T-Shirt Time!

I've mentioned before that I tend to dress like a homeless person at the gym.

Sweat pants, old t-shirts, dirty hair.  I don't do cute workout gear or even attempt to be presentable.  It seems pointless to me.

I do have a pretty delightful collection of t-shirts that make the rounds when I'm at the treadmill though.

Nice right? It's a t-shirt from a legit brothel in Nevada.  I've never been there, but I saw Lorelai Gilmore wear this shirt and wanted it.  Mems ordered it for me for Christmas one year.  It came with a 20% off coupon. I never used it.

Pretty self explanatory, it's from the year I ran the quarter marathon, which is still my longest run ever.  Till April I guess.

I've had a weird crush on Letterman since I was 11.  I stood outside his studios on my one and only trip to NYC so far, but I was too young to go to his show (17). I bought this instead.

My coziest, oldest TU shirt.  I love supporting my alma mater and I like to think people think I'm smarter than I am when I wear it.  For all they know I got a degree in chemical engineering!

I love this shirt so much I hardly ever wear it anymore.  I'm afraid any more washings will make Vinnie Van GoGo disappear.  The faded image is Vincent Van Gogh's self portrait with a chef's hat added an a piece of pizza coming out of his mouth.

I got it in Savannah my sophomore year in high school. I remember loving the pizza too.  I wish I could get this company to send me a new t-shirt.  So so bad.

How do you dress to hit the gym?

Yoga addiction

I had a really rough week not long ago.

Things were stressful at work, meetings and appointments kept popping up and I was running around like crazy.

I was frazzled.  I kept up my running hoping it would keep me sane and centered.  It did not.

I did some yoga at home, but it wasn't centering me either.

Then I read this post by yoga goddess Cheena-

How conquering the yoga mat can help you conquer the boardroom.

She's very wise.

So, I cleared my schedule one night and signed up for a Vino and Vinyasa event.

I went by myself in my yoga leggings and a big t-shirt and drank my glass of wine off to the side, sitting on my mat and clearing my mind.  By the time yoga started I already calmer and less at the end of my rope.

Then, Jennifer lead us through a great yoga work out that stretched my kinks out, relieved my tension and challenged my limited yoga capabilities.

I left the class feeling refreshed and recharged, a huge change in just two hours.

It was exactly what I needed to get over the crap.

It was a good reminder that yoga is more than just performing the routines with a DVD or from memory.  It's taking the time to breathe, to stretch and relax.  To give yourself quiet time to recharge while you re-shape your body.

If you haven't tried it, do it.  I highly recommend it.  It's helped my posture and back pain immensely if nothing else.

Also, it makes you pretty bendy.

Cute boys at the gym

Let's talk about something crazy that's happened not once, but twice in the last week: seriously cute guys taking or teaching classes at the gym.

Last week I took my 2nd spin class and ended up on a bike next to a guy who was a runner taking his very first spin class.

There are rarely any age appropriate guys in my classes at the gym, which is fine with me because I look like a pasty homeless person when I go to work out.

We finished class and I looked like I'd been dunked in a vat of sweat and R promptly did the Downward dog and cobra to stretch post class. Color me amused and red.  I get really red and sweaty in spin class.

Then I took a Pilates class this week and the instructor was adorable!  First, I was surprised to find a man teaching Pilates (yes, I know that is a sexist statement) and then I was delighted at his adorableness.  So I'll be taking that class again.

I mean he was so adorable and when class was over he said "Hey girl, thanks for coming to class to day!"

JUST LIKE HE'S RYAN GOSLING.

All By Myself...

Are you a social worker outer?  Or a solo sweater?

I'm a little bit of both.

I love taking a yoga or ab class with my ladies (Holly, Leah, Sarah, Cheena and Kathleen FTW!)

But, I hate running with another person.    It's too much pressure.

I'm a slow, plodding runner.  I like to sing along to my running playlist and when that song from "Center Stage" comes on I do jazz hands while circling the track.

If someone was running with me they'd probably think I was having a seizure or running while drunk.  For the record, I never run drunk.  Vodka makes me dance.

Plus, I feel self conscious about the parts of me that jiggle and my slow place when I run with someone that is  A) taller and B) faster than me.

You'd think that'd be motivating for me, but it's really not.  It makes me shut down and get lots of 'leg cramps' and skip my runs.

I'm an ashamed runner.  When I'm running by myself I can pretend like I'm a gazelle running through east Tulsa.  Doing jazz hands to Jamiroquai.

Yoga on the cheap

So.  I'm broke all the time now.

My money is now tied up with bills, bills, bills, and more bills.  Vet, car, normal bills.

