Kickstart Day 8

Forgot to post this yesterday, but on Tuesday I managed to go for Yili's "Express Body Combat" class. A sweet and short introduction to the new release - BC 54!

I don't have the tracklists yet, so just off the top of my head, I would say that the warm-up is pretty ok, nothing new. By the 3rd track, there's already major complications --- so many kicks! I didn't know by track #3 gonna be so hardcore already. Honestly, I didn't know if I could make it. And right after that, we have the usual jump kicks track... it's really a HORROR-FILLED moment. There's new combos as well to mix things up a bit... a lot of us got confused. Something like two back knees, step back, side kick, step back again and then a lunging front kick. Halfway through, you would forget about stepping back, or forget the side-kick!

This whole class will tend to make your limbs feel very tired because it likes to concentrate on one part of your body ONLY, like the roundhouse kicks without putting the leg down (balance.. balance!!) or after that, single jabs on only one arm for like .... countless times.

The Muay Thai track was not that difficult. In fact, for the whole new release, there is also a lot of concentration on stamina and cardio. Lots of running on the spot, and I love the jumping and running! It brings me back to my happy Attack days, haha.

Ok, that's all that I remember, about 17 hours since the last class. Happy holidays people, will post whenever I can!

Kickstart Day 7

Made it for Sulin's Body Jam class in J33 today, and it was the new release! Wheeeee!! Body Jam 63!!  I haven't gone for new releases in a long~~long~~ time, so it was challenging to me. How fast can I catch on to the new dance steps? Am I still as "alert" as before to be able to memorise totally new chorey? Thankfully, Sulin is a great instructor as always, and probably have not started the tough options yet... the new release is pretty easy to follow!

I don't have the actual track listings yet, so .... basically starts off with a pretty simple warm-up, although I found the heel pumps a bit tooooo long. Boring lah. The first block is supposed to be really hardcore... I found it tough to do because I pulled a muscle in my inner thigh after all the swimming on Saturday. :X It is really painful for me to do that kick up and sink down kinda movement. However, had lots of fun with the reach out, hand swing, hips a' circling' routine.

Not a fan of Bieber's Boyfriend, so didn't really like the recovery track. Dunno is it my inner thigh problem or what, but I don't look so cool doing the walk, bump, hip shake thing. I just shake my ass anyhow... donno if correct or not, hahaha!

The 2nd block is dunno-ninja-dunno-kick-what... it's very fun! A bit confusing with the kick-step-back, move to right, move to left, and left hand sinks down with a lean to the right... Ok, you can't get what I'm saying here, this is more for my own memory, haha. And omg, all the hands movement and jumping right and left like a frog... I felt like some internal organs are going to drop out! :O

The cool down track was quite nice, a lot of drama with the hands, which the performer in me was revelling in. :)

All in all, not many new moves, and the really high stamina part is the frog jumping mentioned earlier. I still don't think it's as tough as the earlier release with the Beyonce countdown... Then again, maybe they haven't gone with the harder option yet! I don't really like the music selection for this release either. I don't like the remix for Rita Ora's How we Do. The only catchy song I like was the one with the "Reach!" arms. Sigh...

Still, will do it again, cos I really like some of the moves, especially in the 2nd block! However, find all the body "Wave" very tedious and boring ... hmmm.. decisions, decisions. :P

Kickstart Day 6

Didn't manage to wake up in time for BC Release!!!!! *crying* To comfort me, my husband took me for big breakfast at Backofen, wtf. So going against my "getting fitter" strategy. :( So in the afternoon, when it didn't look *that* hot, I went swimming at the condo gym!

And achieved my own personal record....

Of 8 laps!! Muwahahhaa... 8 laps = 16x the length of the pool! Last time I told myself 7 laps, but it was actually 7x the length of the pool = 3.5 laps only. Omg! I don't know why today I can swim so much?! Maybe because the condo pool is not as crowded as J33 swimming pool... there were only two little Japanese boys playing, and although they annoyed me at first (cos they are kids... and they don't give a damn about staying in their own lane, and I have to swim around them), they were not that much of a nuisance 90% of the time. At the end of each lap, I would do high-knee runs for 30x before swimming next lap. High knee runs in water is damn easy la, like nothing. But makes me feel extra sporty, lol lol lol.

