An hour of total domination, getting my ass kicked me three ways from Sunday. I haven't take a Power Sculpt class at Haute for about a year and a half because, frankly, they're HARD. Like, "you think you have control of the movements of your body but you really don't" hard. And Stephanie, god bless her, is the queen of pain. All done with a gorgeous smile on her face.
A word about Stephanie. She looks like she could be cast in The Avengers. Seriously. Woman is ripped. She's also totally funny (I was not expected her to exclaim SUPERSTAR!! when we lunge into our Warrior 1 with weights overhead. I almost fell over the first time.) She would give us ten second reprieves throughout the practice and announce "face check!" to make sure we were still smiling... or at least not actively cursing her.
She advises us in the beginning to grab two sets of hand weights - one set being about half the weight of the other. Now most of the female yogis were taking 3 and 6 pound weights, or 4 and 8s. I'm no fool. I grabbed a set of 2-pound dumbbells (can they even be considered dumbbells when they're two pounds?) and a set of 3s. I don't think I ever picked up the 3s. That's right. I basically did the entire class with two-pound weights and it nearly killed me. I'm just a peace-loving yogi. Who is apparently weak!
The class is great, though. It's frankly inspiring to watch the other people in class hop around doing Heismans and Yoga Pop Ups. Warrior series with weights overhead. Two legged downward dogs. The great thing with Stephanie is she supports all sorts of modifications. I made my adjustments as my yoga butt is just starting to feel better, so I didn't want to blow a hammy. I was going straight from Power Sculpt into teaching two back-to-back classes, and I think the extra time spent in the hot room helped me feel slightly less sore now than I would have otherwise.
Awesome as the class is, it's probably not one I'll do every week. I have questionable balance at best, so the rapid pace of movement (like step back lunges) make me nervous. I'm more of a slow and deliberate mover, preferring to carefully place my leg back and forth in proper alignment each time.
But I'm thrilled I went. I survived it, laughing the whole way through. Well, maybe cursing a little.
Day 7
Classes Completed: 1
Power Sculpt (warm) - 4:30pm - Stephanie Powell
Progress Towards Goal: 9/31
4 or 8 lb weights and yoga. Seriously? I can't imagine and I'm a dude. Can anyone make it all the way through? You'd have to be insanely fit. Oy! Now I have do it too and I'm not looking forward to it.
ReplyDeleteIt was crazy! I was seriously schooled by some of the people in the class.
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