Boston Mania - Get your move on!

So Boston Mania was this past weekend. This is a fitness conference held by SCW fitness in several cities throughout the year (Philadelphia, Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco, Orlando, Atlanta, Boston). The conference is Friday-Sunday, with pre-conference workshops on Wednesday and Thursday (pre-con can be anything from personal training to tai chi, yoga to gliding). This was my schedule (I was volunteering for free admission):

Wednesday 5p-9p - volunteer shift, stuffing binders
Thursday 7a-1:30p - volunteer shift, stuffing binders
Thursday 6p-7p - volunteer meeting
Friday 8a-6p
9a-11a - Dynamic Sport Warm-Up for Strength and Power (bosu)
11a - turnaround
12p-1:30p - Schwinn Cycling Class Design in No Time
1:30p - turnaround
2p-3:45p - Bosu Skills and Drills
3:45p - turnaround
4p-5:30p - The Step in Between (step aerobics)
5:30p - turnaround
Saturday 6:15a-6p
6:15a - turnaround
7a-8:45a - Get to the Core with Circuit Training
8:45a - turnaround
9a-11a - Never Mind Aerobics Here's Punk Rope (jump rope)
11a - turnaround
12p-1:30p - Bosu Complete Total Bosu Sculpt
1:30p - turnaround
2p-3:45p - Sports Performance Boot Camp 2
3:45p - turnaround
4p-5:30p - Step by Numbers (step aerobics)
5:30p - turnaround
Sunday 6:15a-2p
6:15a - turnaround
7a-8:45a - Group Xtreme (boot camp)
8:45a - turnaround
9a-11a - Cardio Crazy (medicine ball, gliders, step circuit)
11a - turnaround
12p-1:30p - Peace Love and Step
1:30p - turnaround

Ok, so what's all this turnaround business, you ask? Basically, there are different workshops going on all the time. So at the same time that step class was happening, there's bosu in another room, spin in another, yoga in another, etc etc. But what's in that room one hour might be different the next. So we're the muscle that goes in and takes those benches away and puts out all the handweights or sets up the circuit. We put the chairs out for a chair-striptease class (yes, that was on the schedule), and we carry all the stability balls from one end of the conference to the other, trying not to knock people out of the way as we go (when you have a ball under each armpit, you're a LOT wider than normal). It's hard work, but the awesome thing is that once you're done with turnaround, you can attend whatever workshop you want without having to have registered for it.

I took soooo many notes, it's rather daunting to have to go through them and decipher them now. Some of them I was writing them so fast, that when I go back and look, I either have trouble deciphering what I've written, or I look at something like "jump flick feet pivot twist" and wonder how the hell I thought that would make sense to me later. But the majority of my notes are great, and I added tons of new choreography to my repertoire. Plus, I bought a bunch of new equipment!

Ladder: This cool circuit training (or personal training) device is great for cardio. You can run through it laterally (like in the picture), run front, hop front, hop side, hopscotch, jump in and out with both feet (like a snake). My gym has hardwood floors, and the ladder slides, so I just mounted it on a couple yoga mats and it was good to go.

Jump ropes: jump roping is the cardio exercise you can really get the biggest bang for your buck. Jump for 30 seconds and your heart rate is already starting to spike. Even if you keep catching it on your feet, what jumping time you get is still going to help. And the more you do it, the better you'll get at it, until you'll be saying "that was 2 minutes already, really?" (side note: at the present moment, I suck at jumping rope).

Resistance tubing: the great thing about these tubes is that they stretch, so the more you pull on them, the harder it gets. Unlike regular handweights, which are the same all the way up and down, the tubes increase the resistance the higher you pull. So they are damn hard. I've heard that body builders use them to pump up their muscles right before a competition (not that we're going all hard core like that in class). We used to have these at the gym, but they up and took themselves out somewhere else.

Cones: The best deal at the whole conference! Power Systems was offering a conference special of $1 per cone (they're little ones, but hey, I don't need anything fancy). So I can use these for running and changing direction drills. One thing we don't train often is ankle strength, we either run forward, or move laterally, but unless we play basketball, we don't often stop and start and move at angles. So one option with the cones is to set them up in two columns of four cones, then run zig zag between them, with a full stop on the outside foot at each cone before changing direction. Lots of other options, too, must brainstorm.

I wanted to get some kettlebells, but can't see myself using them anytime soon in class (they'd be damn heavy to carry from my locker!), and I also really wanted these cute long cones (I can't find a picture of them on their website). Basically, picture one of those bright orange cones, but stretch it out so that it's the shape of a really thin tent, and either 6" or 12" tall. They were totally awesome. But being so much more expensive than cones, I figured I'd stick with what I had for now.

More to come tomorrow on the content of the workshops - some of the wackiest goings-on, or my favorite new stuff I've learned!

Boston Mania, here I come!

(Geez...this photo gives me nightmares of face planting on the floor...)

It's that time of year again! Every November (for the last three), I've attended Boston Mania, a fitness convention held by SCW Fitness. The first year (2006), I was a full-fledged attendee. In other words, I paid a boatload of money to get in, as well as bought fun goodies like music and clothes on top of that, and it was a pretty streamlined, easy experience.

