Instead of...Burpees

Marisa has the distinction of being the first person to wish me happy new year with a text that arrived three minutes after midnight. It was kind of reassuring (as it was on Christmas) because even though I had eaten sweet potato pie and my aunt's extra squishy macaroni and cheese, I knew that regularly scheduled programming would resume. What better way to get back on track than swinging with Marisa?

On New Year's Day, I rolled out of bed and took my first yoga class; it was a great way to begin 2013 even if Gloria had us do tons of twists. Twists, she said, are cleansing. I don't know what you all did last night...or if you're praying for forgiveness right now...Haha, I hadn't done anything; my New Year's Eve swim left me satisfied but spent. Plus, I wanted to make sure that I could be present on my mat at 9. Thrilling life I lead, I know...

While in a forward fold, Gloria encouraged us to hang and surrender. She later told us that yoga is a way to ground yourself and that grounding brings clarity. I couldn't agree more. I feel fortified after practicing yoga plus there's something refreshing about surrendering.

Later in the day, I thought about going to the YMCA's open house but really didn't feel like venturing out in the cold so I took a page out of Dietgirl's book and dusted off DVDs. At first, I was going to do cardio kickboxing then nixed that. Next, I thought about Supreme 90 Day's tabata inferno and finally settled on cardio challenge from that set. I looked at Supreme 90 Day a long time ago and got stalled out on ultimate ball. Wish that I hadn't gotten distracted by attempts to balance on a stability ball because I really enjoyed cardio challenge.

Loved the 30 seconds of work and 30 seconds of rest. The plank rotations, burpees and mountain climbers all felt doable because of the time frame.

I also like the stretching portion which has some of the same moves that we do in yoga: runner's lunge, pigeon and child's pose.

I jotted down the stretching sequence because my right hip has been talking to me lately. When I told Patti about needing to stretch, she responded back with:

Stretching, isn't that part of yoga?  You should be all stretched out and a couple of inches taller.

But what I haven't been doing all the time is stretching immediately after exercise.

Regarding Marisa's class, I questioned my sanity and wondered, while on the floor instead of doing burpees, why I even pay for kettlebell instruction. Rounds of squat presses with double kettlebells, burpees, jumping jacks and push-ups left me totally weepy. I had such can-do energy after the cardio challenge. Not sure where it went...