I thought I swam for barely 30 minutes, but when I came back to the unit, my husband said I'm gone for more than an hour! Looks like I swim really slowly, but hey, a least exercised for more than an hour!

Now am thinking of making Saturday swims a permanent thing, but gotta get more suitable swimming suit! Right now swimming in my bikini from VS which looks really pretty when you pretend to be suntanning (pretend cos actually slathered on lots of sun block + sitting in the shadiest area + umbrella), but actually wanna show how cute your swimsuit is. Aih, what do you expect when it's VS la. Should get something from Speedo or the ilk next!

Kickstart Day 5

Another day, another day of combat! I know, I know... so much Combat! I'm starting to remember more tracks now.. and my stamina is back! Now, I can consider going for Body Attack soon... hahaha! Not my fault that there's so much BC... it's really the most convenient class to go to, though I will try to alternate more in the future. Thinking of either swimming or going for Zumba tomorrow. Haven't done weight training in quite a while too... only squeezed in some chest press after Yili's class on Tuesday before rushing back to cook for the hubs. Just to record, on the chest press machine, I'm currently at resistance level 7. I do about a total of 50 chest press only, and then I stop. Already I can feel my arm muscles becoming taut again. :-) But I would need to start downing protein shakes again if I want to make them big... hahaha!

Anyway, went for Body Combat, Terence's class at SH. I got some extra storytelling to do at the end of my post, so just go to the track listing first. Same as last week, he started with No Easy Way Out and Are You Gonna Go My Way? The first track after warm-up was the very fun "THUNDER!" song.. just that too bad most people don't do the arms.... aiyah, it's because of small things like that that I like Terence's classes anyway. :P Next up was Bagpipes, another oldie track that I love, and then back to the new track listing with True Believer. Hmm, True Believer is one of the newer tracks that I don't mind. :P For the recovery track, he went with Shake Ya Shimmy, which nobody shakes again... so ... blah.. Don't want to be the only one shaking my ass.

Muay Thai track - back to the new track called Blade, which I specifically told Terence I don't like.... please don't do again.. hahahaha. **demanding member** Reason is because there are too many downward elbows... sometimes feels like swimming in the air, but most importantly, makes me feel like puking. Now that my stamina is back, the puking feeling is not there anymore, but I don't want to risk it, especially when I really go all the way and elbow down in my most gaya style wtf.

Finale track is Summer Rain, another new track that I don't mind... lots of arms, but somehow (maybe because stamina is back), I don't feel the pain.... but it really made me unable to do the conditioning track after that. :P Which was Do It Again, a very old conditioning track with tripod push-up... which not really is a tripod push-up IMHO... just a Superman lift.... Ended with Silence by Alexandra Burke. I just found out the name for this song!! It's really nice, and a lot of people are calling her the new Whitney Houston. Whaddya think?

Anyway, it was an awesome BC class... and nothing beats the tired, smelly, sweaty feeling after the class... and then going for a refreshing shower. Somehow you feel much cleaner than ever. Also been saving a lot of $$ on water bill since I bathe all the time at the gym now. My toiletries at home remain unused!

Okie, now time to story you... as we all know, the parking near the TF SH branch is really havoc. What to do, it's prime area. Usually, I park illegally (like this also can admit), but today even the illegal parking was full. I decided to park behind the gym, which is the "clubs" area... and I thought I was so lucky that I had a parking right in front of this shop that appeared to be closed down. Once I had parked, two guys suddenly appeared and they hung around my car. I just asked.. er... there's parking rates to pay meh? They said yes. I was like .. huh... ok... how much? They asked me where I was going and I blurly (stupidly?) just said the gym. They replied, oh, the gym... well usually we charge people RM10 to park, since this is the pubs area... but since you are just going to the gym, you just pay whatever you feel is right lah.

