These weekly roundup posts are quickly becoming my favorite to write, although I’m having a hard narrowing down the things I want to share. So bear with me as I experiment with length and style, I know they can be a little long but I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy writing them. Okay – now on to a few highlights from this week!
Bootcamp + Brunch at Glen’s Garden Market
This past weekend I attended a fun bootcamp and brunch hosted by Balance Gym and Glen’s Garden Market, which happens to be one of my favorite go-to foodie places here DC. The event was a fundraiser for the local chapter of Steve’s Club, a nation-wide organization that aims to provide after school crossfit classes for at-risk youth. Scrumptious locally-sourced food, a sweaty bootcamp, all for a good cause? Not sure I can think of a better combo.
The Balance instructors did a really fantastic job keeping the bootcamp accessible to everyone who attended, and split us up into two groups to make sure we all got individualized attention. We started off with a warm up and quickly moved into some of my favorite love-to-hate exercises: partner resistance sprints, broad jumps, lateral paces, and weighted lunges. I say love to hate because they are powerhouse moves that do the trick, but there’s no shortcut around them. They take everything you’ve got. Great for getting the best bang for your buck in a short bootcamp, also great for tuckering you out in a hurry.
After an hour of making us work for our brunch, we were awarded two wooden tokens to take into the market and collect our prize: an iced cold, frothy beer (or iced coffee, in my case) and a plate of delicious brunch fixins’. The brunch included an egg and cheese soufflé, roasted potatoes, and a kale side salad. Easily worth every broad jump and resistance sprint!
Summertime Swim Workouts Are Back
It’s officially summertime and DC public pools are open for business. Cue the celebration!I grew up as a competitive swimmer and for many years never thought I’d be interested in doing laps for personal fitness, but I’ve grown to love the methodical, no-impact workout more and more each year. DC is blessed with a number of relatively well-kept public pools that are perfect for swim workouts. I typically go to the olympic distance Hains Point pool or the Francis Pool in Dupont, which is where I had my inaugural swim this past weekend. I went at around 2 p.m. and didn’t have to share a lane. Don’t think I’ll have that luxury all the time, but it was lovely!
Trader Joes Gets In On The Green Juice Trend
This one is too good not to share, so I had to include it in my roundup this week. I discovered that Trader Joes is now selling cold-pressed juices for (are you sitting down?) $5. I’m pretty sure the last green juice I purchased was smaller and double the price. The two flavors I saw at my local TJs were this green one with kale, spinach, ginger, lemon, and other good-for-you ingredients and a red juice that contained beets and other veggies. Both included celery, which I think ruins everything. But if you’re looking for a less expensive juice option and don’t mind celery flavor, here’s a fresh new idea!
Taking the Kayla Itsines Workout Challenge
If you read a lot of fitness blogs, you may have seen the name Kayla Itsines floating around recently. She’s the Australian personal trainer behind a popular new 12-week workout program that primarily focuses on high intensity circuit training. It’s not a new concept by any means, but the sheer number of impressive-looking before + after photos on her site are enough to make me at least want to try it and see for myself just exactly how this thing works. I purchased P90X and the TRX for the same reason – intriguing, but I wanted to make my own opinion.
Now, a few disclaimers. First of all, I am always enormously skeptical of commercial workout programs that promise amazing results. I am also highly skeptical of before + after photos, because I know how deceptive they can be. Second of all, I cringe that the program is packaged in a book called the “Bikini Body Guide.” I’m not at all a fan of fitness marketing that focuses on vanity. I don’t need a bikini body, I’m looking for solutions to get healthy, strong, and confident. How about the “Healthy, Strong, Lean, and Confident Body”? Can I get a training manual like that? And finally, you should know that I received a copy of the program for free.
I’m intrigued enough by her approach and her throng of enthusiastic followers to commit a few weeks to following the program with a critical eye and seeing how my body responds. Fellow DC blogger Chelsea is also checking it out, and you can read about her experience here. I may post updates on the blog now and again, and if you’re more interested I am happy to give additional details. I’ve done two workouts already (one at home and one where I schlepped weights to a local park – see above) and can honestly say they completely and utterly schooled me, which I was not expecting. So I’m cautiously optimistic. Have you tried her program? Leave a comment and let’s connect!