May 5, 2013

Weekly Recap: 4/29-5/4

It’s been a really long and difficult week. My legs are seemingly rebelling against me after I had two really great ballet classes last week. Sigh. Anyway, here’s what it looked like:

Monday:

It was rainy and yucky out so we went to the gym and I got one of my Couch to 5K workouts done as I  clung to the sides of the treadmill the entire time. But, I got it done. I spent the rest of the day going over my presentation for one of my English classes.

Tuesday:

Because of being tired and needing to get some last minute work done, I take today as a rest day from working out.

Wednesday:

I had another rough Couch to 5k day out on the track here on campus, but I get it done. I had planned on going to the new jazz class at my dance studio, but since my journalism awards ceremony took forever (and I stuffed my face with both with sushi and a quesadilla afterwards because I was STARVING from not having eaten) I decided to rest at home for the remainder of the day. But, I am pretty proud that I won an award for my dance reviews.

Thursday:

Ballet was kind of rough because the class was packed and I kept forgetting combinations, but it wasn’t horrible and my legs feel alright.

Friday:

My boyfriend and I head to the gym so I can test out the treadmill again–but this time it doesn’t go nearly as well and I can’t even finish my workout. I feel like I’m somehow just pushing myself harder than I should be on the treadmill given the speeds I set the treadmill to.

Saturday:

The first part of the ballet class is rough. I’d forgotten to take my allergy medicine so I’m stuffy with a headache. I just feel tired and my arches are killing me for some reason. My leg isn’t happy either, so I do pointe class, sadly, in flat shoes so I don’t kill my leg. I get through 20 minutes of the yoga for today when I take a break to head to the gym with the boyfriend and make up for the rest of today with a really slow and painful #C25k, but I get it done.  I know by the time I get home I’m way too tired to finish  yoga, and I call it a day.

I ended up sleeping for about 10 hours last night, so I feel a lot better than I did yesterday. So hopefully I’ll be able to fit a #C25k workout into today along with some yoga and a lot of paper writing.

How do you recover from a really challenging (and disappointing) week of workouts?

Filed Under: Ballet, Blog, Etc. Tagged With: , , , , , , , 2 Comments
May 3, 2013

Help me Pick a May Challenge!

Yoga Class at a Gym

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So I’ve used challenges recently to try to get me to get more motivated to actually do the exercises I need to be doing, but I’m kind of clueless about what I should be doing for May (yeah, I know, it’s already May 3rd, but I’ve been busy bee). So, while I’d like to keep it kind of related to ballet–a lot of things do, when it comes down to it–pretty much anything is fair game. I will create a post detailing the challenge as well so anyone who wants to join in can. No matter what I end up doing, I plan on updating at least once a week with how I’m doing.

Here are a few ideas I’ve come up with (I’m slightly leaning towards yoga or the ab challenge, but don’t let that influence you):

-Mile a Day (I’m still going to be doing #c25k, but this would push me to get a little extra mileage on my off days)

-Ab Challenge (I’ve done planks for about the past month, but this would mean doing more exercise ab-related exercises)

-Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred (it’s $8.99 on iTunes and could help me get in better all around shape, something I really need)

-Yoga Challenge (A different yoga video everyday to help improve my overall flexibility)

-Split Challenge (Yes, I’ve done it before, but if this wins I promise to give you photos on bi-weekly basis)

Vote in the poll below for one of these options, or leave your own suggestion in the comments.

If you suggest something new and exciting and I pick it, I’ll send you a pair of pink shoelaces from Sweat Pink as a reward!

Filed Under: Ballet, Blog, Etc. Tagged With: , , , , , , , 3 Comments
May 3, 2013

Beginner Ballet Profile: Lionel

This week’s profile is another of Susan Attfield‘s ballet studio students, Lionel–who first started to take ballet in October 2012 after seeing So You Think You Can Dance. 

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LionelDid you ever take lessons as a kid?

No, never took any lessons as a kid, I grew up in a small town and my interest was mainly athletics.

Why did you decide to take ballet as an adult?

There are a few reasons, I have always loved watching ballet, I was always an active individual but since I left school it gradually got replaced by work, deadlines and the idea that one day my busy schedule will get better.  It was the infamous series So you think you can dance which made me look for adult ballet classes in my area.

Where do you take classes?

In Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa.

What is your favorite part about ballet?

When after 3 months you finally start doing something right…lol, just kidding for me it’s that one hour when all the troubles in the world disappear.

What is your least favorite part?

To be honest…. when the classes are over 🙁

Who/What is your ballet inspiration?

I’m not yet familiar with the great names in ballet, but at this stage watching anyone who can really dance, you don’t realise how hard these dancers have to train to dance at that level, when you see them you think to yourself o that’s good, but you don’t even begin to realise that there is a reason they train for years…

What motivates you to keep dancing?

