Upperbody Strength: My Circus Obession

Hola fit friends,

I think I've said it before but I am obsessed with all things Circus related. I had planned to re-enroll in circus aerials by now, however I'm waiting until April for my friend, Mary, to catch up to my level. So I'm in a little bit of circus withdrawal.  Fortunately, April is JUST around the corner and I'm gearing up to get in shape for Aerials.  Which means, that I need to stop slacking on upper body days.  Last time I talked about upper body strength, I focused primarily on biceps.  But obviously, you need more than strong arms to balance yourself on someone's forehead. You know... if you're into that sort of thing! ;)

Admittedly this is hand balancing and not aerials, but its still requires a level of strength, balance and grace that I don't have... YET!  Not to mention, I would love to one day take a photo like this.  Although, I know for a fact, that RR will not let me even attempt to balance myself on his forehead, ever.  Yes, I know this because I asked him, LOL.  Fortunately, balancing on one of his shoulders isn't currently out of the question! So in preparation, I'm working on my handstands.  A few months back RR found the picture on the left, and sent it to me as a challenge. His exact words may or may not have been betcha can't do this! After a quick test to see whether or not I could do it, I dragged RR into one of the empty rooms at the gym and made him snap the picture on the right.

I then posted this photo on my facebook page with the caption, "The Challenge and The Victory" (or something cheesy like that).  The very next day the Alvin Ailey facebook page posted the picture below, which I've decided to take as a personal challenge from Alvin Ailey to me. LOL.

I'm clearly not ready yet, but I'm working on it.  If I can do this, I can probably strike this same pose on RR's shoulder, provided he stays VERY still.  So in preparation, I'm working on my splits and flexibility, but more importantly working on my core, shoulders, lats and back muscles in addition to the standard bicep and tricep work. But first things first, I can't hold a handstand (without a wall for support) for more than 3-4 seconds.  I need more control! To help me get ready to accept my Alvin Ailey Challenge, I'm currently working on these.

Yep, I can do these! :)

 I did about 3 of these yesterday.  One to make sure I could do it without falling on my face, the one RR recorded for me (above), and then one at the end of ballet class, because my ballet, circus and boot camp buddy, Mary, simply couldn't envision my verbal explanation.  I'm rather proud of myself for being able to do 3 of them, after a full shoulder and laterals workout last night.  I think I'm going to try my hardest to do 10 of these a day.  I think it'll also help with my pull up goal. I want to be able to do 5 pull ups in a row by the end of April, I can currently do 3.5.  (feel free to hold me accountable fit friends!)

 I stumbled across this video, its occasionally a little awkward, but overall I think its got a lot of good pointers for learning how to do a handstand.




Also as a bonus, and to further emphasize my love of all things circus, here's the video I forgot to post about my flying trapeze experience!  I think this was my 1st run, I don't know if my SIL or Brother have video of my 2nd run which I think/hope was a little better. (hint, hint Ms. Jackson! You should share all of your videos and photos from this trip!)  I don't really like the way I flop around when I bring my legs back down.  Dah well. Enjoy!

Keeping life challenging,
Candydiva04

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My Crossfit Experience

The crossfit gym, or the sanctuary as they call it

Thanks to groupon, I have 10 crossfit classes at the "local" crossfit gym. I use the word local, very loosely because its about 30 min from my house, assuming there's no traffic on 95.  But I live in Delaware, so that's actually relatively close. (sigh!)  Anywho, I did my first class on Saturday morning, it was a Crossfit bootcamp they call RivFit.

My initial impression is that I love it, and will probably be sad when my 10 classes are up!!  As a gym rat, one of my weaknesses is my lack of stamina.  I do maybe 20 min of cardio every time I'm in the gym and generally take longer breaks than I need to between reps. So the cool part about Crossfit  was I got all the strength training, my workouts usually include, with a VERY healthy dose of cardio from the fact that we never stopped moving. Okay there was a 3 min break between the AMRAP's (can some crossfitter explain what that stands for, I forgot to ask).

