January’s Great Barre Experiment
See the dude in the red pants? Everyone else is all Swan Lake and he’s getting his ninja on. I heart him.
Pelvic thrusting is involved. And it’s every bit as awkward as it sounds. Especially when thanks to a lack of studios, the Gym Buddies and I were forced to use the railing next to the track as our ballet barre. One elderly gentleman actually grumbled “Are you serious?!” as he shuffled by. Yes, my friend, we are serious. Nothing says “serious workout” like doing “hip dancing” whilst clenching a rubber ball between your thighs, crowded around a 7-inch portable DVD plugged into the floor. Just ignore us. No really, please ignore us.
First position, hip shakes, our ankles tied together with rubber tubing – if you guessed ballet workout experiment then you win! (The prize: a 5-year-old who refuses to sleep. I ship for free.) For January the Gym Buddies and I are doing a particular kind of ballet workout called barre technique. If you are having deja vu, you’re not crazy. We did do a ballet experiment about three years ago but that was a different technique with a different perky instructor in black yoga pants and those funny socks with the dots on the bottom. It all started with a mistake. Mine, naturally.
Back in DecemberPure Barre contacted me about trying out their “16th Street” video series. The videos came with a cool little piece of equipment called a “double tube” which is like a Pilates ring crossed with a resistance band and so I said, “yes, please!” The day it arrived was right around Christmas and seeing as I do 99% of my shopping online I was getting boxes by the dozens. So when I saw it was blog stuff, I stuck it in a pile of other blog stuff to be looked at after I’d sorted out who was naughty (all of them) and who was nice (all of them – seriously how does Santa ever decide?!). The next day a book came in the package parade, also about ballet barre workout technique and so I assumed the two went together and put them all in the same box.
The holidays came and went and I read the book and watched the videos and the time had come to take this circus to the gym. Thankfully Gym Buddy Megan is a ballet dancer and Gym Buddy Daria can do the splits without even trying so I figured they had enough expertise to help me out. We did the videos, we tied ourselves up with rubber tubing, we plied holding onto chairs for balance, we did all the quad workouts in the book and the whole time we commented on how similar this program was to the one we did three years ago. After two weeks I finally realized: They’re not the same workout. AND. They’re exactly the same workout.
Pure Barre, the makers of the DVDs and the double tube, is a ballet fitness company founded by dancer Carrie Rezabek Dorr. The book, titled The Physique 57(R) Solution, is from a different ballet fitness company founded by dancers Tanya Becker and Jennifer Maanavi. The moves in each workout were so similar that I didn’t even realize they were supposed to be different until I noticed how similar they both were to the ballet program we tried out 3 years ago: The Lotte Berk Method.
Like any good thriller, this all goes back to World War II-era Germany. Lotte was a Jewish ballet dancer “at a time when ballet was considered a profession almost like prostitution” (remember this!) who fled the country with her dancer husband and daughter to England to escape the Nazis. After discovering that the English did not appreciate her singular style of ballet, she came up with a series of therapeutic exercises based on dance technique. Being possibly the most entertaining historical figure I have ever read about, she named the moves things like “the peeing dog” “the French lavatory” and, naturally, “the prostitute.” (See!)
Once you know this, suddenly all the hip gyrating and leg opening and shutting moves make a lot more sense, non? Lotte’s method was so popular that people came around the world to train with her and learn her technique. These people taught other people and each put their own little touches on it and started their own method which is where it all gets confusing and why I ended up where I did – offending old men at the gym. Oh wait. My point: Both Pure Barre and Physique 57 are derivatives of the Lotte Berk method (along with many other “barre” technique programs out there including “the Lotte Berk method” itself which was apparently copyrighted by someone other than the wildly entertaining-but-bad-at-business Lotte).
So far here are the practical things the Gym Buddies and I have learned about barre workouts:
1. Nobody has a barre. (And because of the way it’s spelled you will want to say it bARRRRRe! Don’t. Nobody likes a pretentious pirate.) Therefore, it is totally acceptable to use any stable surface. Chairs work great as do low wall walls, railings and unsuspecting Gym Buddies.
2. It burns. Do you know what a plie is? It may look all cutesy when little Clara does it in the Nutcracker but in reality it’s a squat – a deep, deep squat. And ballerinas do a lot of plies. After the first Physique 57 workout, I was toilet sore. Don’t be fooled, ballerinas are tough chicks and their legs are crazy strong.