Blerg.

So I've had to cut back on my spending, to basically nonexistent.  I go out to eat once a pay period.  My credit cards are safely hidden away.  And I had to stop paying for drop in yoga classes.

So I got thrifty to get my yogi on.  I did a DVR search and found "Power Yoga with Adrienne Reed" on my cable it's on channel 110 several times a day (the same episode repeats) and I DVR the 7pm episode every day.

Each episode focuses on hips, legs, core/abs, flow, twists, etc. and Reed will tell you at the beginning of the workout.  I usually have several on my DVR because I do yoga every other day, so I can pick which emphasis I need that week.

It's a 30 minute workout that begins with Sun Salutations to warm up, then the focused exercises.  Reed is easy to understand and the class has people of different levels of experience to show the varied poses and modifications that can be made.

Each class ends with the corpse pose to relax and decompress your body from the workout.

I really like the classes. Doing them on my own schedule helps me immensely, but I am glad I have experience in actual yoga classes because that makes me more familiar with the poses, which helps a lot.

I even rearranged my room and took a nightstand out to the barn to make room for my yoga mat.

Bella really likes our yoga space.

I also added some YouTube workouts to my playlist.

I have a Roku box so I can watch YouTube on my TV. I haven't tried it yet but I have some Blogilates queued up to try soon.

How do you workout on a budget?

Barre for my Booty

It's no secret that I'm a failed ballerina.

By failed I mean I took five years of dance, including breaking my nose in ballet class doing the hokey pokey, and then quit when I got self conscious about wearing the leotard.

Instead I live vicariously through dance movies, like the epic Center Stage, and various documentaries about real ballerinas.

That being said I immediately bought the Groupon that came up for 10 barre classes for $49 bucks at Sculpt Tulsa .

The class description calls it a combo of pilates and ballet:

Sculpt barre classes are a blend of pilates and ballet barre work, yet so much more...
A head to toe workout that sculpts a long, strong, lean physique.
Using small sometimes barely perceptible movements we achieve very perceptible results.
Sculpt barre classes target and activate muscle fibers that have been minimally called upon even with other vigorous workouts. We recruit them with small purposeful movements and in an amazingly short amount of time what has been soft and drifting south is standing firmly at attention.
Using isometrics, high repetition, and working to muscle failure exercises are sequenced throughout the body, with special attention paid to legs and seats. Each quaking set is followed with a deep lengthening stretch.
Your distractions will dissipate in this focused, deep working class and your body will thank you.

I was really worried about the 'muscle failure' part of that class description, so I waited until my legs weren't sore from running to go, which was incredibly wise.  I wanted to cut my legs off during parts of that class.

The classes are in a dance studio with the barre in the middle and about 10 of us lined up, barefoot in a our gear.  It was a row of apparent real ballerinas and me and one other lady there for the first time.

It started simply enough, some Pilates moves to loosen up and work your core, then we stood and started the barre work.  I vaguely remember the ballet movies from my childhood, but it was really easy to get back into it.  My legs got a full workout, quads, thighs, calves and glutes all definitely reached the point of muscle failure and I loved it.

We ended the class with some good stretching to keep the muscles from getting too sore and I took my sweaty self back to work with wobbly legs. I'll definitely be back, not just because I have 9 more Groupon classes.

I felt longer and leaner and my posture was much better from working on my frame at the barre.  Definite win class!

Getting Bendy With It

I think you've all figured out that I'm willing to try pretty much anything at least once. 

I've gone trapezing... taken dance classes... pilates... swimming... eaten shark, alligator, lamb, brussel sprouts... mixed prints, worn white after labor day.

Now, in my quest to be the fitted Kate I can be... I'm trying yoga.

Luckily my pal Tasha had an in for me at  Inner Peace Yoga Tulsa and I took the "Yoga for Athletes" class.

I've never done yoga, I have this brain that never stops, while I'm running I'm making to-do lists, at Body Pump I'm thinking about e-mails I need to send.  When I try to sleep I lay in bed and think of 7million things I need to do the next day.

Yoga forces you to stop the madness and relax and stretch and work your body.   It was exactly what I needed.

My first body pump class in 2 weeks was a tough one and I could barely walk from sore quads.  

So, I got to the class and filled out the forms, talked to the instructor and got situated for class. 

There were just a few of us, and we all stretched out waiting for the class to begin. 

Then Kris came in and started the peaceful music and started telling us how to relax our minds.... move our bodies... and calm our breathing.  5 minutes in I was hooked.

I stretched my legs up over my head, moved my knee into my rib cage, stretched my heels up to the ceiling... felt my abs pressed into my spine... stretched my lower back till it stopped hurting.  Every sore spot on my body was stretched and pulled and prodded into a looser position.

