August 19, 2014- 57 days until the wedding!!

     So I decided that I needed to make sure I was taking full advantage of my Vixen membership, which means taking additional pole, lyra, and silks classes! Now, the lyra classes offered are few and far between, but I am determined to find a class that fits in my schedule!

     So today I took my second installment of Intro to Pole. This time, the instructor was Staci. Staci was all about the different holds and tricks, and not so much about being sexy on the pole. It was a different way of teaching. She would show us the move/trick she wanted us to perform then we had to imitate her. It was a lot of tossing my body at the pole and trying to hold on for dear life!! The backs of my knees were feeling the pain! I definitely need to take more pole classes. I've extremely weak and un-confident in the different beginner holds.
     After abusing my body in intro to pole, I took a break from working out to grab some dinner before my final class of the evening: Co-Ed Hip Hop!
     Man I love Hip Hop! It is not a style of dance that I'm comfortable in, but I love doing it! It challenges me and pushes me to get better. Not to mention that I am having a blast, AND getting an amazing cardio workout! 

August 18, 2014- 58 days until the wedding!!

     I worked until 5pm then rushed over to Vixen Fitness for some ZUMBA!!! This was my first Zumba class ever and I was quite excited for it! 

     Zumba is not really a dance class. Yes there is dancing, and it's technically a 'dance fitness' class, but no prior dance experience is required. You just have to watch and listen to the instructor, follow along, and have fun!! Because I DO have some prior dance experience, I was able to track the pattern of the movements (or choreography I guess you could call it in this case) and predict which movement sequences were coming up when. The instructor did a good job of mixing a fast, upbeat number with a slower, calmer number. It made for a better workout because it was almost like interval training. While I didn't feel like I got a huge cardio workout from the Zumba class, I will say that I sweat a little bit, and I drank an entire bottle of water (and I only drink water when I'm sweating!). I would take Zumba again as long as their isn't another class at the same time that I'd rather take.
     Today I decided to take the full 30/30/30 class with Jesus! I know that 2 weeks ago I took just the spin portion of the class, but today I'm doing the whole she-bang! Luckily my two friends (Ariana and Jen) were also taking the class, so we could suffer together! When I walked into class, Jesus told us to run 5 laps around the building. Excuse me? Let me clean out my ears because I thought you said 5 LAPS!!! Nope.. I heard correctly! Ariana, Jen and I were at the front of the pack and we ran/jogged the ENTIRE 5 LAPS!! After the 3rd lap I wanted to walk for a bit, but the girls convinced me not to give up, to power through and to think about my wedding. So every single time that I wanted to walk, I repeated my own personal mantra: "Beautiful, white dress; beach wedding; wedding dress body; sweating for the wedding." We lapped most of the other ladies in the class and we lapped one poor girl twice! When we lapped on particular group of girls, they exclaimed, "What? They MUST be cheating!" I was extremely irritated with that remark!  We had watched 3 girls cut through the center of the building (where there is an outside patio entrance) and only do half of the building and they were calling US cheaters! The nerve!!! After we were finished with our laps, Jesus ushered is all inside (so some people only ran 3-4 laps, which my friends and I did all 5!) AND there were already people inside the classroom who had claimed that they ran all 5 laps! No WAY!!! We were in the front of the group the entire time and you didn't lap us!! I was furious! But I calmed myself down. After all, why should I be concerned with those individuals? They are only cheating themselves! They are paying to attend this class and to get in shape, but they are cheating themselves by not performing what is asked of them. It is these very same individuals who like to claim on various social media sites that they are constantly at the gym and working out, but they never seem to get in better shape. You see those people at the gym as well. They claim to spend "3 hours at the gym," but they do maybe 15 minutes of arms, a couple of squats, a handful of crunches, a push-up or two, and then 2.5 hours on their phones!
     SO, after our 5 laps, we did about 15 mins of TRX training, which got my legs and arms and core burning!!! Up next was our 30 minutes of spin! They overbooked the class, so there were more girls then Vixen had bikes for. Thus, Jesus had to improvise. He had half of us on bikes and the other half did various leg and butt exercises. Then the groups switched after 15 minutes. It was a complete cardio workout! Afterwards, we completed our 30 minutes of calming yoga. Now yoga with Jesus is still incredibly challenging! He makes us sweat but in a more controlled and calmer atmosphere.
     All in all it was a sweat-inducing Monday afternoon/evening at Vixen Fitness!

August 15, 16 & 17- 61, 60, & 59 days until the wedding!!

   I had to go 3 days without working out at Vixen! Yikes!! I felt SO extremely guilty, but it was unavoidable. I worked Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday after work I had an audition, which forced me to miss the J'adore Go Go class that I was looking forward to. And, as usual, there are no afternoon/evening classes on the weekends at Vixen, so this weekend was a wash! Thus, I plan to hit it hard come Monday to make up for 3 missed days!

