Weekly recap and I’m glad I switched to the YMCA…

Throughout my years in Minneapolis, I’ve switched gym memberships many times. I’ve been a member of Lifetime (and Northwest before Lifetime bought them), the Firm, LA Fitness, and most recently, the YMCA. My reasons for joining each gym have changed with different periods of my life and different fitness needs. For example, right after college, I was obsessed with spin classes, and I paid up for a monthly membership at the Firm because they had the BEST spin classes. Then, when I got into running, I wasn’t using the Firm classes as much, so I joined Northwest with Dustin. When they were purchased by Lifetime Fitness, I stuck around for a few years, but there wasn’t a location convenient to my office and home. LA Fitness entered the scene, and at just $30/month, I decided to hop onto that bandwagon (There was one close to my work and home). Eventually though, for a variety of reasons, I realized I wanted a gym with a little more to offer than the “barebones” of LA Fitness.

I did a free trial week at the YMCA, took a few Body Pump classes with a friend, and decided to make the switch to the Y. I have been really happy throughout my two years as a member there. There are multiple locations that are convenient to me, both home and office. Sure, the spin classes aren’t as intense as those at the Firm were, but overall I think the classes are still pretty good, and I really don’t go there for the classes. I love their pool and their new treadmills (which I spent a lot of time on this winter) I pay the extra $11/month for towel service, and the convenience is definitely worth it to me. I can’t foresee any reason why I would end my membership at this time! Of course, I am also a member of the Calhoun Beach Running Club, and I have class packages all over the place (the Barre, Corepower Yoga, Modo Yoga, Pilates ProWorks, Balance Fitness, Balanced Barre) as well, so I’m not asking for ALL my fitness needs to be met in one place, if you know what I mean. 

If you do want all your fitness needs met in one location, something like Lifetime Fitness or the Firm is probably a good option for you. If you want barebones- there’s plenty of options, such as 24 Hour Fitness, Snap Fitness Anytime Fitness and of course LA Fitness

Anyways! That’s my Minneapolis “gym” history. I was thinking about this history because of this recent local news story about violence and fights at an LA Fitness…this is not the location that I used to go to, but it still makes me happy that I switched to the YMCA! The Y is by no means luxurious, but it is bit more family focused and friendly, and I just can’t picture this happening there.

Check it out here: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/03/07/big-gym-fight-has-police-hoping-la-fitness-beefs-up-security/

Yikes!

Okay, moving on....I’m here with a weekly recap of March 3-9.

Monday: 8 miles on the treadmill (at my lovely YMCA)

Tuesday: 8 miles on the treadmill with some hilly intervals

Wednesday: Kettlebell/strength class at Balance Fitness

Thursday: 7 miles outside with my friend Monica!

Friday: C2 yoga at Corepower Yoga (vinyasa flow)

Saturday: 18 mile long run

Sunday: 1 hour barre class at The Barre with my friend Susie

My mileage wasn’t as high as normal, but I was trying to be cautious after my IT band started acting up this week. As I mentioned in this post, I went in for some treatment on Friday, and I made it through my 18 miler on Saturday. Normally I would have been tempted to throw in another run on Friday and/or Sunday (especially Sunday, since it was finally starting to feel like spring!) but I resisted the temptation. I was really proud of myself for choosing NOT to run on those days. Instead, I found a different activity for fitting fitness on those days- an activity that hopefully will help me in the long term more than those extra miles would have.

In fashion this week...

..of course I was excited about some new necklaces from Oia Jules (read about those HERE)

In fitness fashion, 

I am pretty stoked about lululemon’s upcoming warehouse sale! Read all about it on the Mpls/St. Paul magazine’s blog HERE. Will you be there? I definitely will be!

Details-

Where: Minneapolis Convention Center

When: March 28-30

Hope to see you there!

Fitting Fitness: Be flexible.

By Cool J in Minneapolis

Thanks to Dusters for the snarky New Year’s post.

Couple quick failed fits to share for the end of 2012…

Sunday: I had plans to run with some girlfriends at 8:30 am. The thermometer read 2F, and apparently it felt like -12 with the wind. However, I thought we were still on (I mean, my friends are tough, right?) So I went through my morning routine and was ready to head out the door, when I received a text at 8:20 that the run was off…Well then! I wasn’t motivated enough to get in the extra miles by myself outside in the cold, so instead I went to LA Fitness for some cross training on the elliptical and the stair stepper. Maybe this failed fit was a good thing? I could always use some extra non-running cardio, right?

 

Monday: I had plans to head to LA Fitness for some early morning miles on the treadmill. I arrived at 5:30 am, to a dark gym and an empty parking lot. Apparently, the gym had shortened hours on NYE. Shoot! Fortunately, there is a Corepower Yoga studio right around the corner. I headed over there instead. I only had my running clothes, and didn’t have my yoga mat, but I rented a mat and the morning turned into a yoga sculpt morning instead.

Moral of the story? Well, sometimes you have to be flexible in your workouts. They won’t always go exactly as planned. I suggest bringing your whole closet with you (figuratively of course), so you have the right gear for whatever workout ends up fitting in. Sometimes I feel like the bag lady with all the gear I have to bring. And even with my full bags, I still forgot my mat in the house and had to rent one from Corepower.

Flexibility is key. Your workouts won’t always go as planned, but as long as you roll with the  punches, you can still find a way to Fit Fitness into your life!