70 minutes later I was relaxed, had no back pain and could move my legs without muscle twitches.  My brain was rested.  I felt like a different person.  I can't wait to try a different class.

A more relaxed sarcastic yogi..

Crunchy Core

So I have horrible abs.  I've blogged about their suckage before.

Now that I'm running more and losing some weight on Weight Watchers I decided to try to work on firming up that gelatinous mass again.

So I'm doing the 200 Sit Up Challenge

I'm actually getting ready to sit down in the floor and see how many sit ups I can do to get started on Week 1.  Then Monday I'll begin my quest.

Soon, I could go from looking like fat Janet Jackson to thin Janet Jackson abs.

We'll see how the six weeks go.

Back to Body Pump...

Between the holidays and some projects at work it's been hard for me to fit in my Saturday Body Pump class every week.  I went about 3 weeks without going to one..  I'm still running at home... but it's just not the same.  So when I was working a swing shift I decided to get up and go to a 9am class on a random Thursday.

Holy Hell.  That hurt.  My friend Allison taught it.. so you know it was tough but fun.  I went right back to the weight classes I was using the last time I did a class... and consequently my legs are still sore.  But it wasn't nearly as hard to get right back into the swing of things as I thought it would be.

It's crazy how your body remembers what you're capable of, even if your brain doubts it.  I've heard people talk about muscle memory before but never really paid much attention to it till now.

I made it through the class, listening to Allison talk about sweating too much, farting too much and how Jason sweats on the headset before her... and had a great time.  I'm still skipping shoulders because I finally have my neck so it doesn't hurt every morning and I'm afraid to mess it up inadvertantly.

And I was back in a Body Pump class the next time I had a free spot on my schedule.

Bootcamp for Bitches

I love to save money and I love to work up a sweat, so when Groupon offered a special deal on Bootcamp unlimited month for $35 I had to sign up.

So comes this spring I'll be sweating my ass off at the crack of dawn at LaFortune park. 

I'm not going to lie I'm pretty nervous.  I need someone to work me out, but I don't want to embarass myself.

I'm holding out hope.  My first and most beloved trainer was a former Marine and he got me in the best shape of my life.  Montez made me superhot before the gym he worked at closed under mysterious circumstances and I lost track of him.

So hopefully this bootcamp has a similar impact on my fat ass.

Let's Talk About Calves

I love boots.  I recently tested myself and wore a different pair of boots every work day for 3 weeks.  Yes, I had enough boots to do it.  So, I love boots.

But I have a problem.  You see, I have big calves.  Seriously, my calves keep me from buying 2/3rds of the cute boots I try on.  Over the knee boots?  Adorable, but they won't go past my calves. Cute suede black knee highs?  Won't zip past the calves.  While my wallet is okay with this, my fashion soul cries.

So how do I get my calves to shrink down?  I turned to google.

Three different sites recommended walking instead of running and stretches like Pilates and Yoga.  Both can lengthen the muscles while still toning them.  One article actually suggested not wearing heels, which is ridiculous.  What's the point of having calf muscles at all if not to wear heels?

So instead I'm going to keep up my running, but start adding pilates leg work in after, to lengthen my bulky legs.  All in hopes of buying more boots.

What are your trouble areas you want to perfect?

Pump Up The Jam

So if you follow me on Twitter and have read the blog in the past you know I'm a little obsessed with Body Pump.  It's the one thing I keep written on my calendar no matter what.  I've missed shopping trips and scheduled hair appointments around my weekly class.. but is it doing any good?

The short answer is yes. 

The long answer is hell yes, I can see it in a million little ways.

Aestheically my legs are slimmer, I have biceps and triceps forming and my back is tighter.  But  I'm also stronger.

I have more stamina when I'm running, I can lift heavier boxes and could probably kick a variety of people's asses.  Watch out asshats.

Last week I upped my weight, doing 20lbs for squats, and 15 for back... 10 for arms and my bum knee means no weight for lunges.  Holy hell did it hurt. 

Halfway through the squat track my legs were shaking, the bottom half reps were making me want to scream and there was sweat dripping down my nose... but I kept going. 

When I started these classes I'd be the first one to stop when it hurt or strained to hard.  Screw that burn, I'd be satisified with just doing enough to break a sweat... but now I want to see more results.

Week after week, either alone or with my corner of peeps (Hey Wes, Jason and Ann!) I'm looking for the burn... for the pain that tells me I'm pushing my muscles, then I'm satisfied.  I want to leave class sweaty and drained. 

It helps me feel less guilty about my addiction to fried pickles.