August 14, 2014- 62 day until the wedding!!

     Alas the day has come: the last day that I am using my vacation hours. I will still have days off every week, but not the significant amount of days off that I've had the wonderful pleasure of experiencing as of late. Thus, to celebrate the end of my vacation hours, I took the 2 tough classes!
     Thursday is going to be my "tough" day. All of the classes typically offered on Thursdays are rough, tough, sweaty, muscle straining, and just generally exhausting! First up the agenda was Cardio Kickboxing with Jesus. We started the class in a similar fashion to how we started the class last week- with some jogging around the room, side-stepping, quick kicks, cardio. Once we all were panting and gasping for breath, Jesus asked us to pair up and put gloves and pads on. My friend Kira was at the class, so she was my partner. It was her first time at Cardio Kickboxing, and I was anxious to see what she thought! The partner work today was more intensive (in my opinion) than it was last week. During a rather strenuous punch sequence, my arms were hurting so much that I had to take mini breaks to shake them out before I could continue on! I love all of Jesus' classes because it doesn't take it easy on us and he pushes us because he knows we can handle it!
     After kickboxing, Kira and I went right into Butt & Abs Bootcamp with Kristie. Dang this class!!! I was so physically worn down that I think I actually had an out of body experience! I saw myself doing the exercises, but I don't remember actually doing them! It was so incredibly exhausting! I knew it was going to be tough when the very first thing we had to do was 100 squats! Talk about buns of steel!! Superman has nothing on my booty!!  

      After Butt & Abs Bootcamp, Vixen was offering a Lyra class. Now I have been dying to take a Lyra class, but today was not the day! I was WAY too run down to even think about trying to attempt something difficult and strenuous on an apparatus that I've never been on! Just another day in Marisa's Movement!!

August 13, 2014- 63 days until the wedding!

     Yet another day off!! My vacation time is just about all dried up though, so I need to enjoy these days off while I can!

     I am starting to adjust to the significantly increased workouts. I look forward to attending classes and I constantly look at the online schedule to figure out the best classes to take, the best way to maximize my time and the biggest variety of classes!

      Today, my good friend Ariana joined me for my classes, and first up was Insanity!! Yes, this is the same Insanity that includes DVDs with teacher Shawn T! Our teacher (Kristie) is a certified Insanity instructor and she is this tiny but incredibly fit lady! The class is all about intense cardio in short intervals. And the music had built in sound effects that signaled when we were to switch to a different move- so that was extremely helpful!! I was expecting any class of Kristie's to be difficult, and this was- but I really enjoyed it!!! It was constant variety and the song selection was awesome so I found myself singing along while I was sweating and my muscles were shouting! Ariana and I could hardly breath at the end of the class, but we were smiling the entire time!

     We then had an hour break, so Ariana and I went to grab a quick bite before our last class of the night: Sexy Chair Dance with Josen!!

     I fully think that Sexy Chair Dance is my favorite class at Vixen. Sure I may not be sweating, doing hardcore abs or butt, or bootcamp, but I DO get a little bit of a cardio workout and it's another dance class that I use to increase my dance experience! The routine was fun, sexy, sultry and wonderful! The great thing about Vixen, and about classes like this in particular, is that there is no pressure to be amazing! There are girls of all shapes and sizes and of all skill levels, but we are all there to be confident, and to have fun!

     I took my 'Sexy Chair Dance' routine home and showed my Fiance. That is now his favorite class for me too!! It's the gift that keeps on giving!!

August 12, 2014- 64 days until the wedding!!

     It was a glorious morning of sleeping in!!! My arms are still aching from silks two days ago and intro to pole yesterday!!
     First class of the day is Stretch & Flexibility with Marissa. This is my second time taking this class (but it was with Heather the first time) and I have to admit that I was nervous. The first time I took stretch and flexibility, it aggravated my left foot so much that I could barely walk afterwards. I was immensely worried that it would happen again. I have such limited flexibility that this class in particular is difficult for me. But the reason I take it is because I need to increase my flexibility, which is something that is essential for dancing, pole and silks. My ultimate goal is to get pretty splits on both sides!!

     Marissa put us through our stretching paces!! I was sweating- not from exhaustion or cardio, but from the sheer pain of my muscles stretching further than they are use to! While I was in the class, I couldn't wait until it was over because it hurts so badly! But after the class, my muscles felt more relaxed and my body felt stronger. And as an added bonus- my foot didn't hurt! It actually feel better then it has in a long time! I have to make a note to try and do this class more often!

     Next class up was Rockin' Hard Beach Bodies with Marissa. A double dose of double Marisa's!! My lovely friend Kira joined me today! It was her very first class at Vixen! Now, if I was breaking a sweat in 'stretch & flexibility' class, then I can confidently say that sweat was POURING out of my veins in Beach Bodies class! Marissa had us doing a ton of cardio, utilizing weights, step-ups on a chair, etc. We ended the class by running 2 laps around the building, which is torture in the summer Florida heat!! Luckily I brought 2 bottles of water with me to the classes, because I was guzzling water to replenish my system!

