I Like to Move It, Move It!

The past few days have been pretty exciting, to say the least. As you know, I have been frantically looking for a job, and I was hired as a Group Exercise Instructor at the University of Iowa. I teach two classes: Core Fusion and Cardio Crazy. Once again, I have a dream job. Exercise and get paid for it! What could be better?

Here is my awesome new uniform! I am  am considering being converted to a Hawkeye. Maybe.

Seriously, you guys, it is so hard not to get swept up into the school spirit here. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE has Hawkeye garb everywhere you look. On our bike ride the other day, Josh and I saw flags, license plate covers, side mirror covers, restaurants, random walls in the town totally decked out in Herky memorabilia. I'm so excited to finally go to a school that cares about football! 

Ok, so back to business. Josh and I have been waiting for the weekend to come so we can actually hang out. We had lots of plans, including a nature walk, making dinners together, visiting the mall (OK that one was mostly me), bike rides, and going to a church lunch for people our age. 

Our nature walk through the Coralville Lake and Dam Recreation Area was really fun, but very tiring. I taught my Cardio Crazy class in the morning, and during that time, Josh also decided to go running for the first time in a month. Combine each of those with the heat, and we were totally not ready to go for a 5 mile hike! We didn't realize that until it was too late, so we went anyway. Notice how a majority of our pictures include us sitting down :)

See, even Josh wanted to fit in with the Hawkeye spirit!

Discreetly hiding in the woods...

Bonding time at last!

 It has trails that cover 5 miles of beautiful scenery around Coralville Lake. There are also campsites, which we are hoping to take advantage of in the next few weeks. 

Get Inspired.

For the past week, I have really been testing myself. By that, I mean asking myself tough questions, doing things I normally hate, and reading things I know I should read but haven't gotten around to. In the mean time, I have had the privilege of hanging out with my friends that I haven't seen forever.

My two best friends from high school and me, soaking up the few days we have together before going our separate ways again. I'm super lucky because Kasey will be moving to Davenport, and Brooke will be visiting frequently!

As for "doing things I normally hate", I went to hot yoga at Root Down Yoga in La Crosse. This is where I should mention that I hate hate HATE yoga. My lack-of-elastic hip flexors and short body do not fold into those nice poses that all the tall, thin Bohemian people can. In addition to that, I hate hate HATE hot weather. I turn into this sweaty, messy, whiny version of myself every time there is a heat wave over 85 degrees. So, in the spirit of challenging myself to new things, I decided to go with my mom just once. 

Never have a I ever felt more like I jumped in the shower with all of my clothes on. I mean - yuck. The studio was cranked up to a soul-melting 96 degrees and I'm pretty sure I lost 6 pounds in water weight. But guess what? I LOVED IT. I mean, absolutely loved it. Brooke and I even went back the next day. I felt like a very strong, very sweaty ballerina. (And if you know anything about my childhood, that's what I thought I would be when I grew up.)

The part I loved most about it was although I felt at times like I was being pushed to my limit, the only person pushing myself was me. I mean, there was the encouragement from the instructor, but I found that I have a lot of internal motivation. This is why I hate yoga. I am too much of a perfectionist (and frustrated because I can hardly ever achieve perfection) to really appreciate the relaxation part. 

Then, the instructor said something that helped me to let go of that need for perfection: 

Sometimes you're so focused on getting to where you think you should be that you don't take time to focus on the journey to get there.

This is true in a lot of things in my life. I sure hope that I can remember this from now on. When life is moving too fast, I want to remember this. 

With all this motivation going on, there are a few videos I have to share with you. This commercial sums up my feelings for the day. I also found another video to be totally inspired by. From my understanding, this couple traveled around and documented their trip. It honestly made my eyes all teary because it made me want to do something that made me this happy.

However, I'm sure that this summer will bring a ton of opportunities to find that...because guess what???

MOVING DAY IS FRIDAY! 

10 to 1 Killer Workout

I tried out a new workout yesterday because I was feeling extra creative. I went to the gym and ran into my dad, who must have gotten up earlier than me. He was done with his workout so when he said goodbye to me he said,

"You know how everyone always says, 'Don't work too hard'? Well...work hard."

 I'm not sure why that motivated me so much, but it did. So with that in mind, I decided to try out something, inspired by my dear friend Lisa at Grub for Gratitude. (Seriously, if you want a tough workout, try this: 45 Minute Total Body Butt Kick.)

Here's what to do. Choose a few exercises that you would be willing to do lots of reps of. Then go through the list doing each exercise 10 times, then 9, then 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, ... until you get to one. When you're on the set where you do one of each, try to do it as fast as you can while maintaining proper form.

I didn't have Lisa's nice list of exercises in front of me, so I picked a few that I thought would work the major muscle groups.

This is what I chose:

• Chest: Bench press, 40 pounds (two 20 pound dumbbells)
• Extra: Overhead tricep extensions (one 20 pound dumbbell) - I know triceps aren't a major muscle group. This one was for definition :)
• Upper Back: Seated rows (60 pounds)
• Quads: Front squats (45 pounds) - these are just like regular squats, but you put the bar in front of your chest instead of on your shoulders
• Core: Burpees - the very best exercise ever. They kind of suck to do, but trust me, it's for a good cause!

It took me about a half hour to complete everything. I rested for 30-60 seconds between the burpees and starting the cycle over so it could be more like interval training, but feel free to rest longer or not at all, depending on your abilities! 

Recommendations: 

1. You can choose whatever exercises you want, but I recommend sticking with 5 or 6. I found that when I tried to do it with more, I got tired really quickly!

2. Try to do exercises that work your whole body. For example, front squats are great for the core, legs, and booty, while the tricep extensions really only worked my triceps. 

3. I recommend doing exercises that will keep your body in balance. For instance, if you choose to do something like bench press (which only works your chest), you should do seated rows (which work your upper back).