To dance makes me happy, if I had discovered this at an earlier stage in my life things might have been different, but I like the feeling I have when I leave the class and that makes me want to come back.

Do you take any other dance classes?

No not at this stage.

What are your hobbies outside of ballet?

Gardening, Cleaning, Swimming.

What advice would you like to give to those who want to start ballet or have just started?

I have started the class about 4 months ago, and in every class I see new faces, if you like ballet just keep going, with every class it gets better just persevere.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I wish to thank the teachers and owner of the DANCE HUB group for dedicating their time to beginner adult dancers, even though I will not become a professional what your classes do for my soul is far more fulfilling than anything money can buy.  You guys are awesome.

Filed Under: Adult Ballerinas, Interviews Tagged With: , , , , , , 4 Comments
May 1, 2013

Am I meant to be #poweredbybits?

EnergyBits were provided by Bits of Health free of charge in exchange for a review. I was not paid for my review.  The opinions contained in this review are mine and based on my experience, and do not reflect the opinions of Energy Bits or anyone else.

eblogoI had heard a lot of buzz about energy bits around the twitterspere and was highly intrigued by them. Little green “bits” that are only a calorie per bit (adding up to roughly 30 calories per serving). So I decided to give them a shot when their brand manager, Jonathan Levitt, agreed to send me a sample.

They’re made of 100% Spirulina algae–their website says “Spirulina is nature’s equivalent to an energy drink – but its even better because it’s 100% natural, 100% green, is carbon neutral, has only ONE calorie per tab and contains no sugar, no caffeine, no chemicals, no gluten and no soy.” Sounds pretty good. I’ve had Spirulina before in Real Food Barres (which are pretty great) so I decided would be pretty great too.

I first tried them roughly 15 minutes before I headed out the door for ballet last Thursday (it seems all I do lately is run out the door to class at the last-minute–it’s that crazy time at the end of a college semester). Since I don’t really like swallowing pill (who does?) I decided to mix them into yogurt like is mentioned on their how to take page here–BAD idea. I ended up with a nasty mouth full of green, most of it sticking to my teeth–it was like it had become a paste in my mouth. I had to quick chew a piece of gum and scrub brush my teeth before I finally left the house.

BUT, I did have more energy than usual (and a pain-free ballet night).

Since I had enough for a second go around, I decided to take some this morning before my run as a replacement for my normal morning protein bar (which I’m out of currently since I haven’t been shopping in forever).

EnergyBits recommends that newbies swallow their bits so that’s what I tried this second time around. I ended up taking about 5 at a time and  even that seemed like to swallow at once for me. I’ve read in other reviews that people usually swallow about 15 at a time–that didn’t work for me.

I don’t think EnergyBits really suit me–I couldn’t find a way I liked eating them–but I do think they’d be a great energy source and replacement for protein drinks and bars if you can handle swallowing them.

EDIT: @Energybits on Twitter pointed out to me that there’s a Pinterest board with some more recipes to try out, I think I’m going to try the smoothie one with my remaining bits.

If you’ve tried them before, how do you like to eat them?

EnergyBits is offering 10% off to my readers using the code BLOG, or you can help out the ONE Fund for Boston Marathon victims using the code BOSTONSTRONG at the checkout and they’ll donate $26.20 of your purchase to the fund.

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EnergyBits were provided by Bits of Health free of charge in exchange for a review. I was not paid for my review.  The opinions contained in this review are mine and based on my experience, and do not reflect the opinions of Energy Bits or anyone else.

Filed Under: Blog, Etc., Reviews Tagged With: , , , , 1 Comment
May 1, 2013

Beginner Ballet Tips: How to Improve Jumps

Now that my legs finally seem to be getting back in shape, it’s finally time that I start to work on my jumps a little bit more, which, honestly are pretty pathetic. I’m not a jumping person AT ALL. In fact…it’s probably my least favorite part of ballet. But, I am ever so jealous of pretty professional ballerinas and their perfect grand jetes.  So I did some research into what I could possibly to do improve them and found out the key was:

Plies, Plies, Plies!

Plies are one of the keys to  jumps (and  turns as well).

The Ballet Dancer’s Guide says:

Your plie is crucial to every single jump, for both the landing and the take off. Without your plie you simply can not jump, but more importantly, without the right use of the plie you won’t be give full value to each jump.

Other tips from Dance Advantage (which also mentions plies!) include strengthening your core and proper alignment (my dance instructor is always reminding us of this). I know I need to work on proper alignment more, as its one of the things I’m likely to forget as I’m focused on something else. It also mentions working on strengthening your feet as well through exercises in class (tendu, degage, releve) as well as through theraband at home exercises.

Dance Advantage also has some pretty great tips for doing grand jetes.

What do you do to improve your jumps?

 

Filed Under: Ballet, Ballet Class, Info Tagged With: , , , , , , 2 Comments