3. Add equipment to make it a faster burn. The downside to bodyweight workouts – which is what ballet is – is that it takes a lot of reps to achieve muscle failure. So Pure Barre adds the “double tube” which you can thread over your ankles, feet, thighs or arms to increase the resistance of the moves. Physique 57 adds light hand weights and a playground ball that you mainly clench between your knees or hands. Either way, I loved adding resistance to the moves. Instead of having to do 100 plies, putting the double tube around our legs or squeezing the ball between our thighs (both?) had us burning out after 20. Excellent!
4. It gets a little porn-y. I imagine if you were doing this at home alone in your living room or at a Barre Studio with other women all doing the same thing it would seem totally normal. But doing pelvic tilts, hip shakes and “clam shells” and “lady frogs” (don’t ask) – well, let’s just say there’s no right way to aim your butt. I ended up facing towards the wall to camouflage my crotch antics but Allison was more comfortable facing away from wall (because, and I quote, “I feel like someone’s going to sneak up on me.” I’d make fun of her paranoia except that I would totally sneak up on her if my legs weren’t tied together with rubber hose.)
5. You don’t need to be a dancer, overly flexible or even very coordinated to do these workouts. These are not dance workouts. These are workouts based around dance technique. So there is no actual dancing. (Unless you count “hip dancing” which should really be called “floor humping”.) Whether you see this as a plus or a minus depends on if you secretly still want to be that ballerina princess! And hey, you can wear a tutu either way. Just saying.
Two things to consider if you are interested in trying these with us:
The Pure Barre 16th street video series comes with two videos. They are virtually identical. The music is the same. The people are the same. And, maddeningly, 90% of the moves are same. I honestly thought there had been a mix-up at the fitness factory and I’d been sent two of the same DVD until Allison pointed out that Carrie (cARRRRRie??) is wearing a different top in each one. If they come together for the same price then yay, you’ve got a backup! But if you have to pay for each one, well, I’d just buy one. Which one, you ask? Do you prefer purple or black tanks?
5. The Physique 57(R) Solution
So – have any of you ever tried a “barre” style workout? Any tips for us? Given the situation, would you rather face the wall with your butt pointing at the rest of the gym (like me) or keep your butt towards the wall but making it so you have to hip thrust at the gym (like Al)??
Happy Holidays From The Great Fitness Experiment!
I like to think we patented the “pee-pee pose”. And with 20 (!!) kids between us, it gets used A LOT.
Happy Holidays from all of us at the Great Fitness Experiment! We’ve already got some great Experiments lined up for 2012 (hint: it rhymes with “wee mighty next” 2!!). Thank you so much to all of you – this wouldn’t be nearly as awesome as it is without all of you reading, commenting, chastising, hugging and, yes, even lurking. I wish I had tutus for all of you! Dudes included!
I’m taking this week off of blogging to be with my family so I’ll see you in the new year!
In the meantime, other articles I wrote this week:
Are you falling for these 10 Food Label Lies? (Dun, dun, dun!!!)
Health Concerns? The best online support systems. (After you guys, of course!)
Kids’ bad reactions to gifts: Hilarious or Heinous? (The video is awesome!)
Top 15 “Mommy Warning” Sayings. (The comments are even better than my article!)
Latest volley in the mom-wars: Is buying food for a bake sale cheating? (Um, no. Duh.)
Krista just does this to people. It’s more than a little unnerving.
Sideways is very slimming!
Personally, I think I look better upside down. Which explains a lot, frankly.
Daria is verrry excited to go back to her cheerleading days.
I finally figured out why I have so many problems shaving my pits!!
Krista has me by the tail. It comes in handier than you’d think.
You have NO IDEA how many tries it took to get this picture.
Great Balls of Fire. Give me the ABSENTEE award!
Kittens. Hello my name is Kelly and I have been absent for a week. NAUGHTY IN AN EPIC WAY. Suffice it to say that EACH DAY OF THE PAST week I have heaved a big sigh and said, “OH Lord. I just cannot sit down and take 30 minutes to post my blog. DANG.”
We were in NYC from Thursday-Monday. I got home late Monday night. I’ve spent all day Tuesday and Wednesday on STUFF. Biznass stuff. Contracts and hoo-ha. Yum Yum. Ho Ho Ho.
Here are some highlights from NYC:
This is Miss Bonnie Foo Foo, I mean Bonnie Pfiester heading into the NYC GNC, where we stocked up on all kinds of goodness like the Street King we are digging. Um, zero calories, the energy/caffeine of one cup of coffee and every purchase feeds a child in need. Hello.
My boyfriend. Not Deepok. 
