Getting in to my two hour work groove…...

Hour 1 of yesterday's workout was an eye opener. Last Nights class was not what I was expecting. Based on the site I registered for at all. The class was called Sexy Stretch/Floor Play. Sounds alluring right. Who wouldn't want to crawl around on the floor feeling sexy right. Here is the class description to get you just a bit more detail on how I was thrown for a loop:

This class combines sexy floor play and sensual stretching for an erotic flexibility workout. You will lengthen and tone muscles through slow and sultry movements utilizing yoga, ballet, contortion, gymnastics and exotic dance techniques. Get ready to build a toned, limber, luscious body!

So I get there and my instructor who is very awesome I must say tells me to grab two yoga mats. one to lay on and the other to roll to put under my knees. I guess this should have been my red flag # 1, but I let it go. I am in my head thinking we are going to do splits, and sexy yoga moves. Well HONEY CHILD I was WRONG WRONG WRONG. This class should have been called Planks, Planks, and More (with sprinkles of crunches thrown in). This hour was a killer no ifs ands or buts about it, but I was proud of myself. I got through it and you know what I am looking forward to the next one.

Tracking my food intake…..

Since the start of my healthier me quest the bane of my existence has been the tracking of the food I eat. Today I woke up and said Freida you need to get better at tracking your food in the Myfitnesspal App. I get to work this morning and I log into the site with the sole purpose of updating my weight and low and behold I am down a whopping 15lbs!!! A big whoot whoot to me. High Five….Go Freida, Go Freida, get ya sweat on. LOL Anyways as I was redirected to reset my goals I cannot meet these goals if I don’t put in the effort. Yes I am putting in the effort of getting my behind off the couch and in the the pole studio, but all of my hard work goes down the train when I come home and eat something that will make everything I just did a waste of time.

Don’t get me wrong. I fought every step of the way for this 15lb weight loss, but I feel that I can be a lot further if I were to track my food intake properly.

This week I have embarked on my daily consumption of 128 oz of water a day. Yes you read that correctly 128 oz of water.  Today is day 2 and its’s going is all I can say at the moment.

Non Training days....

Now that I have been training for some time now on the days when I can’t train I get the blues. I miss my friend Mr. Pole and that decompressing time from my lovely family. I have notice some downsides to my workout of choice and it is with my hands. I am getting callouses on my palms and my hand tend to hurt similar to arthritic pain. After a pole fit class my hands tend to need time to recoup themselves. I have started looking for aids to help in this area, but no luck yet.

More training please?....

At my new studio home I decided to check out the pole fit class. Well honey child once again it was not what I was expecting. I am used to more of the work out than the pole part. This pole fit within it self is nothing to laugh at. We did some of the stuff I am used to crunches, firework kicks, fan kicks, etc. The words 200 squats were uttered and I wanted to run screaming from the room, but I got through it, YAY GO ME!!! I was floating on cloud nine and doing a little diddy in my head to the tune of 200 bodywave squats I did it I did it yeah yeah when I caught the tail end of ok ladies now lets invert. I immediately start looking around the room and was hoping this was not indeed part of the class but some sort of a joke until the instructor demoed the invert in question. I gave it several attempts, but failed at each. Which put me in a depressed mood for the rest of the class. At the end of the invert torture we had to perform a routine and end it with a dynamic move (meaing feet off the floor). My move of choice was a climb into pole sit. Overall I signed up for the next Pole fit class. I will get that invert eventually.

More training please?....

I have been Poling for about 6 months now and I feel that I am behind compared to other ladies in my class so I decided I need to up my training. I started going to a studio that is in my neighborhood and I have to say even though it’s unfortunate I may have found my new training playground. To try out the place I purchased a 5 class pass groupon. My first night there I got there a bit early to scope the place out and my first impression of the studio was the size. I have learned over my time of training that the number of poles and the space they are put in will determine if the studio is about teaching Pole or how many bodies they can squeeze in. The studio size is adequate. The set up is pretty basic..open space with a front desk. Poles in the room in an L shape. Chairs along the walls. Lounge in the back with storage and restrooms.

Once I got over the initial scope out I watched the last 5 minutes or so of the Zumba class that was happening and I was captivated. I instantly told my hubby if I don’t like the pole here I will come and take the zumba. Anyways back to the task at hand..Pole class started with a warm up as usual. Internally I was bracing myself for all of the yoga and push up and lunges (dubbed as 5 minutes of hell LOL) , but the instructor put her shoes on and I was a bit taken aback as she introduced herself as well as the other ladies that were regulars and to my suprise you had to pick an alter ego. They all had alter ego names such as Milk, Red Hot, Sasha,,etc. I was called upon to introduce myself and had no clue as to what my alter ego name would be so I got dubbed Delicious for the day.  

The warm up was over in a blink of an eye. She said ok now that we are warmed up lets work on a Fireman. I am looking around kind of let down. Where was my 5 minutes of hell? Am I warmed up? Did I make the right decision coming here? As I tune back in she is finishing her demo and it wasn’t much of a demo with regards to technique. If I had been a newbie I wouldn’t have been able to grasp what she was talking about. First X was the level of technicality. Too late I am here now need to get with the program.

Class continued without a hitch and the things we learned were all part of a routine that we performed at the end a few times which I took back my X for because that is what I was missing at the place I had started out yet. It was too technical with bits and pieces of fun mixed in and this is supposed to be fun disguised as a work. At the end of class there an individual performance portion. You are on center stage and you have 30 seconds to dance for your life. It was soo much fun. The ladies made it ran with pre-tend money, they cheered you on, you were made to feel accepted.

On the quest for cute workout gear...Follow up

In class my instructor will have her cute pole gear on consisting of the tiniest boy shorts ever made with the matching sports bra and will have the nerve to say she isn’t hot. To myself as well as some of the other women in the room were like honey please can we trade for one moment please. I will take the rock hard abs and the toned muscles if you don’t want it and wear that cute outfit all day.

In my recent searching for workout gear I have come to a realization that I am taking steps closer to the tiny clothes movement. When looking for pole gear now my focus is how much of my skin will be exposed to get the best pole contact. I am not there with the tops yet. still a long way to go on this healthier me journey, but the lower half all bets are off. 

Wearing heels was…….

Starting to train with heels on was off to a rough start. I am in class I am all excited to wear my shiny new 6 inch heels until it was time to put them on LOL. After a bit of a struggle I am up off the floor in these silent killers and take baby steps to my pole. Once at my trusty friend Mr. Pole it was time for “Pole walk” and I’m like ok well how hard could that be it’s just walking right. Well let me tell you trying to concentrate on staying upright in 6 inch heels while being sexy was quite comical. So the walk is over and it’s now time for some spins and combos. First combo was “Dip Spin, Pirouette, into Back Hook Spin. First attempt was wobbly. My instructor kept telling me forget they are shoes and think of them of extensions of my feet. Second attempt less wobbly but wobbly. You know what they say; third time had to be the charm right. Well no not here. The third attempt started out graceful but ended with me being a twisted mess on the floor.

You would think with all of the struggling I would just say to heck with the shoes and went back to my bare feet, but no on this I will not give up. I will kill these moves in these 6 inch heels come hell or high water. Next combo of the day was “Fan Kick into Pole sit. This I killed on the first try which was a total confidence booster. Several attempts later and I was feeling on top of the world thinking to myself yes hunty you are killing it.

At the end of class I was totally proud of myself. My first time in heels wasn’t smooth but I didn’t give up.

It took me about 3 weeks to feel 100% comfortable Poling in my shoes. I  found that having the height of the heels gives you an advantage when trying to things on the pole such as climbing.