30 Day Yoga Camp

I have to admit that I really like challenges because, as the past few days after the Squat Challenge have shown, if there is no challenge I just end up not doing anything at all. So today I saw that Adriene (from Yoga with Adriene) has made another 30 Day yoga series and I am super excited to get on with it. In May 2015 I did her 30 Days of Yoga and that was a time of my life when I was feeling absolutely superb and on top of the world. I hope that this programme will make me feel like that again (or perhaps even better?). 

So officially, Yoga Camp - started; day 1 - done!

Salsa

Salsa day today! There was ony one guy other than the instructor in the group, so I had to be a leader as well which hadn't happened a lot lately. It was quite cool actually because we were doing some more advanced moves which I already knew as a lady anyway, so I got to learn them from a new perspective.

30 Day Squat Challenge

250 squats done! I had never thought I was capable of something like this! I feel quite good about myself right now and I'm already thinking about what my next challenge should be.

30 Day Squat Challenge

240 squats today! Oddly enough my hips were more tired from getting to 230 the other day than they are today. One more day till the end of the challenge!

Salsa

Went social salsa dancing last night. It was my first out-of-class salsa experience and it was amazing! I can't wait to go again next week. Workout-wise, I think it was also quite good, as I was out of breath and (more than) midly sweaty after only two songs. 

30 Day Squat Challenge

Day 28 today and all the ones before it are done! I have to say, the jump from 190 to 220 was quite challenging, and the past couple of days have been especially hard. I am actually worried about how tomorrow and the day after tomorrow (the last day of the challenge) will go. But I think I'm finally starting to see some results, so that makes it worth it... most of the time.

Hula Hooping

By far one of the funniest forms of exercise! While it doesn't burn too many calories per se (according to this calculator - http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/calories_burned.asp - I've burned 72 calories in 10 minutes... which is actually more than cardio dancing according to the same calculator), I can literally feel how it's tightening my muscles. I worked on my core and my arms, and I could definitely feel how all my muscles were working hard to keep that hula hoop off the ground.

30 Day Squat Challenge

185 squats... and oddly enough I'm not awfully tired. I must be getting used to this.

30 Day Squat Challenge

Day 21 - 180 squats - done! My thighs are dying...

30 Day Squat Challenge

Days 18, 19 and 20 done! I've been travelling so I didn't have the opportunity to update on previous days but that doesn't mean I didn't do my fair share of squats. Sadly though I'm more than half-way done and I still don't see any significant change in my bottom... only my legs seem to have become more muscular.

Day 17 is here! Wow, can't believe it's been 17 days already. After barely making 150 I'm genuonely worried as to how the rest of this will go.

Salsa

Went to a salsa class yesterday in a studio different from the one I usually go to. I didn't know anyone which was more or less awkward but eventually I found a partner to dance with and I learned so many new figures! It was very interesting and I can't wait to teach my regular partner how to rock them as well.

Yoga

Yoga day today! We were with the toughest instructor and we did quite a challenging routine, which I loved. I even rocked a new pose today which I am very proud of but I don't really know its name in English.

30 Day Squat Challenge

Days 14 and 15 (135 and 140 squats) done! I couldn't write yesterday but I did do my daily dose of pain in the bitt. I have to say, I am starting to find these hard and today I was dying after 120. Not giving up though :)

Yoga

A yoga day today :) It was a good practice, a very satisfying one - challenging but also rewarding. The only thing that I'm struggling with is understanding the instructor's breathing pattern. Like, how can I rise up and extend while exhaling? 

30 Day Squat Challenge

Day 13 - 130 squats - done! Today I stuck to the song's beat and almost passed out by the count of 130. I was really out of breath and I can't say whether it's because I ate shortly before working out, because I'm generally not that fit, because I made a 20-squat jump after messing up my counting (as pointed out yesterday), or because, well, it's hard. Regardless, I did it :)

30 Day Squat Challenge

So it turns out I've made such a huge mess of my challenge. I really tried doing it all properly, but at one pont I stopped looking at the chart, and... well, things apparently have gone downhill from there. I thought I was on Day 12 today, which doesn't really make much sense because I rested yesterday and did 110 squats today. Regardless, I'm moving on to Day 13 tomorrow and I'll do 130 squats then. I already feel the upcoming pain in my bum.

Yin Yoga

Although I hadn't done it for years, my newly found love for legit yoga classes is something that is making me quite happy these days. I like that I never know what we are going to do in a given class and so there is always an element of surprise and wonder when I go to the studio (something that I didn't really get often with Youtube yoga videos). So yesterday I went to a Yin Yoga practice and although I wasn't as in love with it as some other people in my group, I was quite pleased with the amount of time we spent meditating. My mind has been very busy lately and it really needed this peace and quiet for a little while. I had never been to a yoga or even a meditaton class where we would all sit cross-legged and chant 'OM', but that's exactly what happened yesterday. I laughed quietly under my breath, as that was happening because it is such a stereotypical method of meditation, but eventually I eased into it... I still prefer a more mindful, quiet and focused medittaion though. 