The great thing about it that year in particular was that I was getting seriously burned out at the gym. I was teaching 2-3 step classes a week and was bored of my combos, my format, and was grasping for something, anything, different I could do. I thought about teaching double step (using two benches instead of one) as my regular class, and started creating combos for that. Then I went to Boston Mania 2006. Ooooh boy did my world turn upside down. Or rightside up. I discovered vertical step. Step is normally taught with the bench horizontal (long end to the front of the room), but vertical is when you turn the short end to the front of the room. And I don't know what it is about vertical, but I don't get bored of it. Granted, I'm always coming up with new combos, or I do get tired of the old ones. But I've now been teaching vertical longer than I taught horizontal regularly, and I'm still loving it. Whenever I do teach horizontal, it just doesn't seem the same. Kind of like when you eat when you're really hungry and everything tastes great (vertical), and when you're not feeling well and everything tastes like cardboard (horizontal).

I also discovered gliding, which is a super-awesome way of working all your muscles low impact, and not just the major muscles but all the supporting ones too. Especially legs and abs. Lots and lots of legs and abs. I was a major gliding convert for the longest time. Until I finally came to terms with the fact that I'd lost about 80% of the members in my class (it used to be weight lifting and I'd changed it to gliding). So now I teach boot camp. But I do occasionally throw in a gliding exercise with the boot camp.

Boston Mania 2007 I volunteered, so I didn't have to pay the attendee fee, but I did have to work the event. I set up all the equipment before and after each workshop, did setup on Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon, and I got to attend all the workshops for free. It's awesome because I don't have to shell out the big bucks (except for new equipment, music, and such, but that's at a conference discount anyway), I get to attend all the workshops I want to, and I don't have to pack stuff up on Sunday. Because seriously, after four days of all that, the last thing I want to do with my Sunday afternoon is pack everything into trucks. Last year, I got a massive, body-shaking, throat-wrenching cold after the conference because I ran myself too ragged. So this year I'm going to go to sleep early, take my vitamin C, and take it easy (I'm there to learn new moves, not for the exercise).

Boston Mania 2008, I'm so looking forward to it! They have several boot camp workshops on the schedule, which I can't wait for. My boot camp cardio is getting pretty stale (how many different kinds of jacks and lunges and kicks and punches can you really do, if you only have 2 minutes at a time of cardio?), and I'm always looking for new step and weight lifting tips. I have a new combo for step that I can't figure out for the life of me how to teach. So I'll see some old friends I met last year and hopefully they can help me break it down.

Can I share with you the craziness of my schedule over the next few days?

Wednesday 5p-10p (last year they let us out at 6:30, and I'm really hoping the same this year because there's a French dinner I want to go to)
Thursday 6:30a-1:30p
Thursday meeting 6p-8p
Friday 8a-6p (or 7p if I want to go to the special workshop)
Saturday 6:15a-6p
Sunday 6:15a-1p

I'm so sleeping in on Monday. Expect me at work around 11a, 10:30 if I'm lucky. Next Wednesday I'll tell you guys about all the cool stuff I actually encountered at the conference! To warn you though, I'll probably still be hopped up on a massive conference high, so you might see bouncy happy faces flitting through my blog...

Fitness Fun Makeover

So fitness sometimes tends to gets the bad reputation of being "that thing you have to do to be healthy but gosh-darn-it wouldn't you rather be eating cupcakes!" Given the amazing gym disappearing act that goes on in March of all the New Year's resolution people, I'm thinking that a lot of people view exercise this way - you have to do it to be healthy, but it's so hard to fit it into the schedule, and anyway it's not all that fun so you have to get some serious motivation on to Just Do It.

So this post is all about the fun and enjoyable side of exercise. Not all the points are going to be relevant for you (my theory is that there are two kinds of exercisers - solo exercisers (runners, bikers, etc) and social exercisers (group fitness, social sports), and so I'll try to list fun aspects of both. However, this might be social exerciser-heavy, since that's what I am...). Especially now that we're going into the crazy busy holiday season, we need some way to make exercise fun and motivating so we'll actually get there and do it, instead of just meaning to.

1. Music

- if you're a solo, then great news! You get to design your own workout track. Choose songs which resonate with you, which will get your heart pumping. If you're sitting still and have to move when the song comes on, that's a good one. Also pay attention to the cadence - if you're running or cycling, it's easier to stay with a challenging pace if you run/bike with the speed of the music.