This is us gals working hard on the benefits of resvatrol by drinking wine. That’s me, Jill Hanner, Cassandra and Carla. All fabulous.
Me and Bonnie. Who has more knowledge about fitness and health in her pinky finger than I do all year in my mind. Seriously.
Alfonso, Bonnie and hubby Steve, who you have seen on my blog in the past. (Click Here.)
Incredibly talented and knowledgeable peeps that I am blessed to have in my FitFluential Family as Ambassadors.
Indeed Carla and I had a lot of Diet Coke. NOM NOM
Carla striking gold in GNC with Ostrim Jerky and Street King. Y’all, I was living on the Ostrim Turkey Jerky while on this trip. It was Carla that got me started on it, and I tell you this. It is addicting, great for travel/office and protein! HELLO!!
Also. I Love Carla. #thatisall
Here is my ramble-on-a-thon from Tuesday. Sorry. I’m behind. Clearly. But I was SO inspired by my fitness peeps and those that you see in these pictures are keeping me accountable for kicking consistent a** in my diet and workouts- STARTING NOW. I also do a demo review of the GNC Blender. You guys- kick butt blender. So awesome. Seriously. And I might add- on sale now at GNC for 1/2 off. Every office worker should have one to eat well!! Just sayin.
Don’t you want one? Seriously I was more excited about that blender than I was about the latest new episode of Fringe. Well maybe not. But close.
Now- I’m off to do my “morning” workout. And by “morning” I mean, it was supposed to be 3 hours ago but I blogged!! hahah!!
QUESTION OF THE DAY: If you work in an office do you eat out regularly or pack your lunch?
**Disclosure: GNC is a client of my company, FitFluential. We produce campaigns for them that are paid by GNC but all the opinions on this blog are expressly my own. **
How to Make Cleansing Balms: Great Winter Treat
Read full story on The Green Beauty Guide
Cleansing balms may not be as exciting as some of the high-tech cleansers that remove makeup, exfoliate, nourish, scrub, erase wrinkles and sing Christmas carols in between. Thick, rich, fragrant butters only do what they were designed to do: lift up the dirt on our skin and exfoliate it with an organic cotton muslin cloth – the perfect exfoliating tool.
Here’s what you can use in your cleansing balm:
Shea butter (organic)
Jojoba oil (organic)
Beeswax (organic)
Peach kernel oil (organic)
Calendula macerated oil (ideally, organic)
Chamomile essential oil (organic, good for so many winter skin ailments)
Can you make a cleansing balm at home? I am sure you can! I have already done it. I used 1 oz olive wax (but you can use beeswax if you are OK with bees), 1 oz coconut oil (it is hard in a jar but melts easily) and 1 oz jojoba oil as a base. Melt the wax and butters in a double boiler and then add the oils you happen to have at home.
Note: add the oils when the mixture has cooled down to at least 40 degrees Celsius (convert if necessary to F)
Here are some suggestions, essential oil-wise: Rose, petit grain, lavender, bergamot, and neroli (in a base of organic sweet almond or similar oil) make great antioxidant, antiaging and very nourishing additions.
Tea tree oil is excellent if you have dry skin and acne, and chamomile makes wonders for sensitive skin – but only if you aren’t allergic to chamomile. Otherwise, stick with calendula or skip essential oils completely.
If you don’t add any water to your cleansing balm – and I am sure you won’t, why would you? – it will have very decent shelf life, for up to three months. Just enough to get you through the winter.
The cleansing balm melts well, smells great and does the same job as Eve Lom’s petrochemical cleanser does, minus the petrochemicals – and you surely don’t need them in your organic cleansing balm.
Great Tasting Fat Burning Breakfast
A while back I wrote an article about two fat burning and fat loss diet killers that most people consume for breakfast. To make the problem worse, they usually consume these two foods together, spiking their insulin, stoping the fat burning process, and signaling the body to store fat in all the problematic storage areas. Take a look back at the article, but I’ll go into how to fix that and make your fat burning diet better with this awesome fat burning breakfast.
You’re going to need three ingredients to make this great tasting fat burning breakfast. These are foods that if used properly are known as fat burning diet helpers. A low calorie, low sugar yogurt, protein powder, blueberries (fresh or freeze dried) and walnuts.
By using walnuts and protein powder you’re going to balance out the macronutrient content in this breakfast food and thereby reducing the body fat enemy insulin spike. Walnuts will add in fat fighting and health benefiting EFA’s (Essential Fatty Acids) as well as fiber. Protein will help feed the muscle, and as you know, feeding the muscle helps burn fat. The blueberries bring in high powered anti-oxidants and other nutrients that will help your overall health. A healthy body will burn fat faster as well as help your long term fat loss goals.
