Getting Back to Fitness – Seaport Sweat Boot Camp

The Seaport area of Boston has gotten into the free fitness game, starting last night.

You may have noticed that there hasn’t been much writing about workouts on this blog lately.

With health issues and searching for a job after a January lay off, I haven’t made the time for fitness that I should have. And then, it never gets easier to start again when you feel like you’re back to square one fitness level wise.

That changed for me last night when I attended a boot camp workout lead by Athena.

It was as I feared, my stamina for working out is practically non-existent.

My work out tops are too small for me due to weight gain, and I should probably buy new ones, but I was done using that as my excuse.

But, I showed up, did what I could, and got a great workout in – that my legs are still sore from today. I feel accomplished.

I’ll work up to taking back to back classes with Athena’s boot camp and Monique’s Kickboxing.

Athena’s in the middle with her back to the camera, demoing burpees

I am on the right side, in the pink, looking exhausted.

Want to get in on the free fitness fun?

Check out the full list of free Seaport Sweat Fitness classes

Seaport Sweat runs until October 31.

Boston Public Health – Free Summer Fitness Series

You know I love free fitness and try to make this blog a source of info for you on free fitness opportunities whenever I find them.

The full listing of classes can be found at the Boston Parks Summer Fitness Series

I haven’t decided yet which of these classes will be added to my schedule.

Summer in MA has an abundance of free fitness, in addition to year round November Project, so that’s triggered 2 posts in a row for me about free fitness classes.

Bootcamp with Athena

On Thursday, I attended a bootcamp lead by Athena and hosted through MoveWith.

It was a great workout! Athena is a super motivating instructor.

During the class, I was feeling mad at myself for taking so long of a break from workouts. Yes, my reason was health related, but I’ve lost any endurance I’d built up. I felt very out of shape. (In fact, my legs were sore for 3 days after the class.)

But, I’m still proud of myself for showing up at the class, getting in the workout, and doing something to get back on the right track workout wise.

I figure, I can’t change the past – just how I react to it.

Thank you to Athena and MoveWith for hosting this workout!

Social Boston Sports – New Year New You Bootcamp

I’ve signed up for a Social Boston Sports bootcamp in Jan & Feb.

I’m on a team with my former Fit League teammate (in 2012) Desirée, called “On Wednesday’s We Do Burpees”. Side note – how is that 4 years ago?!

The classes are Yoga on Mondays and Boot Camp on Wednesdays – both at 7 PM.

The 1st class was last night, but I was feeling under the weather so I just showed up to check in & pick up my shirt…only to find out they didn’t make shirts for this league. I grumpily headed home.

Hopefully I’ll feel better on Wednesday night & will be able to attend the 1st boot camp session – and meet my teammates.

Edit 1/7:

Due to a scheduling mix up with the gym the SBS league is hosted at, classes were pushed back an hour to 8 PM. Sadly, that hour was too much of a difference for me, so I dropped the league.

I’ve been suffering from insomnia lately, and I don’t think exercising so close to bedtime would to help with my sleep. (I wouldn’t get home till 9:30 PM & I usually go to bed at 10 PM.)

Essentia & Awake Boston Fitness Event

I had a wonderful workout on Saturday morning at Brooklyn Boulders thanks to Essentia Water & Awake Boston!

I arrived bright & early (7:30 AM) at Brooklyn Boulders in Somerville. I was looking to a fun day & different workouts.

As soon as I arrived, I saw my friend Erica, blogger of Boston Rookie, which was a very nice surprise.

Here’s a picture of the 2 of us from the day:

The workout was structured to begin with a bootcamp high intensity style workout lead by Sarah Fit. Sarah recognized me from taking her High Intensity Workout class in January at Urban Outfitters. That made me smile. (I’m an avid reader of her blog too.) Her workout was intense but over within 30 minutes.

Painted on the wall of Brooklyn Boulders

I love that Brooklyn Boulders was the space chosen to host this event. (It’s a rock climbing gym in Somerville.) I’ve been to Brooklyn Boulders before as part of a Social Boston Sports Fit League, Yelp Boston learn to climb event, and even a party with Yelp Boston. As you can see from the mural above, it’s a very fun & motivating space.

Next, we were asked to flip our mats around & the front of the room became the back of the room. I was a bit disappointed with this change because it swapped me to the back of the workout room & I had difficulty hearing the last 2 instructors.

