Workout I Did: Cardio Resistance Training with Jenn!

How we’re smiling, I don’t know!

Jenn came to visit recently before her Brooks Running event, and we opted for a totally FBG-afied Sunday morning at the gym. I was getting over my post-Tough Mudder illness, so after a few days away from the gym, I expected a group class to kick my butt. And kick it did!

We opted out of Zumba, Pilates and yoga for a CRT (Cardio Resistance Training) class led by Dewayne. I’d never taken one of his classes before, but his music is always blaring and they always look really tough. This is a case where looks aren’t deceiving; looks are right. We started out without music for the warm-up and Jenn and I gave each other panicked looks like “Where is the music?” We were relieved that Dewayne was just taking his time getting it cranked up because he got it going pretty quickly — and pretty loudly. Good thing; it helped to drown out our moans and groans.

We’d grabbed light and medium weights and steps for the torture ahead, and Big D hit us up from head to toe. We did bicep curls, and more bicep curls. We did tricep presses, and while he went around checking form, I remembered I hadn’t shaved my armpits. That’s just what you want when the instructor comes over to check your form, which of course he did. The step came into play to make tough moves even tougher: burpees, push-ups, jumping jacks, straddling it for squats, and oh-so-many more push-ups. And then there were the lunges from the step — and the butt-burn cannot be emphasized enough. (In fact, the butt soreness I mention in the text to Jenn seen here is from this workout!)

Then, when we were dying for a break after nearly an hour, we got to do abs. At least we were lying down, but it was no break. Lying on our backs with our shoulder blades lifted off the ground, we raised our legs off the ground, then opened them wide and closed them before we could release down. Repeat 100 times. At about the fourth set out of five, my abs were shaking, and I definitely had to pause a few times to rest.

The class was great, and I’d definitely go back. It just goes to show you that no matter how fit you are, how many pull-ups you can do or whether you can complete a Tough Mudder, when you do an hour-long workout that you’ve never done before, you will get your butt kicked. Always a reminder to get out of your fitness comfort zone every now and then to switch it up and do your body good. Or, you know, make the next morning an extremely sore one!

When’s the last time you took a totally new-to-you class? —Erin