, and even that can get expensive. If I had to replace them twice as often I would be seriously broke. I usually go through 2-3 pairs of running sneakers per year.

Conversely, this month's issue of Runners' World advises to replace your shoes every 300-500 miles (March 2010, pg. 58).

I know I should definitely replace them before 500 miles (maybe 400?) Ideally I would love to have a couple of pairs in rotation and ultimately love to have training shoes and racing shoes, however, unless I hit it big, that won’t be happening any time soon.

What do you guys think? How often do you replace your shoes?

And speaking of magazines...

Being the fitness fanatic that I am, I subscribe to almost every health/fitness magazine that comes my way. These subscriptions currently include: Runners World, Self, Yoga Journal, and Women's Health. I'm not sure how necessary it is to read all of these magazines, however, my day is definitely brightened when they arrive in the mail and I (almost) always read each one cover to cover. Of course, being that I do subscribe to every magazine under the sun, I must have gotten myself on some sort of list because I am constantly receiving offers in the mail to subscribe to additional magazines. I obviously have to draw the line somewhere and I do think 4 mags a month are more than necessary/ If I got any more, I may not have time to read them all. But I just can't STOP! They make offers that are difficult to refuse to suck you in and then its tough to quit! $10 for 12 issues?! How can I say no to a deal like that?

However...I am tempted to subscribe to Running Times Magazine. I already receive Runners' World (and usually finish reading the issue in, um, a day) and will I really miss the $10? Do I NEED a subscription to an additional running mag?

**What mags do you read religiously? How many do you subscribe to?**

Weekend Recap and the Monday Blues

There is beauty in your presence. Show who you are.


LOVE this quote. I found it in my yogi teabag. I seriously am obsessed with this tea. Obviously it tastes delicious, but the quotes are my favorite part. Dan says I’m such a sucker for advertising…and he is right. Fortunately, I just found out that my local Stop and Shop sells Yogi tea! It doesn’t sell as many types/flavors as Whole Foods, but it sells enough. Right now I am drinking Calming tea, which claims to ease mild tension and anxiety. Truth be told, I think it works :)

On to the weekend. This weekend was the perfect balance of fun and rest. My only complaint is that it went too quickly! (Well, that and the cold, but what else is new…) Friday after work I went with my oldest friend, Vonelle, to a swim shop. I had been telling her I want to try swimming some laps at my gym in an attempt to incorporate some cross training into my running schedule (read: give my aching legs a break!). Since I only owned the skimpiest of bathing suits (hello, tan lines!) I felt unfit to swim laps. I am also super insecure about my swimming abilities but, I reasoned that if I looked the part, maybe I would actually get some laps in. Vonelle needed a new suit too, and what better time to buy a bathing suit than on the coldest day of the year (can you say, salesss?) The trip was a major success. I got a super cute suit. A 2 piece black and pink speedo that fit like a glove. And the best part? I paid $10 for the top and $10 for the bottom! Such a steal.


Source


I took Friday completely off from any form of fitness. I definitely believe you need a day like this to allow your body to rest. Friday evening Dan and I met my friend, Katie and her boyfriend at a local wine bar for a few drinks. I may have over done it and had 3 glasses of wine. Oops. But I had a great time catching up with Katie. I don’t get to see her a lot because she is in her 4^th semester of med school at Tuffs. So clearly she’s the dumb blonde :) right.

Saturday was low key. Got in a 5 mile run with my Dad and spent the rest of the day with Dan. We stayed in Saturday night, and Sunday morning I met my Mom for yoga at Lifetime. This was our first attempt at Hatha yoga. We took an intermediate class and some of the poses were difficult for both of us. I'm willing to give it another shot but I actually prefer the Vinyasa classes or the nontraditional Athletic Yoga classes my gym offers. Maybe I just need to take a beginner class. After yoga my Dad and I went for a run and then it was back to the apartment to get ready for the week. Dan and I ordered some pizzas and watched Tough Love.

How do these weekends go so fast?? I can’t believe Monday is already over and that it is February 1st. It is also birthday week :) I will be 26 on Friday. Craziness. Hope everyone's weeks are going well. Today was definitely a Monday at work. It was such a crazy day that I skipped out on my run AND kickboxing class to go home because I was so exhausted. The current edition of Runners' World gave some great advice about not to confuse mental exhaustion with physical exhaustion when you want to get out of your after work run. I definitely did that today. Oh well, here's to hoping tomorrow goes more smoothly.