Getting fit

Photo by Liora K Photography, belt and bra by Flip'n Tribal, Body by 30 Day Push-up Challenge

I'm not very fit right now. I don't want to say that I've been lazy, because I have been getting things done, I just haven't been as motivated as I could be. I don't do as much working out at home as I should, and I've been skipping dance cardio classes because they're not my favorite. So my body doesn't look as awesome as it does in this picture by Liora K.

Earlier today I was thinking about my shoulders, because they were sore, and it made me think about how good they looked for that photo shoot, and it made me think that I should do some push-ups, but maybe not today because like I said, soreness (still not 100% recovered from palm flames because I've been using my shoulders for fan veils and dancing and keeping my arms attached to my torso). And then, as I was thinking these warring thoughts about fitness and rest, Liora asked me if I wanted to come over to her place to work out. It was like a sign! So I said yes and oh wow, am I already sore.

We did this Total Body Barre Workout from Fitness Blender and it was great! It only takes 40 minutes and all you need is a yoga mat, a chair to help you balance and optional small handweights. You might also want a friend to encourage you when you feel like you're going to die! I think I might have given up if I'd been alone, but Liora and I had a definite "we're in this together" sort of thing going on, and besides, there was salad waiting for us when we were done (I know, I sound like such a health nut, but it was a really good salad and I'll eat cookies later).

I think I'll do this workout again at home, because I really would like to get back into the habit of not just dancing, but exercising as well. Now if you'll excuse me, my triceps are trying to fall off, I think I need to duct tape them in place.

 

I've been working out

This photo by Liora K makes me feel pretty awesome, because I think it's the first time I've ever been able to see my back and shoulder muscles. I wasn't even aware that they were visible until this shoot, because it's not like I can easily look at my own shoulders.

I'm feeling pretty buffed-out because I just finished a 30 day challenge where I built up to doing 250 squats and 100 push-ups. For the entire month of June I worked out 3 days on, 1 day off, no matter what else I had going on (except for one day when a gig ate my entire day and left no time or energy for workouts, so it ended up actually being a 31 day challenge).

I have mixed feelings about these 30 day challenges. On the one hand, I feel pretty proud of myself (and my husband too! He even kept it up when he went to NJ for a week) for accomplishing them, and I definitely see results in my back, shoulders and thighs. I have better range of motion in my push-ups now, too. On the other hand, I feel like my body probably would have been better served by doing a more varied work-out, and there were days when my thighs and hips were constantly sore and tired (I was very glad we didn't have dance class for the last 10 days of the month because I don't know if I could have handled both). Also, while my push-ups improved, my squats didn't get any better because I had to focus on increasing the quantity I did rather than the quality.

Going forward, I want to keep doing squats and push-ups, because they are good for me, but I want to do less of them and throw in some other things, like crunches or something, so more of my body gets a workout. My main worry is that without a 30 day challenge hanging over my head, I'll be more likely to not do my exercises when I'm too tired or it's too hot.

Oh, and speaking of too hot? It was 100 degrees or over every single day of June. I don't recommend choosing the hottest month of the year to start a new workout routine.

Busy week

Unless something crops up at the last minute, the party on the 8th was my last gig this month -- three performances in the space of a week and then none for the rest of the month, not an unusual turn of events. But the lack of gigs doesn't mean a lack of work. There's always something going on behind the scenes! Here's what I've been working on lately:

1. Classes and troupe practice! We're back to a regular schedule which means I am in class 4-5 hours a week. Troupe practice got moved to Weds nights and it feels really weird to have my Mondays free! Will I fill them with something else? Time will tell.

2. Getting ready for TRIBAL FEST!!!! I bought my plane ticket to SFO. I can't wait! I'll be rooming with my friend Fonda, who is excited to be with me for my first ever TF. It's going to be so awesome to take so many workshops, see so many friends, make new friends, shop, and dance dance dance.

3. Furthering my career. I just had a great private lesson with Jolie where we worked on some of my goals. She always gives such insightful, useful feedback.

4. Preparing for future performances. I may not have anything else this month, but March's Open Stage is right around the corner and I have a few other shows I'm looking forward to.

