Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Bar Method and Old Friends…

Hello my Loves! I hope everyone is having a great week =) WOW it is so nice to be able to type again with all my keys working again…I am one happy Mari.

This morning I started my day with a couple of Strawberries (I didn’t eat ALL of these) and my usual Cafe Con Leche….

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I then headed into the city to meet Jess who invited me to a Bar Method class…here is a little info about Bar Method, for those of you who have never heard about it.

“The Bar Method™workout creates a uniquely lean, firm, sculpted body by combining the muscle-shaping principles of isometrics, the body-elongating practice of dance conditioning, the science of physical therapy and the intense pace of interval training into a powerful exercise format that quickly and safely reshapes and elongates muscles.” Click Here for More Info.

This was my first taking a Bar Method class but I did have some knowledge of this sort of exercise because I have done routines from one of my favorite books “Raise The Bar” which was written by Richard Giorla the creator of Cardio Barre which is similar to Bar Method.

I arrived to the studio and was greeted by Robin and Amanda who were both going to teach the class. Jess made a special request and asked Robin to teach me “the tuck” before class…this is when you tuck your pelvic bone under while you keep your back straight. You have to focus on this posture throughout the workout.

It looks something like this

image004Picture: Courtesy of Bar Method 

We started off with some arm workouts with light weights and high reps (I am a big fan of this). We then moved to the bars and the instructors asked me to stay in the middle by the mirror so that I could really focus on my positioning. This is when things got tricky for me, we had to do a lot of various leg workouts and I never knew that my body could shake so much! I literally looked like a Vibrator! But then I looked around the room and it was a room of Vibrators! We were all shaking! The whole point is to work your muscles until they are completely fatigued and then stretch them out. I liked (and hated) that the instructors kept correcting my form but after a while I think the other people must have hated my name “Mariette try to keep the tuck positioning and bend your knees…”.

My favorite part of the class was when focused on my abs…I may not have a 6 Pack but I think my core is pretty strong so I loved challenging it. All in all, I really loved the class and the whole staff was incredibly friendly. They reassured me that even though they kept correcting me; I was strong and did great. I am sure they were just being nice lol.

Thanks Jess for the Invite and thanks Bar Method for a great class!

After the class, I headed back into Queens and I was starving! I looked around my bag and found this at the bottom…SCORE!

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I then ran some errands and surprised my mom and niece who were doing laundry…I love when I get to see my niece’s face when I totally catch her off guard.

While in my old neighborhood (my mom has lived in the same place for 32 years) I bumped into a couple of friends, including Mario!!!!!

Mario owns the local Pizzeria “John's” (mentioned in Daily News) and I have known him for more than I would like to admit lol

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Whenever I run into him, we usually spend hours catching up; this time it cost me 5 dollars in quarters so that someone could enjoy herself too!

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While I was there, I enjoyed a veggie slice…so delish!!!! Ya’ll know that I don’t usually crave meat but today I was craving a pepperoni slice! It looked so fresh and cheesy but thankfully this satisfied my urge…

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Besides fresh pizza, they also have fresh home made TIRAMISU! And it is sinfully good which is ironic because it is made by a sweet “old school” CATHOLIC lady…Mario’s MOM!

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Great Workout, Great Eats, and FABULOUS Company!!!! This was a WIN WIN day!

Namaste…

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