Yoga Yoga Yoga

So today I got the day off from the 30 Day Squat Challenge and in order not to break my onoing workour spree I went to a yoga class. We worked the abs and the legs and it was all very nice, but I can't say it was as satisfying as the yoga the other day. It was with a different instructor and I'm afraid her style wasn't dynamic enough for me.

30 Day Squat Challenge

Finally I hit 100 squats! (actually, I think I might have made a mistake in the counting and actually reached 110, but oh well, who cares about the details anyway!) I never really thought that I would be able to do 100 squats in my life - like, EVER - and before I was proud of myself if I did 25 a day, but I have to say, I am quite pleased with myself. So hooray for that!

Morning Yoga

Another day started happily with some morning yoga!

30 Day Squat Challenge

Day 10 done! Woohoo! After the yoga today, I really wasn't too sure if I'd be able to get through my 95 squats. That's why I had to keep reminding myself about the end-goal (as pictured above).

Power Yoga

I don't know why exactly, but today I thought it was high time that I went to a proper yoga class. I looked it up on Google where I could find a yoga studio in my city that had classes today, and after failing to convince any of my friends to go with me, I headed there by myself. Turned out no one had shown up for the practice and it was literally just me and the instructor there. We still had a an hour and a half long practice, which focused intensley on the legs and the core. By the end of it, my abs were dying and although I rocked my balancing poses I started falling out of the easiest poses, like the Triangle. It was quite funny though, and I think the instructor was quite impressed with my skills especially provided it was my first time in her studio (I'm being so humble here, aren't I?). Anyway, I enjoyed it immensely and was invited to the sessions this Friday and Saturday. 

Dance, Dance, Dance!

So today, instead of just doing my regular squats (which I also did), a warmed up with some solo salsa and (what I imagined to be) tango and hip hop dancing. I don't think I did too good provided that my room is way too small to choreograph any decent dance for myself, but I still did dancing for about one solid hour. My hips were so tired by the time I got around doing my 90 squats that I was actually dying when I reached 60! This is quite remarcable compared to previous days when I hit my count with no problem. And for the first time today, one song was almost not enough for my squats!

Just like taking the stairs instead of the elevator - which has become a well-established habit by now - I actually dance quite often... as in, almost every day kind of often. I don't know why I hadn't blogged about it until today, but I might start posting some of the songs I like dancing to.

Morning Yoga

Since today I have a day of rest in the 30 Day Squat Challenge, I thought it made sense that I should do some other kind of excercise. And yoga is such a great love of mine that it just had to be the activity of choice.

Just lately I have been going through some tough times in my personal life and so I couldn't sleep too well last night (I probably fell asleep somewhere around 6am), and so when I woke up to my alarm at 12:00 I thought I deserved to do something good for myself. Yoga always makes me feel good, whether it's a dynamic Vinyasa or an explorative moving and breathing with the sole purpose of feeling good. I did a lot of strecthing this morning and I could definitely feel the effect that last 3-4 weeks of no yoga have had on my flexibility. But it still felt so good and so restorative for both by body and mind to just focus on my breath and movement and not think about anything ese going on. I will be trying to integrate more yoga into my life again. I love it too much not to do it.

30 Day Squat Challenge

Day 7 - 80 squats - done! Today I got distracted with the counting quite a few times, and as I thought it would be better to do more than less, I think it's highly likely that I've done up to 10 extra squats. On the plus side, it seems like a good training for Day 9 and it should add some points to the good looking-ness of the bootey, but then again it might be the reason why today's set felt so much more tiring than yesterday's one. Oh well!

Just found this other 30-Day Squat Challenge and it looks so much easier than the one I've started. Not sure if I'm proud of mysef for going with the harder one (it is supposed to be a challenge after all!) or if I'm actually slightly annoyed for not doing the easier thing, which would have also been fair for a newbee like me. On Day 6 (of the challenge I'm doing) it's still not hard enough to make me regret my choice, but my bumm is already hurting so I can't imagine what it will be like on Day 30... the pain might be because of the gym yesterday though. 

30 Day Squat Challenge

Day 6 - 75 squats - done! 

I even got my Mum into it (although she only did the beginner's 50). I'm starting to think I shoud have taken a BEFORE picture, so that I could eventually make the comparison... Would have been quite handy actually since I'm already running short on funny things to say or interesting pictures/videos to post every day for this challenge and a 'progress' photo would have always worked well. But hey, I'm doing my daily share and that's what matters most, right? 

30 Day Squat Challenge

Day 5 of the Pain in the Ass Challenge done! I feel I should stop being surprised at how short a time this takes. It's slightly annoying though; my legs hurt, my butt hurts, I'm sweating and short of breath - and then I look up and it's only been 3 minutes! And 3 minutes doesn't sound like that much of a workout, does it? Like, my effort counts too!

Gymming

Heeeyyyy! Who would have thought that I'd spend January 1st in the gym? I certainly didn't expect that, but still I got a good hour and a half of solid workout there today. I did fat-burning walking for about 30 minutes (although how dare they call it "fat burning" when I only burned 120 caories in that time???), 20 minutes cardio, and then worked on my arms, core, legs and bottom. Overall, I'm quite pleased with myself although I'll probably be crazily sore tomorrow.