Noted While Stripping

 I didn't run this week.  There will be a lovely blog about my Route 66 Marathon Failure.  But today we're all about stripping.  Here's some observations.

Firstly, I'm still working on Routine 1 from Carmen Electra's Strippercize.  I'll do Routine 2 next week.

-The secret to being sexy is you.  So Carmen wants me to add my personality to the stripping.  I don't know how sarcasm will help me get tips.  Or trips to the Champagne Room.

-The irony that I'm doing fake stripping in hot pink running pants and an old ORU shirt is not lost on me.

-When I'm bent over in the mid crawl Bella will run up and give me a kiss and then run away.  Mems says if I do that on a bar men will do the same thing.  But they'll just lick my face.

-Stripping is hard.  My abs hurt from the constant sucking in my gut and my hips popped like 4 times in various moves.

-I took a break to watch Jennifer "Baby" Grey dance on DWTS with Mems.   She asked what I was doing and I told her I was an excellent stripper. 

-Her response: "I'm glad you're finally good at something."

-I thought there'd be more boob shimmying.

-If I wanted to I think I'm 30 pounds away from real stripperdom.  Tulsa strip bars aren't picky.
-Stripping really does work everthing.  My the body roll made my abs burn... the dips boost your butt.  Everything but my arms.  I may need to learn to work a pole to work my arms.  (That's what she said.)

-Mems said she and my mom will come support me.  But they're not putting money in G-strings.  Well, at least not mine.

-I have no rhythm.

Burlesque... if Stripping isn't for you.

I knew I was trying a work out trend-

Going Spinning...

Another first for me this week... taking the advice of my pal Allison and took her spin class at the Gold's Gym in Broken Arrow.

Now, I've never done spin.  I have a bike I ride periodically but nothing hardcore cause I have a bum knee, so I was a little apprehensive about how my knee could handle the class.

I got there and Allison helped me set up the bike to fit and we talked about just listening to my knee when it came to the incline and the sitting vs. standing while riding... then it was time for class to start.

BTW Allison taught the class in a sparkly pink tutu.  She's so one of my fave people.

I got a little daunted when she explained the different songs and how we were going to race, do intervals and climb a mountain.  All dedicated to getting our heart rate to 90% maxed to really burn.  Oh holy hell did we do that.

The class started with us sitting and pedalling till we found our base push then we'd up the resistance and stand to pedal as fast as we could for different intervals.  Now I can tell you that my knee could not handle standing up.  I tried and if my knee could have talked it would have said "Fuck no!"

So I did the class sitting, still upping the resistance as much as I could till I'd feel the pressure in my knee.  I could feel the burn for the entire 45 minutes and the sweat was dripping off of me while we went through the class.

And the entire time I was pushing through to that max heart rate, sweat pouring quads and glutes on fire I never felt like I could do it.  I just kept thinking of getting rid of the toxins (read vodka) I'd had over the weekend and tightening my legs for future mini-dress wearing.

Of course by the end of class I was focused on something else... namely my booty and va-jay-jay.  For serious there was an insane amount of pain from that seat.  Most of that is because I was on the seat for the entire class instead of standing and sitting... but holy hell I wanted to scream. 

Next time (and yes, there will be a next time) I'm taking my padded seat from my regular bike... I need to protect the baby maker.

Working Out for Good

So peeps I've decided to put some of my working out to good use... and I'm doing the AIDS walk on October 2nd.

In honesty I do it every year, it's a great way to meet people, raise money for a good cause and get a little cardio in... so I think you should do it too.

Either go to my donation page: http://www.firstgiving.com/caitlinhuggins

and make a small donation to support my walk, or join in and start raising your own money.

Or find a walk or run coming up for a cause you feel strongly about and get off your butt and do some good while shrinking your fat ass.

Unexpected Exercise

One thing I found while on my weeklong staycation is that you can get a work out in pretty anytime.

Like last week when I was showing a new bestie around Tulsa, first we walked around Philbrook an hour or so, then parked and walked around downtown (above and below ground) for another hour or so.

At the end of the day without hitting the gym I got a great workout and made a new friend.

So I challenge you my dear friends to do this... next time you have free time park and walk and explore a new area of your city, show a new person around, anything.

One thing I want to do this week is try the routes in this article:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=459&articleid=20100902_459_WK21_CUTLIN190335&archive=yes

It looks like a fun way to start running outside more and see some of my favorite parts of Tulsa differently. BTW if you haven't noticed I kind of love Tulsa.

So pick one of those routes, find a spot you want to know more about and get moving and work out while you learn about your down.