WTF!! I hate it when they say that! I really feel like just paying RM1, if even that! But I am afraid that they will steal my tires if I do that. I really was in a dilemma... and ended up, I just fished out all the RM1 notes that I have, which amounted to... more than if I paid for normal parking at USJ. Is there some legal parking nearby? Sigh... damn stupid lah. I was also afraid that they will be nearby when I come out from the gym, and indeed they were... and they were talking to a guy who just parked behind my car .. talk damn long and cannot even see I'm reversing is it? Shit lah... FML... moral of the story is I need to open up my small eyes and see where got legal parking nearby already that is not filled up all the damn time!

Kickstart Day 4

Another day, another day of Body Combat! Sigh, I really can't wake up early for the 7am BC class. This time it's getting better though --- I can actually hear my phone ringing, hahaha! Other times, I sleep through the entire thing going off! Today is a Selangor public holiday, but the team at work is so "lucky" that we have major production problems today! Sigh, couldn't even go for a long weight training + BC workout. Could only make it for Yili's BC slot in SH, and when I came out of the class, there were so many miscalls. :S

Wasn't aware that Yili's class on Tuesdays is an express class -- there's no "circle" track (er... I call it circle, but it's the track before recovery! Not sure what is the actual term) and there's no conditioning. Quite sad, cos was looking forward to that Brazilian twist push-up thing! Anyway, her class is always nice & well pulled off cos she does older tracks... hahahha...  Got no complaints la... except that the class is too quiet! (probably that is what an instructor complains about the students? :P) But I notice that generally SH people are quieter. Even Jon Kin's class considered senyap already...

Started with "Listen To Your Heart" and "Trouble" for warm-up... followed by Love Drunk and Send Me An Angel. Long time haven't done Love Drunk! I really like it, though I find the jab-jab-cross-hooks-roundhouse combination a bit slow for a 3rd track. Should be faster! Send Me An Angel is awesome torture for the shoulders... I remember feeling like dying the first time I ever did it! You will really hope that someone up there sends you an angel...

Had Jigga Jigga for the kicks track, followed by U & Ur Hand for recovery. Muay Thai track was Hyper, Hyper... and ended up with What Hurts The Most for the finale. Wah, the shoulders are really feeling' it now! With no conditioning, we ended with cooldown... the only track which I forgot the name! Hehehe...

Yeah, when it's old tracks, the ol' memory is back in action, aye? New release is this Saturday in J33... who's going? I am thinking of going for either BC or for Jam, one or the other only. Been doing toooooo much Body Combat, maybe will switch back to Jam for a few days! :)

Kickstart Day 3

Yikes! Bet you thought I had fallen off the wagon again with the big gap between the previous post and now. I admit... my promise with my husband is to only go to the gym 3x a week, and actually, I did go 3x last week! But it's really not enough. I really wish to go 5x a week, if not more. However, you can't just ditch the hubs, can you?

I wound up going for Jon Kin's Body Combat class today... yeah, after my friend told me to check it out! Someone else told me it's not so "fun", so she advised me to avoid the class... but, this is a Les Mills trainer leh... should be "hebat" right? My new colleague also told me "go for Jon Kin's class.. he just made us run and run and run"... I was wondering... omg, she went for track & field training instead? Why BC just running wan? Lol!!

His class is super packed!! I am very sien with SUPER PACKED classes because no space to move... and also very malu if I walk out! HAHAHA.... and he is really serious, so maybe that's why my 1st friend told me not as "fun". Ok la, still got smile smile and chit chat, not like some other instructors that really look like they wanna tumbuk you instead of the air... Really, my only complaint is that there were so many new songs... blehk! I don't like! I think the oldest track he did was Beat It? That one was the anomaly. Other than that and "Bring Me To Life", the rest were releases from within 2012... which er.. I was missing most of the time.