Here’s the Fat X 101 Fat Burning Breakfast recipe:
1/2 Cup of plain yogurt ( low calorie, low sugar)
1/4 Walnuts
1/4 Blueberries (fresh or freeze dried)
1 scoop of protein powder (20-25 grams of protein)
Mix the protein powder in to the yogurt until smooth. Add in the walnuts and blueberries. There it is! That’s all there is to it. It only takes a few minutes to kick up your diet with a great tasting fat burning breakfast meal.
September’s Great New Rules of Lifting For Women Experiment! [Plus MMA results are in!]
mouse over reads: “I’m as surprised as you!”
Socks with sandals. Sleeping with the window open no matter the weather. If pool can be considered a “real” sport. Husbands and wives don’t always agree and this month finds me right smack dab in the middle of a doozie of a disagreement between fitness power couple Rachel Cosgrove and her husband Alwyn Cosgrove. You may remember Rachel from my most effective Great Fitness Experiment ever when the Gym Buddies and I did her program from The Female Body Breakthrough
The main principle of Rachel’s book: thanks to hormones, genetics, evolution and anatomy, women need their own exercise prescription.
The main principle of Alwyn’s book: is summed up pretty well in the subtitle “lift like a man, look like a goddess.” Catchy!
So which is it? Should women exercise like men or do we need a different regimen? And if we do lift like men, will we look like one? This question has plagued us since the moment Adam first lifted his fig leaf and said to Eve, “Did yours break?” And I’ll admit to going back and forth on this subject quite a bit.
When I first started weight lifting I bought into the “train for muscle endurance because you don’t want to get bulky” school of thought that leads women to Barbie pink dumbbells and the Tracey Anderson hall of fame. Then I discovered heavy lifting and I loved how powerful it made me feel. But it did make my quads, lats and shoulders bulkier (oh yes it did!) – true I was never as big as a man but I was bigger than I liked to be. And deep down I always thought women should get credit for dealing with hormone fluctuations on a monthly basis and the fact that we have way more estrogen than men and oh by the way estrogen is a fat-storing hormone. Fun tidbit: By the end of pregnancy your estrogen levels are 400 times what they are normally.
So any time a man would say, “It’s simple, all you have to do is eat right and exercise and that baby weight will fall right off!” I kinda wanted to punch him. And then weep. Because I get very moody at certain times of the month. The truth is that men will never experience in their lifetime the type of hormone swings that the average women does, nor do they have the loosened ligaments, widened pelvis and swing-low-sweet-chariot boobs that come with childbirth. So of course a woman’s fitness plan should accommodate these differences, right?
The problem is that we don’t really know what that accommodation should be. I can tell you that the Barbie weights aren’t it. I know a lot of women actually that have got the best results for their bodies by working out like, yes, a man.
Having read both books multiple times, I’m going to let you in on a little secret: While they both stand by their conflicting positions, they both recommend pretty much the same things. High intensity interval training. Heavy weight lifting. Not much (if any) steady-state cardio. It turns out that according to the Cosgroves, women need to take a more masculine approach to weightlifting and adapt it as needed to our girly issues.
I had fantastic results with Rachel’s program but will Alwyn’s similar-but-different-in-a-few-important-aspects plan work the same magic for me? We’ll find out!
Results from August’s Mixed Martial Arts Experiment
Bleh. There are some Experiments I just have a hard time getting into and this was one of them. I didn’t enjoy MMA as much as I’ve enjoyed other types of training. I blame the “ring girls.” As I mentioned before, MMA is one of those workouts that comes with a whole cultural experience attached. After reading the magazines, watching a few fights online and talking to some people in the scene I have to say the whole thing seems very misogonystic. While a cursory nod is sometimes given to a female MMA fighter, most of the time chicks are only around to parade in bikinis. I’m not saying that I wanted to jump in the ring – this Experiment found me saying out loud several times “If I live my whole life without ever being punched in the face, I will be happy” – but I didn’t appreciate the way the girls were reduced to fake tits and tans. But I’m not here to criticize the culture (especially since I realize that one month isn’t much time to form an opinion) - MMA certainly has a TON of fans both male and female – I’m here to talk about the workout.