So I got the class, (late.. shh! I got lost!) And joined the group on the green astro-turf you see in the background of the photo above.  We started off with a warm-up which consisted of a 400m run. Then some squats, burpees (the first of MANY), lunges, scorpions, and some other things I've forgotten.  We then partnered off and did a 15 min AMRAP of more burpees, and some exercises with a medicine balls. We had a 3 minute break (which I spent cursing myself for forgetting my water and stretching out my sore shoulders) before launching into a 10 min AMRAP with 25lb plates and more burpees.  At the end of this workout my shoulders and lats were BURNING!  I was positive I was going to want to cut my arms off by now, especially since I didn't have time to stretch!!  Crossfit ended at 11:15, and I was supposed to be showered, dressed and in DC for a baby shower by 1:00pm... Did I mention the Cross-fit gym is 30 min from my house? Okay, needless to say I was late, but I had a really cool gift (or so I like to think!).  I found this website earlier in the week and gifted the happy couple one of my own.

I had a busy weekend filled with lots of St. Patty's fun and foolishness courtesy of a friend's 30th birthday party. But good lord and am paying for it!!! 36 hours later and I'm still not 100%.  My quest for health and fitness means I don't drink like I used to, so my tolerance has gone WAAAAY down.... The sacrifices you make for your health, eh?  Ah well, work hard, play hard!! Right?

So, all in all, I really like crossfit, and might even join when my Groupon deal is over. I am a little sad, that I'm not sore, but that means 2 things.
1. that I'm more fit than I thought,
and
2. I have to push myself even harder this Sunday!

 So have you tried Cross-fit?  If so, how did you like it?

Signing up for more Cross-fit classes,
Candydiva04

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Motivation and a little drool

I've been backsliding again, the number on my scale keeps going up and up.  Its strictly the result of my diet, I'm in the middle of a binge and I know it.  But I'm not quitting!!!  I'm seriously considering trying to fit in 2 workouts a day so I can get more cardio in.  Who does that?!?! Thats crazy talk!!

  I recently upgraded my broken Fitbit Ultra to a Fitbit One. I have no real complaints because my new Fitbit One is doing everything I originally bought a Fitbit to do; track my activities and help keep me motivated to move more throughout the day, and a morning jog would help me do that....

Fitbit One

I must admit, I'm not much of a runner. So while I love my Fitbit, it, like most of the current devices on the market; the Fitbit products, Nike Fuel band, and the Jawbone Up, which are mostly pedometers.  So I know they won't give me an accurate picture of my calories burned and fitness level.  I could do a set of 25 squats at 160 lbs (which is not something I'm not currently capable of doing, without a GREAT spot and a lot of whining) and the Fitbit will treat it almost the same as if I'm sitting at my desk at work typing a blog post.  Despite the fact that my heart rate is up, I'm breathing hard and sweating profusely.  So I was really excited when I stumbled across this PopSugar article for the new...

UnderArmor ARMOUR39™ MODULE & CHEST STRAP

image source here

I'm stupid excited about this, according to Under Armor's website its perfect for my lifestyle!!! Its discreet, seems like it will be easy to hide in any outfit, unless of course I'm running around in a sports bra or bikini.  But since its not completely waterproof (it can't be submerged in water, so no swimming!) the odds of me wearing it with a bikini are slim to none.

But I'm in love with it sight unseen because it detects your body's biometric info and calculates data based on that instead of the number and rate of steps you're taking.  Unfortunately, it won't be out for a while, but I really want one.  I would love to slap it on and compare the data it gives me while I lift or do aerials to the data my Fitbit One records.

Sucker for new gadgets,

Candydiva04

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Alternative fitness post #3

By now, you should have guessed that I have a love for all exercises that are Circus related.  Hand balancing/Circus Acro, contortion and martial arts are high on my list of Alternative fitness activities to try, specifically hand balancing.  I've been trying to RR into it for the longest, you think as strong as he is and as into fitness as he is, it wouldn't be this much of a challenge for me, but alas he continues to resist me.  :(

If you're scratching your heads because I'm currently "speaking greek", this video should help clarify things for you, enjoy!

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