Jordan’s fitness challenge: Week one

Our assistant fashion editor, Jordan Porter, is on a one-month fitness frenzy. Check back every Friday for updates!

Monday: Starting off the week with a spin class makes me happy–I’m actually an avid spinner and this means I won’t be out of the challenge on day one. Before the class, I almost feel a little guilty, like I’m somehow cheating. My guilt melts away, along with some serious calories, one song into the cycle. The 10-day cottage escape I just returned from, complete with bowls of mint chocolate chip ice cream and chili fries, has clearly had an effect and I am huffing and puffing and squeezing the sweat out of my workout gear. I’m beginning to get a little frightened for day two.

Tuesday: Today’s class is called Fighting Fit and it seriously kicked my ass.  Our warm-up consisted of three minutes of intensive skipping with alternating types of footwork and about two minutes in I was ready to throw in the towel. I don’t know if any of you are avid skippers, but it’s one of those activities, like climbing the stairs, that never gets easy. No matter how fit you think you are, skipping always makes you feel like a bit of an out of shape schmuck. Fourty-five minutes of burpees, up-downs, squats, push-ups, jabs and uppercuts later I am seriously spent and a little concerned about how I am going to make it home, let alone through the rest of the week.

Wednesday: To say I am sore is a grand understatement. It’s bittersweet though, as I’m filled with the hope that when the pain subsides my muscles will be a little bit smoother, and my tush just a little bit tighter. I know, I know it’s only been two days – but a girl’s gotta have dreams! Today is Pilates and although it’s a tough workout, really focusing on balance (of which I have little) and core stability, it offers my aching body a little respite as my incredible instructor, Milica, kindly stretches all my aching muscles out at the end of the class. I love her.

Thursday: They say the second day after a big workout is always the most painful, and whoever “they” are, they aren’t lying. My muscles haunted my dreams night. They were so stiff that I dreamt I was lying in a vat of drying cement, unable to move. But nothing worth having comes easy, and although I know it hasn’t been long, I swear I can feel my body changing and I know that GetSpun really is going to get my ass in shape. That being said, I am damn grateful for a day of rest.

Friday: After a much-needed day of rest I got back in the saddle, or should I say glideboard, with a Gravity Incline Resistance Training class. In this hour-long class I complete a painstaking amount of exercises using a glideboard, pulley system, and my bodyweight as resistance. Check out getspun.ca for more information. After an embarrassing snag, which flung me up the machine and left me heels-over-head, I remember to focus my mind on keeping my core as tight as possible, it is, after all, one of the main targets of the workout. I particularly love this class because each exercise focuses on specific muscle groups and you end up satisfyingly exhausting each area of your body. I go home with the knowledge that my arms, abs, ass and everything in between got a bit of tough love today.

Sunday: A tough as nails spin class ends off the week, and after two nights of gastronomic gluttony, I am grateful for the punishment! I feel guilty for over-indulging, especially after being so healthy all week, but by the end of the class, at least the pounds feel like they have melted off, and hey, I still have two days until Week 2 weigh in. Oh yes, that’s right, I’m being weighed and measured weekly, but I’m not sure we know each other well enough just yet to share those juicy details. Check back next week and we’ll talk.

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