Dec 31, 2011

CXWORX Review

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On Thursday, I tried two new classes at GoodLife – CXWORX and Body Combat. I reviewed Body Combat yesterday. Here’s my review of CXWORX:

CXWORX is a new 30-minute group fitness class that focuses on core strength and conditioning. A lot of Pump instructors have been raving about this class and how challenging it is, so my expectations were high going into it. I have to say, I was a little disappointed. There is one track with some killer planks and hovers, but I didn’t find the rest of the workout particularly challenging.

I’m also not a fan of the resistance bands we used for several exercises. I couldn’t get a good feel for them and kept having to re-adjust, which interfered with my workout (which I fully acknowledge was the result of my own lack of coordination and not necessarily the class itself ;) ). I prefer free weights but I also know it’s good to mix things up a bit and strength train in different ways.

On the plus side, CXWORX is a very speedy workout (30 minutes including warm up and stretching) so if you’re ever in a rush, it’s a good option. It also provides a full body workout, with squats, lunges and reverse flyes on top of all the core and abdominal work.  

So there you have it – my week off is almost over and I’ve done just over half of the things on my vacation bucket list.

The Week in Review:

Day Workout
Sunday 5 km run
Monday Body Pump
Tuesday RPM
Wednesday Body Pump
Thursday CXWORX + Body Combat
Friday Rest
Saturday Body Pump

 

As for diet, I got back to my usual eating routine on Tuesday and have been eating healthy since then. And just as I was getting back into the swing of things, I’ll be having a four course meal and drinks tonight for New Year’s Eve, followed by a big pasta lunch at my Nonno’s on New Year’s Day. Gotta love the holidays!  

Since my gym is closed tomorrow and the weather is looking too nasty for a run, I signed up for a hot yoga class at Some Like it Hot (another item on my vacation bucket list). I figured sweating away a pound or two would be a good way to kick off 2012!

Filed Under: Strength Training · Tagged:
Dec 30, 2011

Body Combat Review

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Yesterday, I tried two new classes at GoodLife - CXWORX and Body Combat. For this post, I’ll focus on Body Combat.

Body Combat is a martial arts inspired cardio workout that draws from boxing, karate, taekwondo, tai chi and muay thai. In other words, there’s lots of kicking, punching and jabbing. According to the Les Mills website, it burns up to 737 calories per class:

Body Combat has been around for a long time but it’s only offered twice a week at my gym, both at inconvenient times. I was excited to try it out during my week off and I am so glad I did – I absolutely loved this workout!

First of all, Body Combat is very different from other Les Mills classes. I didn’t go anaerobic in this class like I normally do during Body Attack or RPM, but this class really works core strength and balance (lots of high kicks involved) in addition to providing a moderately challenging cardio workout. My whole midsection is feeling it this morning, as are my shoulders and upper arms from all the punching and jabbing. We all know it’s important to mix up your workout routine every once in a while so I’m excited to have found a new class that works my body in a completely different way.

Second, like most Les Mills classes, Body Combat is a lot of fun. I vaguely remember attempting a kick boxing class at the YMCA back when I was in high school and leaving halfway through. Granted, I was nowhere near as physically fit as I am today so there’s a chance I left more out of defeat than boredom but I honestly don’t remember it being particularly riveting. This class, however, had me smiling like a crazy person right from the first song (I should have known better than to doubt a Les Mills class!). I really like the fighting aspect of it and how you’re competing against an imaginary opponent (for the record, I’ve been watching a lot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer reruns during my week off so that could be part of it).

Then there’s the music – looking at the tracklists, I think the instructor did a mix of releases 41 and 47 but there could have been other releases thrown in there. Either way, next time I’m looking to refresh my running playlist, I am trawling through Body Combat releases for new music. All of the songs were high-energy with powerful beats and lyrics.

The only negative thing I can say, and this is really, really minor, is that there’s a bit of a learning curve involved. Occasionally, the choreography confused me, but the moves are pretty repetitive making it easy to get into the swing of things once you get going.

I wish this class was more offered more frequently but I enjoyed it so much I’m willing to re-arrange my schedule just to attend every now and then. 

What’s the last amazing new workout you tried for the first time?

Filed Under: Cardio · Tagged:
Dec 28, 2011

What I Ate in New York City

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Two summers ago, Josh and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary with a weekend trip to New York City. Josh and I both love trying new restaurants so we basically planned our trip around where we wanted to eat. I didn’t blog back in those days so I want to take this opportunity to share some of the highlights. Our first stop was lunch at the famous Carnegie Deli. There was a line up to get inside, which is always a good sign.
 

This place has been around since 1937 and has been visited by many celebrities and notable public figures. It was jam packed inside, with cafeteria-style seating, so we ended up up sitting thisclose to the people beside us.

As we were debating what to order, the couple beside us advised us to share a sandwich rather than order our own. We were both skeptical and, quite frankly, insulted that these strangers didn’t think us capable of eating an entire sandwich to ourselves. But we took their advice and shared a pastrami sandwich. Probably a good idea - holy heart attack!

It was tasty, although somewhat difficult to eat gracefully.

After, we attempted to share a “slice” of cheesecake. We were defeated about halfway through.

For dinner that night, we went to the 21 Club, another NYC landmark (it used to be a speakeasy back in the day). The place was super fancy (dinner jacket required, waiters who escort you to the washroom, etc.), which might have been why we didn’t take any pictures of our food. Or it could’ve been because we shared a bottle of wine and were pretty much toasted by the time our meals arrived. Yeah, that was probably it. To be honest, I can’t even remember what we ordered although I recall enjoying it in the way one always tends to enjoy things while tipsy.

Oh well, here’s a shot of the main lobby.

The next morning, we had brunch at 230 Fifth, a rooftop patio with a great view of the Empire State Building.

The food was your typical breakfast fare – eggs, home fries, toast, etc. – but the location was cool.

For dinner, we didn’t have any plans beyond walking around Hell’s Kitchen and finding a restaurant. It took us about half an hour and several trips up and down the strip to settle on where we wanted to eat, but we ultimately chose Nizza for some meat and cheese. We ate up a storm that night. Earlier in the day, we had walked all the way from our hotel at 24th street down to Battery Park and back and we were hungry! Here’s me mid-chew:

On our third and final day, we had brunch at Cafeteria in Chelsea. I had a fairly standard breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast.

Josh, meanwhile, decided to get all fancy by ordering the croissant french toast, served with berries and mascarpone cream. Then he found out he could get unlimited sides with that and threw in some sausage, eggs and toast for good measure.

Last but not least, we had dinner at The Russian Tea Room. I had always wanted to go there on previous NYC trips but never had the chance. 

Josh ordered the beef stroganoff, pictured below. I ordered Borscht and ravioli, which apparently wasn’t very impressive looking because I can’t find any pictures of it!

We finished our meal with an order of tea because how can you go to the Russian Tea Room and not get tea?

 

And that concludes our NYC trip (at least the food portion of it, but who wants to see a zillion pictures of the Statue of Liberty or Central Park when they can look at pics of yummy food instead?).

When you visit a new city, do you include restaurants in your site-seeing plans?

Filed Under: Dining Out ·
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