- if you're a social, then try to find a class with music you like (or if you play social sports, bring a boom box to the game with your favorite songs). Every instructor is different and has a different style, and music has a big impact on class (especially with spinning). If you try one class and it was ho hum, try a different instructor because the music (or their teaching style, that too) might just make the difference. Here's an example for you of the music tracks from one of the spinning classes I teach:

• Bang (Eve6) – warm-up (easy, still able to breathe with mouth closed), 3:35 minutes, 60rpm
• ATB Hold You (ATB Lyrics) – hill (start seated, add gear every 15 seconds until standing, don't drop below a cadence of 60, by the end of the song, you should not be able to breathe with your mouth closed), 3:29 minutes, 70rpm
• Untouched (The Veronicas) - sprint (seated, add as much gear as you can while holding the cadence of the music, don't sacrifice speed for higher resistance. If you get tired, reduce gear. Challenged, completely uncomfortable, starting to breathe hard by the end of the song), 4:14 minutes, 90rpm
• Falling On (Finger Eleven) – jumps (in the saddle 8 beats, stand 8, adding gear periodically until near breathless), 3:07, 80rpm
• Little House (The Fray) - recovery (bring your breathe back down until you breathe with your mouth closed again), 2:32, 60rpm
• Ici Maintenant (Marie-Mai) – sweet spot hill (stay out of the saddle, increase resistance to the highest possible without sacrificing cadence to kick your heart rate up), 3:00, 70rpm
• Seventeen (Jimmy Eat World) – jumps (same as Falling on, challenged and breathing hard), 3:36, 75rpm
• Forever (Chris Brown) - spring interval rolling hills (out of the saddle, every at every 30sec mark, give a 10 second spring (doesn't have to be fast, just faster than the base cadence), after the sprint, pull back to the music cadence and increase resistance a bit), 4:41, 60rpm
• In My Arms (Plumb) – recovery (bring your breathe back down until you breathe with your mouth closed again), 4:04, 60rpm
• Les Secrets (Dumas) - 20sec seated, 20sec standing (option to add gear on standing, push breathing back up until you can't breathe with mouth closed), 3:49, 80rpm
• How Much Longer (Eve6) – sprint (same as Untouched), 3:06, 95rpm
• Lips of an Angel (Hinder) – rolling hills (start with moderately heavy resistance at the cadence of the music. When you hit the chorus, pick up your cadence between 90-100rpm. Come back to cadence on the verse. Add gear (every chorus is a new hill and each hill is steeper), 4:23, 70-100rpm
• Je te Vends mon Ame (Kyo) – recovery, 3:32, 60rpm
• Breath (Breaking Benjamin) – sprint intervals (like rolling hills without the added resistance. Be sure to set a challenging resistance to start with, and don't go too fast. Cadence in the sprint is twice the cadence of the music, cadence in recovery is faster than the music), 3:38, 70-100rpm
• Change Your Mind (The Killers) - sprint (this is a slower sprint than previously, but that doesn't mean you're recovering or that you're working any less hard. Just turn your gear as high as you can and push through it), 3:11, 75rpm
• La Prochaine Fois (Marie-Mai) – cool down (stay on the bike for the entire song to bring your heart rate down), 3:50, 60-70rpm
• Cuor Senza Sangue (Emma Shappelin) - stretch (be sure to stretch hamstrings, IT band, quads, back, neck, and calves)

2. Join a team - when you're having fun, you're less likely to realize you're exercising, or it won't seem to be a chore. Granted, many team sports aren't quite as high intensity (kickball for one, is more social than exercise, as I maybe get up to kick once or twice a game). So it depends whether you're looking for more social or more exercise. Dodgeball is definitely higher heart rate, as there's lots of running and ducking and throwing (given you can dodge dip dive dodge duck).

3. Try a bunch of different classes - so you went to a step class last year and felt like you stuck out like a sore thumb, going left when everyone was going right? You're not alone. Step, especially, is very high complexity and lower intensity (basically, lots of choreography that makes it confusing to the newcomer). It's like being dumped into a foreign country with a whole other language that you don't know. You could stick it out and pretty soon you'll be fluent in the language, or you could try another class. And to keep interested, go to a variety of classes, not just the same ones all the time.

4. Avoid boredom - has your workout become 30 minutes on the elliptical followed by a couple weight exercises? Been going to the same class every week for ages, and only that class with that instructor? Running the same distance at the same speed? Some people find doing the same kind of workout all the time soothing (if that's you, more power to you). I get seriously bored, so I have to change it up. Try a new class, a new weight machine, add an extra set, add some intervals, run a different route, you name it. Your mind will thank you. Your muscles will also work harder, as the new exercises won't be running on muscle memory.

5. Get a workout buddy - if you're a social exerciser and you have trouble motivating yourself, get yourself a workout buddy. If you're trying to work out on your own and don't feel like it, it's easy to say "I'll just do it tomorrow." If you have a workout buddy, there's motivation built in that you don't want to derail their workout by cancelling (I've done this and gone and worked out and found out that neither of us wanted to work out that day, but both did it because we didn't want to let the other down). Plus, the chit chat while you're working out can take your mind off of how hard the workout is.

6. Go where the hot guys/girls are - if you're trying to make a connection, then this might be the perfect option for some eye candy, or possibly flirting. And you're likely to work harder if you're trying to impress someone, and to stay longer to work out. And it'll be more fun! (Just make sure that you're not staring at them, creeping them out, and if you're flirting with them, tread carefully to make sure they're open to it. Because there's nothing worse than that creepy guy/girl at the gym who just doesn't know when to stop).

Any other fun tips you guys have?