Lift, Tone, Burn

Let me preface this post with a very accurate statement about myself:  I am not very athletic and I don’t ever mean to act like I am.  Yes, I played soccer all of my life, but good…..probably not the best word to describe my skills, especially as a striker.  I would actually use adjectives like bad, timid or really bad.  I was a little better playing mid-field, but athletic is not a word that really describes me.  With that being said leads me to the next thing that I think is changing my life here in Memphis. 

Katie, (also known to many of you as KT$) a close friend of mine from college, mentioned to me about a new gym opening in Memphis after complaining to her about the L*Bs I was putting on.  It was opened by a friend of her’s that she cheered with at UT.  I was a little concerned that it would be some fad much like hot yoga from the way she described it (or the way I selectively listened to her about it).  I’ve tried Bikram Yoga or hot yoga in Memphis before and can easily say it made me the most sore I have ever been in my life.  My friend Caroline tried to tell me how wonderful she heard it was.   We tried it together and bought 3 classes of hot yoga and it was the biggest rip off because I couldn’t move a total of three days during that whole week to even go!  Not to mention, there are a number of hippies that also go and I saw a little too much in that dressing room to go back again. I think we went one more time and realized it wasn’t for us.   So, the description my friend Katie was giving me really didn’t spark my interest. 

Months and months went by and the pounds just kept adding up.  I finally realized I needed to do something.  A friend at work, Carrie who also cheered at UT, mentioned she had been going to Pure Barre.  She swore up and down that it was one of the best workouts she had ever done.  She told me they offer new client deals of $100 unlimited your first month and that I should try it out.  If you’ve ever seen little Carrie you would march right over there, pay your $100 and slip into your first class no questions asked too.  So I went and I loved it, hooked you might even say.  Now I was bad at it probably that first whole week (probably longer than that, but trying to give myself a little bit of credit).  It does have some ballet references and Pilates, but you can do it.  Remember, I am not athletic.  It is hard and they change the routine almost every day so your body never gets used to it.  They just opened up another location in Memphis because it has grown so popular.  The best news for you reading this that don’t live in Memphis….they probably have one close to you too.  They’re a franchise!

I realize I probably lost most of you with the mental image of the hippies at hot yoga, but I hope you try this amazing workout routine.  It’s nothing like you’ve ever done and I can promise you that within a month you will see a major difference.  Seriously.  It focuses on toning inner and outer thighs, backs of the arms and your abs which are the main things women always struggle with.  Also, no men allowed.  You don’t have to worry about looking cute while you’re working out because it’s only chicks.  Aside from the new client special, they have bride to be specials and post baby specials!  It’s even safe enough to do while you’re pregnant.  As you can tell I am obsessed (even though I’m taking the night off tonight…don’t judge).  It’s an hour that I can take my mind off of work and school and to devote to my health and hopefully toning up my legs that my mediocre soccer skills created years ago!

Not the Memphis location, but just to give you an idea of what this is all about