If you can separate the culture from the exercise, then you will discover a seriously kick-butt workout. MMA fighters may be some of the best all-around athletes I have ever seen. Their workouts (from my limited experience) use a lot of body weight exercises, a lot of strong-man type lifting (tire flipping , sledge hammering etc.) and a crap ton of punching, kicking and other martial arts drills. It made for a varied, interesting and really really tough workout. One day had us doing punching drills while holding hammers. The next we were round-housing each other. And then we were practicing grappling. I liked almost everything about the workouts except for the split knuckles (those take forever to heal and Gym Buddy Megan’s even got infected) and the attitude.
Gym Buddy Allison however really loved this Experiment. Her favorite workout was the first one we tried that basically alternated different types of punching and kicking in 1-minute high-intensity intervals. The best part is that contrary to what we do in our TurboKick kickboxing classes, we were actually punching and kicking real things (pads and focus mitts usually, people accidentally). You pay a lot more attention to your form and your power when you’re making contact.
Conclusions
I’d do an MMA-style workout again in a heartbeat. If I never have to read another MMA publication it will be too soon.
Any of you try this Experiment with us – What did you think? What’s your philosophy about women lifting like men? And who’s in it with us (and Alwyn!) for September???
The Problem With Sitting [Plus: The Great Skirt Exchange!]
Excuse me, I’m having A Walk In The Clouds moment in the adorable skirt Katie made me. (Incidentally, that’s Gym Hubby’s favorite movie. Yes it’s a chick flick. He also loves Bed of Roses and is proud of it.)
My problem with sitting is not that it will kill you. It’s not that it will make you overweight. It’s not even that every chair in my house has play-doh, gum, silly putty or a wayward child stuck to it. No, even though all three of those things are true (thus sayeth the research – sitting a lot increases your risk of death by up to 40%) the real problem with sitting is that I never get a chance to do it. Between my multi-tasking personality and the relentless demands of my kids, I’m on my feet well past sundown. I’d make a joke here about dropping dead in the saddle except that a saddle would mean I got to sit down, even if it was on an unpredictable animal.
The solution to my posterior-parking problems? A standing desk. When I asked Gym Hubby for one for my birthday, he seemed skeptical. In all fairness I’m known for asking for all kinds of random things that I think are good ideas at the time and then end up being a pain in the butt. But I have three words for him: Big Metal Chicken. (If you have not read that link, you MUST. You will die laughing. In fact, I advise you to read it somewhere where you can do the snort-laugh without getting mocked). Anyhow, he was convinced of my sincerity when I jerry-rigged a standing desk out of an old Amazon diaper box, a rickety bookshelf and our first aid kit. Not only was the thing a serious hazard but it also didn’t go with our decor of Things That Have Been Licked.
So a couple of weeks ago, Gym Hubby took me on a romantic date to IKEA (you mock but their salmon dinner is really kind of awesome) and let me pick out the standing desk of my dreams:
Thankfully I’m as cheap a present picker-outer as I am a date. This hot little number sells for about $60. Although, weirdly, whenever I stand at my desk I always stand on one leg in this bizarre flamingo pose. I’ll switch legs every few minutes but for some reason I can’t just stand on two feet and face forward like a normal person.
Look how neat and tidy everything is! And it folds up flat (and lock with a key!!) when I’m not using it. Which would be… never. But in theory it’s pretty awesome that it’s so space-efficient, right?
That adorable little bowl on top (that I made myself with my friend Adrienne – love you girl!) keeps all of my cables, cords and spare wireless mouse safe. (You would not believe how fast wireless mice disappear in my house – I’d say they couldn’t have just sprouted legs and walked off except that thanks to my kids they pretty much do just that).
Another great reason I don’t want to sit down is that I don’t want to wrinkle the beautiful skirt that the super talented Katie made me. Katie and I are blog friends but I also had the pleasure of meeting her in real life when she came to visit Minneapolis and dropped in to do a workout with the Gym Buddies and I (seriously, anytime any of you are in the area let me know – we’d love to have you!). We totally clicked, mainly because she’s so awesome but also because of our shared love of sewing. So when I posted my Two Ways to Wear a Pillowcase skirts, I immediately thought of her. We decided to do a blogger skirt swap! I made her a red checked pillowcase skirt (go check it out on her blog!) and she made me this black and white number.
My favorite part are the two sweet little red-buttoned pockets on the front that are perfect for holding my cellphone, my chapstik or a contraband binky (they are for bedtime only, Jelly Bean!). Thank you Katie! I can’t even tell you how much I love it. I’ve worn it as much as is hygenically acceptable (how many wears are okay between washings? 100? Good.) and always get tons of compliments on it.