     And the third class, yes I did 3 classes today, was Co-Ed Hip Hop!! I love the dance classes that Vixen Fitness has to offer! I am a performer, with my talents being more in acting, but I've always wanted to improve in the dance department. And the only way to do that is to take dance classes!! So I'm going to make it a point to take as many of the dance classes as I possibly can. It will help me in my career! Our routine was a hard hitting one- literally! We had to punch the palm of our own hand twice during the routine! After the first couple of times, it hurt my hand, so I just clapped when we were suppose to punch. I love Josan (the instructor) and hip hop is so completely out of my element, but I love it all the same!!

     Today was the perfect mix of classes. I had cardio, a good, deep stretch, and a dance class! If I can orchestrate every day like this it would be perfection!!

August 11, 2014- 65 days until the wedding!!

     Every morning that I wake up I assess my body and judge the aches and pains. Today, my arms are at an 8!! They are so tight and tense!! But sleeping in this morning felt incredibly glorious and so relaxing! I'm trying to enjoy these days off as much as I can, because at the end of the week, I go back to work for huge chunks. I was lucky in the fact that I had a TON of vacation time to use up. Once my work anniversary hits (which is about the third week of August), I lose all vacation hours that I did not use! That's like free money down the toilet!! No way was I going to let that happen!! So I timed everything out so that my days off and the start of my Movement coincided! I will confide in you, dear reader, that I am immensely worried about doing back to my "normal" shift (which is 10a-5:15p). The worry comes from the fact that I will have to complete an entire work shift and then haul my butt to Vixen Fitness for classes. Currently, I'm getting scheduled evening shifts and I get to do my workouts in the morning and then head into work. This system is perfect for me because mornings are my friend! And I can get my workouts done early and go home after work.
     I love my job. It is the best job that I could have ever hoped for or asked for. With that being said, some days are harder than others. And those hard days are incredibly draining emotionally. It's those days that I cannot wait to clock out and go home. I'm worried that I will have those days with my new Movement. I know that the LAST thing I'll want to do is workout. But I suppose that it'll be those days that will test my devotion and commitment to this Movement.
      Fortunately, today was not one of those days! I rested, played with my pups, did a few chores around the house, and then headed to Vixen for classes. Today I started with Intro To Pole!!

     Knowing that my arms were already sore, but that I would need them for a Pole class, I was scared!! Luckily my good friend Ariana was there to join me and she gave me the encouragement I needed. We were both extremely excited to try a pole class and learn proper techniques! It was a fun class! The instructor, Allison, showed us various moves we can do with the pole (body rolls, the sexy walk, hip rolls, etc. And we also learned two "moves", the 'fireman,' and the 'martini' (which I believe is the move pictured above!) The great thing about classes at Vixen is that everyone is in sweats and tanks or t-shirts. The instructor was the only person in heels, although she encouraged us to try and incorporate heels once we become a bit more proficient with the pole. At times I felt completely inadequate! The instructor made everything look so sexy and sleek and she performed the pole moves with such ease. I, on the other hand, felt like a hippo gyrating obtrusively!! I felt very un-sexy. And while I could do the moves, I was spinning around the pole so quickly that I started to get a headache from the constant dizziness!! I had no idea how to spin slower and how NOT to get so dizzy!! But Ariana did have a blast in the class. When I realized that everyone else were beginners like me, and that we ALL looked like gyrating creatures, I stopped worrying about how I looked and focused on having fun!! I left the class feeling confident! I will have to take Into to Pole 4-5 more times, at least, so I can master the basics and build up my strength before I move on to the next level pole class.

     After pole class, Ariana and I had a bit of a wait before our next class, Cardio Dance, started. Unfortunately, the teacher was a little late due to traffic, and then he couldn't get the audio to work correctly and that took a few minutes to fix, so we started class about 10 minutes late total. I adored our teacher Romero!! He was so funny, and just the person that I'm used to at work! But the first thing he had us do was a rotation of 20 sit ups and then a 2 minute plank. We had to do that 4 times! That's 8 freakin' minutes of planking!!! Whew! It was exhausting! Romero put us through an extensive ab workout, and a deep stretch. And then we only had about 10 minutes to actually dance. He started that he usually taught 1.5 hour classes (this class was only an hour), so he apologized to us! He asked us to come to the next class that he taught and he would use the same routine! Ariana and I loved him and we both agreed that we needed to catch his next class!!

     All in all it was a good day! I've been fortunate enough to be able to sample a plethora of classes at Vixen Fitness and I'm ready to commit to a full membership once my two weeks are up!!