5. Getting into shape. Now that the weather is warming up (well, it was, until it decided to SNOW all day yesterday), my husband and I have started jogging again. I want to get a lot of jogs in now before it gets too hot in the Summer! Plus classes this week have been pretty hard and heavy, so I am feeling it in my muscles and I like the way it feels.

6. Making jewelry. Part of my Tribal Fest funding strategy involves sharing a booth with my brother at Wild Wild West Con next month. My steampunk jewelry selection is looking pretty skimpy, so I've been making new things right and left.

7. Blogging! Ok, not as much as I normally blog, but I'm trying. Check back tomorrow for another cosmetics review!

Working hard

It was another cold night (despite being the first day of Spring!), but I actually got warm because we did burpees and squats! Woohoo! I am feeling worked out tonight. I feel pretty good with how I did, both with the working out and the dancing.

Once again I did some practice before class. Two songs of emoting. The first was an old Drain STH (dark girl metal), so I did a kind of distant, detached thing, and the second was Abney Park, from the album where they were transitioning from Goth to steampunk, so the music is pretty melancholy and I think I did a good job of dancing said. I started to feel sad, so hopefully I looked sad. I tried to channel some of that into practicing my Wandering Star solo, too. It's a pretty sad song, but when I performed it at The Luxor I started smiling because I was having FUN! I'll have to work on balancing that. I also did a quick run of the Fire & Gold choreo, but I messed up the count somewhere. Oh well, I at least remembered everything, I think I just did a couple of things as a 4 count instead of 8, which threw me off. I'll try again tomorrow, and every day after until it's PERFECT!

Workin' out

Day 140 of practice.

Today was a day of afternoon exercise and practice. After spending a little time dancing while cleaning, I did a workout of squats, push-ups, shimmies and arm isolations, followed by practicing my Convivio solo because I'll probably be performing it next month.

On top of my usual classes and practice, I'm also doing Mahin's Shimmy Challenge from the Daily Belly Dance Quickie. Participants chose one shimmy to work on 2x a day while brushing their teeth. What could be easier? I'm working on a simple tic-toc on the down, because as simple as it is, I suck at it. I do too many hip-ups and not enough hip-drops.

The benefits of cross-training

Day 130 of practice.

I practiced during the day! For a while now I've wanted to take the time that I used to go to the gym (12:30-1:30) as my dance practice time. I wouldn't have to worry about being too tired, or about having had a large dinner and feeling too bloated to dance. But while the cooler was malfunctioning, it was simply too unbearably hot to do any sort of anything until about 10pm or later.

As part of this hour or so of practice, I also want to get back into working out. You see, I spent over a year going to a CrossFit gym in my neighborhood, where I got accustomed to doing really hardcore workouts -- running, rowing, Olympic lifting, pushups, sits-ups, squats, etc etc. I got into great shape but I was also too tired to get quality dance practice, and I was frequently covered in bruises (I bruise really easily!) and nursing sore muscles. Plus the membership fees were crazy expensive, so I decided to drop out and focus on dance. But I've been losing a lot of the great muscle tone I had, so I want to get back to at least doing some fitness stuff at home to supplement my belly dance and keep me in shape. I may also pick up some yoga classes or something to further my cross-training goals, but I don't know.

Anyway, my husband decided he liked my idea of practicing/working out in our old CrossFit time slot, so he decided to invite me on a jog. Even at my peak adult fitness I was horrible at running, but I decided to go with him anyway. We probably jogged about 400 meters and walked the rest of the block and it kicked my butt! I decided not to do any skirt practice because I didn't want to get all that gross sweat in my nice skirt :P

For the dancing part of my practice I did my layered shimmy practice, some glute squeezes and lower ab isolations, random bits of dancing to music that came on while I was doing things and inspired me, and then I decided to go back to my "one random song a day" exercise. "Come Tenderness" by Lisa Gerrard was what the iPod gave me. The song is really, really minimalist, the sort of thing I would never want to perform to. I used it as an excuse to practice really, really, ridiculously slow slow moves. I was glad when it was done!

I'll round out my half-hour later tonight by throwing on the skirt and practicing skirt combos and spotting.