My new view – during the nutrition talk

We heard nutritionist, Lauren Mayer, speak about nutrition & hydration. (We were all set with the 2nd thanks to Essentia!)

Then, Jennifer Phelan lead a pilates class. I’ve never taken a class lead by Jennifer before but she’s well known in the fitness community & I’d heard great things! Other than a mic problem making hard for me to hear her instruction, I enjoyed the class.

Finally, we had a yoga session lead by Cara Gilman. Again, the mic was tough to hear, but I decided to just go with the spirit of yoga and relax.

I thought about how lucky I am to live in a state with such an active fitness community. Across the room that morning you could see people working out in November Project shirts. Awake Boston hosts a morning fitness rave with yoga & dancing every few months! We have an extremely active running community – with many training for the Boston Marathon. Then there’s Sweetgreen’s Passport program bringing free fitness classes every month! And finally the blogger community hosting fitness based meet ups! I think that environment of love for being healthy & fit is vital to being able to write this blog. Thank you MA for welcoming me into your amazing fitness community!

Thank you Essentia Water, Awake Boston, Brooklyn Boulders, and all the instructors for a wonderful morning!

Ultimate Bootcamp – Diva Dash

On Thursday night, Ultimate Bootcamp hosted a free workout in Cleveland Circle – with SHAPE magazine & Saucony sneakers sponsoring as well.

As I expected, it was a tough but fun work out. My allergies were acting up pretty fierce – so I had trouble catching my breath during running, but I stuck with it.

My arms are still sore today from all of the push ups – but I’m glad I worked out.

Kim is a great trainer!

When we returned from the workout, Saucony held 2 raffles – for free registration in the Diva Dash or free sneakers.

Guess what?! I won free sneakers & I love my new saucony running shoes! I’ll be breaking them in at November Project on Wednesday.

Orange Theory

On Sunday, I had my first class at Orange Theory – a new fitness studio that just opened in Brighton.

Orange Theory describes their work out as “60-minute workout sessions split into intervals of cardiovascular and strength training with heart rate monitors to track intensity and maximize metabolic burn.“

What makes them different from other workouts of this style is they give you a heart rate monitor to wear so you can see your personal stats during the work out and know if your heart rate is in the desired “orange zone” of moderate intensity.

I was told to show up 20 minutes early for my 1st class to have the heart rate monitor set up for me. I was surprised and annoyed when I showed up and found out that the showing up early was so sales staff could try to sell me my own personal heart monitor strap for $20. (No thank you!) Instead, I opted to rent a monitor for the class for free.

Now, my heart rate monitor was glitching the whole class so it only sporadically showed my stats on the TV screens in the workout space. (The cynic in me wondered if this was designed to make me want to spend the $20 on my own personal monitor, but it just made me think there’s no way I’m buying my own if the rental doesn’t work!)

I began the class on the treadmill and appreciated that they had work outs designed for 3 levels – power walker, jogger, and runner. Since I’m still walk/running my 5Ks I opted for the power walker level. The way the workout was scheduled it did make me push myself more than if I ran on the treadmill in a gym on my own.

Then I moved to the rowing machine and strength training. Since it was my 1st class, I didn’t know how to adjust the rowing machine, so I have no idea if I was doing that at the level of intensity I should have been. I also had a hard time getting my feet out of the rowing machine when we moved on to body weight strength training, so I missed instruction on how the moves were supposed to go.

I felt confused and embarrassed.

I’m going to give Orange Theory two more chances next week, but right now I’m a little concerned that it isn’t right for me.

The first class is free & I also have a voucher for a free week of classes from the Runners World Heartbreak Hill Expo that I’m using next week.

My next class will be on Friday, then again on Sunday.

New Balance Girls Night Out Boston

I loved the “Girls Run This Town” on the back of the trainers shirts!

I’m in this photo – gray shirt on the right.

I had a wonderful time at the New Balance Girls Night Out on 6/26!

A huge thank you to New Balance & Rachel from Healthy Chicks for hosting the night out – outdoor boot camp style workout.

It was a great workout!

We were split into 3 groups and did circuits of workouts – Burpies & sprints across from the Trinity Church (make sure to look out for animal droppings); strength training inside New Balance (photo above); then running to the Commonwealth Mall to use the wall of a sculpture for stretches & squats. (On the run over I inhaled a bug. Gross.)

The theme of the night was “Excellent is Strong”.