And hey, look what I found while I was having my impromptu photo shoot – GRAPES! On our grape arbor! When Gym Hubby planted these last year it was my turn to be skeptical (in all fairness he has a history of being an overly optimistic gardener) but I’ve been amazed at how well they’ve done with our 6-week growing season. If you look closely you’ll see bunches and bunches of teeny little green grapes! Totally made my day. It’s the little things.
Have you ever tried a standing desk? What’s your solution to the sitting problem? What’s a little thing that’s made your day lately? And seriously, will someone please tell me how long it’s okay to wear a skirt/pants between washings??
August’s Great Mixed Martial Arts Experiment!
See? Babies are already better at this than I am.
Make a dress out of a pillowcase? Cinderella’s mice ain’t got nothing on me! Entertain a room full of preschoolers for an hour with nothing but shadow puppets and the contents of my purse? Won’t like it but I can sure do it. (True story: I once had to keep my two toddlers and my newborn happy for 30 minutes during a pelvic exam. Rocked the baby in his carseat with one arm dangling over the edge, held son #2 in my other arm and chucked fruit snacks over my head to son #1 every few seconds. All while reading Green Eggs and Ham from memory.) But cage fight with the Gym Buddies, or heaven help me, some random dude at a MMA training facility? I haven’t got a clue, you guys.
There are some Experiments I do having at least a working knowledge of what’s going to happen like how my gymnastics training helped out with the Circus Experiment. But then there are Experiments where I haven’t got the faintest idea what this is all about. Sure a Mixed Martial Arts Experiment sounded awesome. In theory. But then so did watching Dance Moms and I’m already regretting that one.
When Scott Aksamit of MMA13.com contacted me a few months ago about trying out his program of workouts based around mixed martial arts principles, I think I surprised him with my enthusiastic “heck yes!” (Yes “heck” qualifies as a superlative around here.) Watching MMA matches, no one can deny it’s an amazing full-body workout and while I don’t seek out opportunities to punch people sometimes it feels good to take out some aggression on some pads.
And yet, my only experience with anything MMA being our, ahem, ill-fated jiu-jitsiu experiment which (as many of you noted in the comments) did not look legit. Long story I can’t really tell on my blog but I wish I could: It wasn’t. It was embarrassing. Bad things happened. Everything’s fine now. Moving on. The point being that until I can find a reputable expert to help teach us, it’s going to be me teaching the Gym Buddies awesome moves like “the monkey boy cross” and “inside low kick with possible sidestep.” You know, just the basics. Upshot: sometimes I get a better workout when I don’t know what I’m doing! (That’s my whole theory behind my hip hop class anyhow.)
If you want to get a taste for what MMA13′s workouts are like, check out his MMA challenge video. We’re doing this challenge in the gym tomorrow and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be brutal. I’ve done those one-minute punching intervals with Sensei Don before and they were the hardest intervals I’ve ever done, including Tabata sprints on the treadmill. So I’m totally excited! I love getting my butt kicked!
Have any of you tried MMA – any workout suggestions for me? Any of you going to try one of MMA13′s workouts with us? Have you tried anything lately that is totally out of your field of expertise?
My Embarrassing CrossFit Experiment Results! [Plus July's Great Fitness Experiment]
See? Some squats are so funny you just have to stare! I wonder if Coco has a butt wink.
Embarrassing: (Me) “Hey Al! Check out that guy in the squat rack! He totally has a butt wink too!!!” (Gym Buddy Allison) “Oh yeah, that’s a bad one! But look how deep his squat is!”
Embarrassing-er: Gym Buddy Allison and I, temporarily deafened from our TurboKick class (it’s not Turbo if the music isn’t loud enough to make your heart beat for you!) were speaking louder than we thought we were and the guy in the squat rack heard us talking about his butt.
Embarrassing-est: When he turned around to say hi, I realized that I’d been staring at his butt so much I hadn’t noticed his face – the face that belongs to my friend Amy’s husband. Oops. (In my defense Amy, I swear I was only looking at his butt wink and not his actual butt. Wow, that sounds even worse doesn’t it? Egads.)
June’s Great CrossFit Experiment (now with actual professional coaching!) went well. Since I already know what a hardcore and effective workout CrossFit is, the point was more to see how different it was doing it in a CrossFit gym as opposed to just trying to wing it at our gym. The verdict? It’s way different. And I’m torn about this.
One of the greatest draws for me for CrossFit is that it’s a) free and b)do-able on your own. You can use any old gym, your local park or even build your own CrossFit gym in your garage without too much difficulty. The downside is that you have to teach yourself the moves or throw yourself on the mercy of someone well versed in Olympic lifts introducing the potential for injury at worst and quite often bad form, as I discovered with my butt wink.
