How is that Water Challenge Treating Me?

So .. as I discussed in a previous post I am taking a 30 day water challenge. You may ask .. how is it going?

The first couple of days were miserable .. at one point I wanted to move my laptop into the bathroom to save myself the walking. The bonus in this? I easily hit my daily quota in steps walking back and forth again, and again, and again, and …

Things I’ve Learned …

• Don’t drink massive amounts of water before you are going to be in a situation where you cannot go to the bathroom. Thankfully I ‘thought’ about this and tapered before I had to teach classes at the gym. That would have been miserable!
• When you drink water more consistently that ice water really keeps your body temperature lower. I switched to luke warm water pretty quick
• After a couple of days I started to drink it more consistently on my own (I was having an app buzz me every hour to drink water) .. it definitely feels both that my body needs it and wants it

Things I’ve Noticed …

• For some reason my system feels cleaner, head to toe. I really don’t know how to explain it but I feel like I’m flushing myself out constantly.
• I’m not as hungry as often as I thought I was … that is in part because we sometimes mix up signals of hunger and thirst and well, I’m definitely never thirsty! 🙂
• My skin feels better .. I noticed today that some of my dark circles seem a bit better (and it’s not because I’m getting enough sleep at night because that is one of my issues..)
• I am more alert during the work day, which is great because right now my job is slooooow

Are they related? I don’t know but they are different, and positive.

I’ll post another update on this soon but I’m pretty sure that 30 days will end up being a permanent change!

Happy day and thanks for reading!

I have tons of playlists on Spotify, by BPMs, by moves (i.e. seated flats, standing climbs, etc). Feel free to follow me as I am constantly adding to my playlists 🙂

Christina

Feel free to follow me on social media!

Follow @joschmoblo

Follow @_findingfitness – my blog’s twitter

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Why You Should Try a Hydrobike Class .. Hydro-what?

When I first heard about hydrobike classes I will admit to scratching my head. A bike .. in the water? I could neither envision it nor understand how that would work.

Let’s fast forward a bit. I love fitness trainings and I love to teach so, when presented the opportunity to learn how to teach hydrobike classes I decided to attend.

What is a hydrobike class like? I am sure that there is a formal description but I’ll give you my two cents. It’s not indoor cycling and it’s not aqua aerobics. It’s almost as if the two had a baby and the child was an evolved hybrid of sorts .. 🙂

After the training was over with, while I knew the gist of how to teach the class I was still a bit nervous .. I just could not wrap my brain around it. So, I opted to attend a class while a fellow instructor was teaching in order to see a full class taught. That helped .. so much .. although the class was ‘full’ so instead of riding a bike I jogged in the pool and observed the class.

Ok .. I was finally ready to teach it.

Officially being in the teaching rotation my first class time happened. I walked in prepared start to finish. Everyone was set up, we got the bikes into the pool (something about throwing the bikes into the pool is very therapeutic .. heh), I hopped on, and we started to warm up.

After the warm up we started right into the meat of the workout. And … about a minute later I realized this …

Hydrobike is no joke.

I was seriously winded and fighting the water. It was uncomfortable, challenging, and energetic. I never feel like I conquer the spin / indoor cycling bike but I have a grasp on my workouts when I am on them.

So .. how does it work?

The hydrobike has no resistance knob on it, so you never change the tension to find hills, or flats. The resistance is controlled by the rate at which you pedal. Faster legs = more tension. So when I went all out on that first song, the water fought me back, big time.

A bonus to the scenario is this .. you’re working in water so, when cycling was low impact, this is even lower impact.

Like any class you control the workout. You change speed, change positions, and, something new, can incorporate water weights / upper body movements into the equation. You can even change your body position relative to the bike to alter the workout.

Note: As a spinning instructor I had a hard time grasping the things that are considered big “NOs” in spin .. but I kept / keep reminding myself that this in not spinning .. 🙂

After teaching it a few times I can definitely say that it’s been a positive addition to my teaching regimen. It’s a different workout for the legs and change is always good for avoiding those dreaded fitness plateaus. I highly recommend people trying it, if the opportunity is there.

What do you need for class?

• Bathing suit (a one piece bathing suit) OR just wear a tank top / shirt and shorts
  • If you wear a tank top / shirt and shorts you’ll want them to be form fitting otherwise they’ll drag with the weight of the water.
  • Most people seem to wear tanks and shorts .. I wear a bathing suit and shorts about half the time. The other times it is a tank top and shorts.

