My Fitness Year in a Wrap

Heres my face & workout room: 

In the past year or so I did some things to mix it up. I have started running 5-15K races, obstacle course races, and the likes. They are a ton of fun & a great way to get active with a group of friends. I even joined some local gyms through Groupon for a month at a time and of course I got in some great DVD workouts. Below is my "year in review" though it includes some things from either pre-2014 or even things that I just didnt try until 2014. 

DVD Action: 
Favorite set: ULTIMATUM - Loved Lindsi, loved the workouts. Highly recommend. Best set I reviewed this year. Lindsi really does combine strength & cardio in an innovative way. Get ready to get your sweat ON with these workouts.

Notable: I got my first full set from Cathe: Ripped With HiiT. Loved the workouts. Love the combo of heavy weights, intense cardio (low & high impact), circuit training, and so many premix options. Glad I bought & will get plenty of use out of this set.

There were a ton of great DVD's this year of course. The two I am seeing that I really did love as of late are both from 10 Minute Solution. Looks like they may be from 2013 though: 10 Minute Solution Butt Lift and 10 Minute Solution High Intensity Interval Training. Definitely the best 10 Minute Solutions I have seen in a while! Hope their future offerings are as good. I use both of these quite a bit. Butt Lift doesnt even use equipment but my buns always feel it the next day. 

Equipment:
Step360 I really like this step because of the lack of impact. The air chambers really cut out the impact. Basically this is the only step I can still use (post knee surgery). I use with other workouts more than the workouts that actually came with it.

The FIRM Zip Trainer: I really like the ZT and use it for a lot of other workouts. Great functional piece of equipment that can be used in a variety of ways. Love that the inner ball is interchangeable so you can make it heavier or lighter depending on what youre using it for. The workouts that came with the basic set are awesome! The add-ons were not as good as the basic set IMO.

Races: 
Did my first 15k-Hot Chocolate 15K (pictured)! I will do fewer races this year than last. My ankle (old sprain) was not pleased after so many races on concrete last year. I am only signed up for 2 more and both are 5k's. I may end up doing more depending on what comes up. You can see pics for all my races on my Races Page. I did something like 12 last season, Im only at maybe 7 this season with 2 pending so I am down at least a few lol

Some of my fav's to date are the ROC Race -Ridiculous Obstacle Course, though I hear its been renamed Wipe Out Race. It is basically obstacles from the Wipe Out show. Rugged Maniac was perfect - tough obstacles that were doable. Spartan Sprint was my first race ever (I am not a runner) and it was a 10k in rough terrain and a lot of the obstacles I would have had to train for. I didnt. If you could not complete an obstacle, then you had to do 30 burpees, which I did, and am OK with, but a lot of people skipped them, which dramatically cut down on their time. I am competitive lol. Oh and it was freezing outside. I will probably give it another shot in the future. Tough Mudder- havent done it, not sure Im ready....I dont train, I dont even run outside of these races, so maybe one day....

Gyms: 
I joined Amenzone Fitness for 30 days - it was awesome. I got the DVD's for review and loved them, saw the gym on Groupon and went for it. Loved using tires and the classes included functional strength & even running outdoors & up stairs. My cardio endurance level went WAY up and my running time really increased! They offer primal and boxing classes and I got me some really cute pink boxing gloves. I really like the DVDs too and still use them. I use my FIRM Zip Trainer and/or my Step360 instead of a tire for these. Hoping for new Amenzone DVDs soon.

I went to Camelback Boxing Gym, a local boxing gym, for 30 days - beating the f@&! out of heavy bags was pretty bad @$$. Not well rounded enough for me to do every day and I didnt get enough real strength work in but got some so I wasnt sure how to work out around boxing. Did have fun with it though and would def love to do something like this once a week.

I went to Jabz Boxing for women for 30 days - it was tough & fun. Couldnt handle the commute to this one though. Joined through Groupon to mix it up. I thought the instructors should have included some modifiers as I saw some women once & never again. This did include enough strength work and a ton of cardio- kind of a boxing bootcamp really. If one were near my home & the price was good, I would definitely consider.

I went to one class (technically 2015) at a Crowne Fitness which was a boxing bootcamp type class. Fun & tough, but Jabz was tougher. Will go again because a friend goes on Saturdays. In fact,
Im headed there now!

Went to a live barre3 class, was tougher than I expected. Im not much of a barre girl though and it was way too far from home and work to go regularly.

Fitness Random:
I got to attend the opening of a local Lorna Jane store and it was so fun! The shop is so cute and the clothes are amazing. The store even has a studio to take classes in! I wish I could restock my workout wardrobe from their store.

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I received samples of SOME of these products to review. I was in no other way compensated for my honest reviews. All thoughts and ideas expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Please see my disclosures page for details. Do not copy, in whole, or in part any portion of any postings on my blog. Do not repost my content on any other site without my explicit consent. All of my postings belong solely to lindsey8.blogspot.com.