But when you go to a CrossFit-specific gym they take care of the equipment, the Workout of the Day (WOD), the music, some of the motivation, the water fountain and even your form with the in-house trainers. Of course, you have to pay for all that. And travel to another location. (“Never go to the second location ladies! They will kill you in the woods and no one will ever find your body! If you’re going to die, best do it in the parking garage where at least there are security cameras!!” Sorry, self-defense class flashback. I’m done now.)
So while I ADORED CrossFit St. Paul and our personal trainer/owner Andrea (hah – I mean she owns the gym, not us. Although she’s tough enough she could probably do that too), the latter problem was what did us in this month. The Gym Buddies and I are busy people. We have EIGHTEEN children between us (19, if you count Daria’s bun-in-the-oven squeee!) and the gym was an 80 minute drive away. We only went once. I’m sorry! I meant to go more! Heck, it was free and fun and I totally wanted to go more! But between said kid mob, the drive and my 2-week vacay to the hinterlands, it just didn’t happen.
Doing the WOD in our gym again though brought back some great memories though. We had fun remembering to hate the “small” workout and cheered each other on as we all clean-and-jerked the heaviest loads we’ve ever done and pushed each other until I had one week where I was toilet sore in my legs (so sore you have to fall the last 2 inches to the toilet because your quads give out), bra sore in my arms (so sore you can’t reach around to clasp your bra) and laughing sore in my abs (so sore that you intentionally cut off a laugh even when something’s hilarious because your abs hurt so bad that even laughing feels stabby) all at the same time! Of course we also remembered how hard this workout is on your joints as many of us re-developed pet injuries (Megan’s upper back, Allison’s lower back, Daria’s elbow, my wrist and Krista’s…mojo all went out of whack again.)
Our verdict? CrossFit is one of the most intense and effective workouts we’ve tried. And doing it in a CrossFit gym makes it even more intense and effective. There’s a reason we keep coming back to CrossFit periodically. Of course there’s also a reason why we don’t stick with it – and not just because we’re workout ADHD – it’s tough on your body to do it for long periods of time.
What’s your take – would you rather pay for a gym that will take care of the details for you so all you have to do is show up or do you prefer to do it on your own for free? Anyone try CrossFit with us this month? Anyone else say something reallllyyy loud that wasn’t meant to be heard?
PS. July’s Great Fitness Experiment is… nothing! Yeah, I just got back from vacay. Megan’s gone now. Al’s leaving in a week. Krista’s gone the last week of July. So to each her own this month! I’ll be revisiting Rachel Cosgrove as I miss having my butt (wink and all) handed to me. Tomorrow we’re trying out her Spartacus workout for Men’s Health – anyone want to try it with us? Come on, boys against girls!! Don’t worry though I’ve already got something awesome lined up for August!
June’s Great CrossFit Experiment [For real this time]
Andrea may look tiny but girl can squat all 3 of us Gym Buddies put together. Plus she’s a mom of 1-year-old twins – if that doesn’t say strong, I don’t know what does!
Butt wink. Andrea (long A) from CrossFit St. Paul hadn’t even known me for 30 minutes when she first told me I had a butt wink. The first time she said it, I was at the very bottom of a below-parallel back squat (First thing you should know about CrossFit: it is not enough to get to parallel on a squat, they are so hardcore you must go beyond parallel to make sure it counts. Second thing you should know about CrossFit: it is all about the counting.) and did a double take. “What did you just say??”
“You have a butt wink,” she repeated, totally serious. Pulling Gym Buddies Megan and Allison over, she told me to do another squat. Right at the bottom of the move she clapped her hands, “See! Right there. She tucks her pelvis under just a little bit and loses the extension in her back.”
“Oh yes! Uh huh. I see it.” Megan and Allison chimed in as they all examined my butt that apparently winks. (And I’m not alone in my winkage either!)
It’s a bad thing in practice but it is a totally awesome word and I’m working it into a sentence at least twice a day now. It was also the perfect re-introduction to the workout religion that is CrossFit.
Back in year one of the Great Fitness Experiment, the Gym Buddies and I did a CrossFit Experiment. We were total noobs to weight lifting and so everything from the theory to the moves was brand new to us. We remedied this by watching endless videos on YouTube and the CrossFit site and roping in an ex-high school track competitor to teach us the Olympic lifts. We have never worked so hard during an Experiment as we did that month (our experience is detailed in my book) and while we were crazy toilet sore for pretty much the entire 30 days that was also the first time in my life I got a pull-up.