Most of the night stuck to the theme well – but I was a little annoyed and surprised when the trainer for my group started talking about being “bathing suit ready” during squats. I’m working out to improve my fitness level & get stronger. I’m not concerned about “looking good in a bathing suit” thank you very much!

Once we returned to New Balance, there was a photo booth set up and food & drinks were waiting for us too! (I grabbed a smoothie and it was delicious.)

I checked my phone in the bag I brought to the workout – so I’m looking forward to seeing the photos from New Balance of the event.

I’m definitely signing up for the July NBGNO the second RSVPs open. You should join me for a wicked fun night out!

2 Bootcamp Saturday – #2 Barry’s Bootcamp Boston

When I heard Jessica, the blogger of Little Miss Runshine, had secured some free spots in a Barry’s Bootcamp Boston class for herself and some other bloggers, I had to grab one of the spots. I knew this would mean I’d have 2 bootcamp classes in 1 day, but I’m not one to pass on a free fitness class.

So, I headed home after my Ultimate Bootcamp workout that same morning to shower, change into new work out clothes, and grab a quick lunch, before heading to the “T” to get to the class.

Finding Barry’s Bootcamp in Boston was easy. It’s in downtown crossing, near the CVS & Macy’s.

I didn’t know what to expect at all, so I was happy that the class was inside, and there were nice locker rooms. You don’t need to bring your own lock for the lockers. They’re the kind you lock with a code you select. (Awesome for me, since the one thing I forget most when going to a fitness class is a lock.)

Our instructor for the class was Chad, and he was humorous as he told the class what to do. “This isn’t yoga class ladies. No butts in the air!” “We’ve got a sexy group in here today!”

The class is split in half – with half starting on treadmills and the other half using floor mats and weights for exercises. The attendees then switch places throughout the class, when told to.

I started out on the treadmill and was happy I got in 2 miles before the class was over. I was already spent before the class began, because of my work out class that morning, so I was not setting my treadmill to the speed and incline Chad asked us to, but I was OK with that.

I was totally lost when it came to the floor exercises. I’m not a good visual mimic anyway, but a lot of the time I couldn’t see the instructor demoing the moves before we were asked to do them, so I’d wait till the person in front of me started doing something and would try to copy her.

The room the class was held in was very hot so I was dripping with sweat and very hot by the time class was ending. At about 10 minutes before class was scheduled to end, I started feeling faint. I sat for a few minutes and then left the class to head to the locker room. I didn’t want Jessica or the other bloggers to worry about me, so I got my stuff and waited to meet them after the class.

Here’s a picture of the blogger group, and our instructor, post class:

After I got home, I went to visit my in-laws. My Mother-in-law asked me what I’d done today, and I told her I was a little tired from 2 bootcamp classes. She replied, “Now what have you learned? Perhaps you should stick to 1 bootcamp class in a day!” Got to love family. 🙂 

2 Bootcamp Saturday – #1 Ultimate Bootcamp

On Saturday at 9 AM, I was on the Boston Common ready for a great work out from Ultimate Bootcamp. This class was a fundraiser for One Fund Boston.

I’ve taken Ultimate Bootcamp classes before – outside in Copley Square in November & just recently (3/23) inside at Watertown Mall. Peter was our trainer for both those classes, and they were great!

Saturday, our trainer was Kim. She had a tough program planned, but I enjoyed it. The weather cooperated and it was 65 degrees on Boston common. I was working out, outside, in a tee shirt and capri length work out pants! What a nice change from the seemingly never ending cold weather we’ve been having this year in MA.

It felt great to do good (donation) and get an hour long work out in Sunday morning.

The common was muddy, so when I got home I was a muddy mess (from bear crawling across a field or sit ups on the mud, probably). My husband was amused and took this after photo of my arms:

So Kim was a good instructor, but I’m pretty sure she mistook me for a “girly girl” and made fun of my nails being manicured when she walked by me, saying “just got a manicure yesterday”. (Actually, I got a manicure on Monday. Miniluxe & OPI gel nail polish rock! The nail polish lasts for at least 2 weeks, and it’s extremely chip resistant.) This made me laugh, because I’ve only recently even tried to look stylish. In high school, I was the girl who looked like she just rolled out of bed, usually wearing a bandanna (with a sheet music design) on my head to hide my hair.

So, I guess all this working out has changed my shape enough that I’m mistaken for someone who’s cared about fashion all her life. I didn’t expect that change, but I’ll roll with it!