Zumba, Zumba, Zumba

In my quest to get in shape and lose weight I've been trying different classes at my gym... today it was Zumba.

If you remember from my blog about Body Combat... I'm not super coordinated and have little to no rhthym. Elaine Benes dances better than I do. So of course a dancing workout would be perfect for me.

I enlisted my fellow gym rat and Body Pump enthusiast Ann and we tried our best.

The class started with a fast song and we all just mimicked the teacher... there isn't a lot of actual instruction in the class. Lots of watching and repeating... all set to movement.

The moves were a mix of difficult and simple... with footwork combos that I often got lost on, but never fell down... that was my greatest fear. At one point Ann and I were in the middle of the same routine... and spinning in opposite directions.

The idea behind zumba is to work your muscle groups with dance moves... like pelvic circles/thrusts for your abs... boobie shimmies for your back... and lots of hip action.

So... I ended up having to hold my jiggliest bits and shimmy and shake to keep up with the moves... to prevent myself from blacking my eye with my tit. That would not be a fun story to tell. "How'd you get that black eye? I was dancing and my boob whacked me."

We hoofed it through a couple of songs and looked up to realize we'd only been in class for about 15 minutes... and I knew I was in for it.

Basically you never stop moving for the class, it goes from song to song and you just follow along in different dancing genres... from salsa, to african, to hip hop. I got to suck in so many different genres it was highly productive.

But I really felt the workout, my legs were wobbly, I sucked my abs in tight the whole hour and sweated like a whore in church. So I'd say it was a good workout.

Mems suggested if I take the class enough I'll develop some rhthym. I just laughed.

All About Abs

I love alliteration. But I hate Abs. Specifically I hate my abs... well my lack of them.

A few years ago when I started doing pilates I remember my shaky planks and positions. So I kept at it and developed a good core... by no means a six pack but the muscles were strong and protected my back.

So now that I'm trying to get back in shape again, I'm focusing on Abs more. Especially lately... I'm super sick of my gut. The Body Pump classes I'm doing a couple times a week have some ab work, but not a ton... so I do some extra stuff on my own.

Here are the exercises that make my abs sore... and stronger the next day.

The Plank: traditionally you balance your body flat like a plank on your arms and elbows and hold it. It's painful... my arms start to shake, my abs get wobbly feeling... but hold on and you'll work a series of muscles all over. Once your abs are stronger you can add movement to the plank to work more. I'm still sticking to the standard plank.

Double Leg Stretch: This is a pilates move. Lay on your back with a neutral spine, lift legs up at a 90 degree angle and lift your arms straight above your head. Curl up lifiting shoulders and hips off the floor. Then straighten out stretching your legs and arms... never letting your shoulders or legs touch the floor. Here's a step by step guide: http://pilates.about.com/od/pilatesmat/tp/DblLegStretch.htm
This is hard core pilates, but it does wonders for lower abs, which is really hard for me to tone.

Two of my fave ab exercises require a yoga ball. I have one I got for like 10 bucks on sale at Target and most gyms have them for you to use.

Ball Crunches: lay on the ball with it postition so the base of your shoulder blades are on top, and your shoulders and head roll back over the ball. With your feet on the floor about hip width apart lift your upper body up in a sitting position... then roll back so your body is curved around the ball. Using the ball like this gives you full range of motion in the crunch and will work your abs more effectively.

Lower Abs: this time you need to get on top of your ball. put the ball at your waist and roll forward on it until you're in a push up position with the ball under your shin. Then using your lower abs and legs roll the ball forward until your legs are bent and the ball is under your hips. This works your upper abs to keep yourself balanced and your lower abs as you roll the ball.

I just started trying to do different variations of these workouts once or twice a week... I can already feel my abs getting stronger. now I just need to lose the fat covering them up.

It's all about shape...

Huffing and puffing my way through Body Pump this week the instructor kept talking about "re-shaping your legs" as we all struggled through the lunges.

I remember thinking the first week I started the class and hearing the phrase and laughing. Yes, doing squats and lunges will change my short and stubby legs into long, lean limbs. Ha!

So, now that it's been a while since I started doing the classes at least once a week, sometimes more when I drag my ass out of bed early, I looked at my legs. To see if there were long, tan stems where my pasty legs used to be.

Not surprisingly the answer is no.

But... my legs are thinner and more toned. Specifically my thighs. I know! Thighs are evil and I didn't think they'd ever get smaller, but squats and lunges have tightened mine up, not quite mini skirt ready, but a hell of a lot better than they used to be.

And my arms still jiggle... but it's much less like I could take flight with the sagginess. So... that's a big win for Body Pump.

Imagine what I'd look like if I did it more religiously.