• Shoes that you can wear in the pool
  • You’ll actually strap into the pedals, like you do in regular indoor cycling classes so you need shoes. Water shoes, old shoes, .. something that you don’t mind getting wet. If you do it barefoot you may miss some of the benefits of the workout.

• Water bottle

• Towel .. to dry off with 🙂

Some people may need other items (ear plugs, etc) but those are at least the basics to get you through class.

I hope this helps and I really hope that you try it out!

Thanks for reading!

Feel free to follow me on social media!

Follow @joschmoblo

This is Good For Our Health – Taking a 30 Day Water Challenge

At times, I am fantastic at drinking water. If you count the water in my coffee then most days I’m great. Other days I really don’t drink enough. Part of it is that whole out of sight, out of mind aspect.

Water bottle in hand, ready to take this 30 day water challenge!

So .. I have decided to take a 30 day water challenge. That sounds easy, right? You would think so! For the next 30 days I’m going to make it a point to drink at least my quota of water .. and let’s see how life is when I’m done.

How much water? Well, I was doing a bit of research and there really is no straight answer .. so I’m going to go based on what the Mayo Clinic has posted…

For females they recommend 74.4 ounces, and they say …

• Short exercise sessions (but where you still sweat) increases that number by 1.5 to 2.5 cups (or 12 to 20 ounces). If it lasts longer than an hour (this is me a few times a week) it requires more (although they don’t specify how much).
• During the extended exercise sessions they advise to drink sports drinks containing sodium to help replenish the sodium lost.
• They also advise to continue drinking after exercising (<< — this is never a problem!)

Ok .. so I’m going to wrap my brain around this for a minute .. but I’m doing this! Let’s see what happens and feel free to join me if you are up for it!

Why drink more water?

• It helps your complexion .. I know this because on consecutive days where I don’t drink enough water my complexion goes South. If for no other reason I’m doing this for my skin 🙂
• Cravings control .. did you know that sometimes when we think we are hungry our body is actually just thirsty? Yep .. I used to think it was just because I was looking for an excuse to eat
• It could give you that energy you need .. one of many signs of dehydration is becoming tired. This could cure that
• It keeps your muscles hydrated .. when we sweat during workouts we are losing water from our muscles so definitely make sure you drink just enough to stay ahead of the extreme muscle fatigue
• It keeps your internal systems moving along .. our body is made up of 60% water .. drinking keeps everything internally moving ahead

I’m sure there are a bunch of reasons but instead of looking them up I’m just going to find out for myself! See you on the other side 🙂

Thanks for reading!

I have tons of playlists on Spotify, by BPMs, by moves (i.e. seated flats, standing climbs, etc). Feel free to follow me as I am constantly adding to my playlists 🙂

Christina

Feel free to follow me on social media!

Follow @joschmoblo

Follow @_findingfitness – my blog’s twitter

 

Things I Love – My Tervis Water Bottle

Anyone who goes to the gym for any long period of time knows that we are always on the lookout for that *great* water bottle. No, really, or is it just me?

For years I was using a bottle from Thermos that I loved (I actually own 3 of them now) but I kept running into an issue. You see, I’m *all over the place* when I am teaching classes at the gym and soon enough that bottle is going to fall, get knock over, or both. The Thermos could not survive “me.”

I walked into the store one day and see that same huge display of Tervis’ that I have always seen. Having a broken heart from busting yet another water bottle I walked to the shelves and started looking them. Decided why not, and bought one.

I think I have had it for almost a year .. a year of bliss an awesomeness. No, really!

For one it’s insulated. Hot stuff stays hot and cold stuff stays cold (I also have a Tervis now that I use obsessively for coffee!).

For two, they put different inserts within the insulation so the designs are endless! You can get your favorite basketball team, cute designs (like what I have in the photo), sayings, etc. There are so many styles out there!

For three, this bottle tolerates me with no issues! I’ve knocked it over once or twice… or 5 times. Never dropped it (I don’t actually think I dropped the Thermos’ to be honest, just tipped them over and BOOM .. sad face) but I am sure it could take it better than any other bottle.

Through all the excessive use (I teach multiple classes a day almost 7 days a week, if not 7 days some weeks) it has maintained its integrity like a champ.

<– Oh and when you are like me and leave water in it on freezing days, it does not break either. I’ve done that a few times 😦

The one in the photo is the water bottle style. They also sell tumblers in different sizes, even mugs and such.

If you’re in the market for a new water bottle, or drinking device, I would really and truly give them a look. They are in so many different styles and the quality is top notch!

Thanks for reading!!

Feel free to follow me on social media!

Follow @joschmoblo

Follow @_findingfitness – my blog’s twitter