Ok, at least I know more track names now : the killer finale track is "Summer Rain", but ... it's not as killer as J.K. makes it out to be. I still *really* despise "Gimmie Dat", but I saw the Ciara video on Youtube and holy heck!! Whatever we are doing in BC is much easier than how Ciara dances in the video. So when I think I'm dying during the track, I imagine how much worse it would be if we had to dance like her instead.

For the conditioning, we had to do this capoeira inspired push up, which Raymond taught me before last time, so it's not that new to me... Of course, I'm still struggling cos in the first place, I never practiced it well. =p It's where you are almost in a push-up position, and you have to twist your right knee towards your left HAND (later, it goes into leg EXTENDS) and at the same time, your left hand touches your right shoulder. It's madness wei!! But really fun! Looks so gaya when you do it right.

Well, that's all I have to talk about for today. Still learning up all the new tracks. I found the name of a track that I really like from the new release : BARK at the moon! Haaha... so fun. Okie, tomorrow is a public holiday for moi, so I'm gonna GYM more... by the way, I have a lot of house chores to do, no wonder I am not super obese yet even though I don't gym so much. :P

Kickstart Day 2

This is my 3rd day in a row of gymming! I'm doing well! Tomorrow, I'm torn between going for a swim at the condo early in the morning or popping by the gym for some light weights training again. At work, just have to tell myself "I gotta go!" and peel myself away from the screen in order to get to the gym on time. Today, I left work by 7:15pm, worried that I would be late for Terence's class at TF SH, but ends up he is LATE! Late by 30 minutes! Grr... but at least he arrives in the end. I was starting to think I am jinxed, everytime come for his class, he will not be around. Also found out the ~real~ reason why class was cancelled on Monday! Sorry to hear about the things that happened to the instructor, but glad all is ok....

Started to get more "gossip" again, hahaha.. found more friends in the gym. One of which is my ex-colleague who already became a BC instructor. I tried her class before, I think she is doing excellently for a new instructor! Anyway, she also always comes for Wednesday BC classes... think she's addicted. For me, just telling myself to pace myself so I don't end up feeling like puking by the time the Muay Thai track comes around! Thankfully, today Terence did a nice mix of old & new tracks, from Leave me alone (I'm Lonely), Bad & Sexy, A Little Less Conversation (I think it's his fave conditioning track). The rest of the songs, I know the lyrics, but I don't know the name of the songs! I am so "out of touch" with BC tracks already. *paiseh paiseh* My memory ain't that good either, I know the warm-up tracks, but I can't remember!

Anyway, I started to feel all the good aches all over my body.... *yawn* stretch* .... oh, and found out that a lot of my fave BC instructors already left TF.... grrr... never mind, can always find new faves. :) Meanwhile, me friend assured me that the 7am BC classes in TF  does in fact have a lot of supporters! Wow wee... that is unexpected! So now, Leech is going to become a morning eagle...

Kickstart day 1

Leech casts the spell "REVIVE!" on dead blog.... it is successful!!

Well, decided to start blogging here again to encourage myself to work out more often. My current level of stamina is bloody shameful. Last time, even if I couldn't dance well, couldn't remember the choreography... I knew I could still depend on my crazy-levels of stamina to last myself to peak performance right to the end. Right now, I'm gasping by the 5th track in Body Combat! What happened to me!?

For one, I haven't been exercising regularly this year.. at all. I blame it on the fact that I changed jobs LAST YEAR and it has not been stable ever since. Right now, things are thankfully stabilising out, I don't have to work so late anymore, and I am trying to get more work/life balance. I also just got married, and really cannot think of just myself anymore. I cannot go for 3 back-to-back classes after work, and then creep back home at 11pm. My husband is a "morning eagle" while I am a "night owl". If we keep doing this, we will not see each other at all!

Being such a nice person, I decided that I will shift to his schedule... his is healthier anyway (meaning: waking up early). The only bad part is I cannot get his lazy bum bum to go to the gym with me. And he likes me to cook dinner for him. Can you imagine that? As if I don't have to work also. Being a woman is tough! Really have to be superwoman.