Four and a half years of Experiments later (I know!!), it remains in my top 3 favorite workouts. I was prompted to revisit this workout because Andrea and Mike, who own CrossFit St. Paul, offered to give us free introductory lessons and full use of their CrossFit gym. We have never done CrossFit in an actual CrossFit gym – something that makes a big difference. Most importantly for us we get Andrea to teach us the proper form for all the lifts – instruction we’ve never had before and desperately need. (When I showed her my clean she smiled “um, kinda sorta!”) Unfortunately since we have 14 kids between the 4 of us, we will not be able to travel 40 minutes to use their gym daily. So we will do our workouts at the Y, the place with childcare (dear child care staff: I LOVE YOU. MORE THAN CHOCOLATE.).
Me – concentrating realllly hard on not winking my butt. And also on not laughing about my winking butt. Seriously though – is this not awesome? I look so strong! Now if only there were plates on that bar….
What is CrossFit?
If you haven’t heard of CrossFit or have heard of it and been to scared to try it, it’s a combination of Olympic weight lifting, (mens) gymnastics and short cardio bursts organized into different high intensity circuits. Workouts are generally fairly short – under a half hour – and really hardcore. There will be no chatting, giggling or cartwheeling during the workout. There may possibly be puking. That’s my definition. The official site refuses to be so clearly defined: “Our program delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive. Our specialty is not specializing. Combat, survival, many sports, and life reward this kind of fitness and, on average, punish the specialist.” From my experience, it’s pretty punishing all around.
Who Does CrossFit?
This is not typically a question you ask before starting a workout but in this case it’s important. CrossFitters are a special breed of people – super competitive, very dedicated, no-frills and unbelievably, amazingly strong and fast. When we first walked into CrossFit St Paul there was a man doing standing box jumps… onto a box taller than I am. Like it was nothing! Says the site, “CrossFit is the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide.” Be still my heart. Who wouldn’t want to train like the military special ops??
How Do You Do It?
Every day a new “workout of the day” (WOD) is put up on CrossFit.com and this is what you will be doing. They do a 3 days on, 1 day rest schedule. If you go to a CrossFit gym they will likely have their own WODs but if you are following along at home, just check the site! At first when you look at their prescribed weight loads you will wet yourself laughing – that’s ok, you can always scale them down either by just doing what you know you can handle or by using one of the many sites out there that specialize in this. If you don’t know what an exercise is, look it up in the CrossFit library.
What Do You Need?
This is generally not a workout you can do at home unless you set up a special garage or basement gym (like my friend Tyler – we will be touring his CrossFit garage later this month!) as you need a variety of equipment including a pull-up bar, set of rings, parallel bars, boxes (for box jumps), an Olympic weight bar, rack and plates, climbing rope, kettlebells, jump ropes, and weighted balls. You will also need some place you can run with varying distances marked off (a high school track is perfect). I know it sounds like a lot but CrossFit gyms are usually no-frills kind of places. What you won’t see: machines of any kind, painted walls (unless it’s chalkboard paint to write the WOD on), fancy lockers, spas, mirrors or other creature comforts. Some of this equipment can subbed out (we use a towel thrown over the chin-up bar instead of a climbing rope) so if your gym doesn’t have gymnastics rings, don’t let that stop you from trying this!
What Else Do I Need to Know?
It’s very competitive. Every workout is either “for time” or “as many reps as possible (AMRAP)” or measured by weight loads. They key word here is “measured.” Ardent CrossFitters track all their times, weight loads and reps of the benchmark workouts (known for their funny names like “Fran” and “Fight gone bad”) and they will post them to the CrossFit boards. There is even a CrossFit Games every year that is
Weight gloves are for wusses as callouses are a badge of honor. (We wear them anyhow).
Many many CrossFitters are also avid Paleo/Primal eaters. I think they work so well together because the level of dedication and willpower required is very similar.
The CrossFit FAQ page is a gold mine. Any question you could possibly have – like what a butt wink is, say – is answered there.
Be aware that because you are handling such heavy loads and performing complex movements, this workout can be injury prone. Use a spotter, go lighter if you’re unsure and make sure you have good form.
Push yourself. This is your chance to open up and really see what you can do! It’s tough – I’m not going to lie to you – but you can do anything for 30 days!
Who’s crazy enough to try this with us this month? What do you think of CrossFit? Anyone else not know what a butt wink is either??
Check out this vid for the best explanation of CrossFit ever! (Warning for language)