Oh and yes... married... I am not staying in Subang anymore, so you won't see me in Taipan True Fitness anymore. In fact, if you see me there... I really won't know what is going on in my brain because it is super inconvenient for me to go there. :P If I go back to Subang, it would also be to see my family and friends, not go to the gym! It's a damn shame because I think Taipan's True Fitness branch is one of the best branches ever! It has the female workout section!!

Nowadays, I will be at either Sri Hartamas or Jaya 33 branch, which is close to home and close to office! Depends on my mood where to go... if there's any Body Jam / Combat / Attack / workout kaki, tell me oh... I have no friends now. :(

My condo also has its own gym and swimming pool, so will try to workout there more often, though the weights machines are seriously limited and lack of choice. And I only swam once here ever since I moved in in August! It's just an elevator ride down, but it's so hard to get the brain in the mood to move once you are back in your own apartment. :(

For the past two days, I was on leave, so I was really pumped up to work out! On Monday, I worked out on the strider machine for 10-15 minutes, and was left gasping for breath wtf. I then hit the machines for about an hour. Had nothing in mind, just more reps and mid-level weights. I know I could go harder, but didn't want to paralyse myself. I am loving the new "Life Fitness" machines in Sri Hartamas branch. It is not plates, but some kinda elastic (??) resistance training. Good to feel the chest press machine again. I will note down the weight amounts properly in next entries. This is just a "kickstart" entry, hehehe.

At night (after cooking dinner for hubs!), I went for Jon Kin's 8pm Body Combat class in SH branch... but was VERY SORELY DISAPPOINTED that the class got cancelled! It was more disappointing that they didn't have anyone officially tell, but I just heard from another member who was standing outside waiting. I was suspecting that something happened already because there was 5 minutes more before the class was slated to start, and everyone was still standing around and not going in. I confirmed for sure with the front desk... and they said that the class just cancelled, not even a replacement class to be given. Seriously, why!?! There was another Body Jam class in the other studio, but felt a bit bengang already... I purposely went out of the comforts of my home to be saddened by this... lol.

Today, I was supposed to go for more weights training, but last night I couldn't sleep because of all the new aches in my body... so I just went for Yili's Body Combat class at 5:55pm. Even at this odd hour, the class was pretty full! She mentioned that it is an anomaly... lol. She did mostly older tracks, like Summer of '69, I Never Liked You, Beat It, .... errr... forgot most of the tracks after that! I know she did the horrible Gimmie Dat track (hate it ... hate it!!!! ) and the Muay Thai was actually one of my favorites.... the one with the push (arms) and then push kick. :) And ended with one of the most awesome cool downs Our Solemn Hour!!!

Tomorrow, my husband will be drinking with his friends, so thinking about whether I wanna go for Body Combat in J33 or in SH? Also, I have been thinking of going for the super early 7am Body Combat classes in SH.... are there actually any people in the class? I would hate max if I go there and ends up that there's only one feller and they cancel it. (Of course, then I could just do weights training la... but I would have to wake up at 6am to go for these classes, and waking up at 6am to go and do weights training is not worth it!!)

Parking at SH branch is also a bitch and it's actually not that convenient for me to drive there from my house. Yeah, from my house I can see the branch, and sometimes I wonder can I base jump and land on top of TF (impossibru la... just dreaming). Instead, have to brave the crazy traffic around that area, and illegally park. My husband already told me not to illegally park there.. but everyone's doing it. There is seriously only 0.5% chance that you can find legal parking at that hour in that area. This illegal parking method, I learned from my colleague J who got some free passes, but I think she is avoiding me. If she knows I'm going to J33, she will go to SH. If she knows I'm going to SH, she will go J33. -__-"

Today, I also found the "hole in the fence" that will allow me to walk not-as-far to get to the gym.. hahaha....

Well, that's how life has been so far. Wishing MYSELF good LUCK to get back into shape. I plan to shed 7kg in 6 months time. Have to eat healthier too... during my horrible work months, I ate chicken chop (with black pepper sauce) everyday.... lololol...