As you all know, I’m BIG on trying out new fitness, recovery and wellness modalities, so I was super excited when Shaun from Koa Recovery first reached out to me. That was almost a year ago, and since then I’ve become a strong proponent of the amazing services they offer. So I wanted to share those experiences with you and tell you why these recovery modules are so amazing, how they work and how you benefit from them as well.
As you guys may have seen on my Instagram over the last couple of weeks, I've been doing a 6-week boot camp challenge. In fact, I'm already done with the first round and have decided to go for round 2 because I loved it so much. So I thought it might be time to talk a little bit about what exactly I'm doing, why I'm doing it, why it's so great and what I've learned in the process.
I leave India with a 200h yoga certificate, new found friends and a heart bursting full of joy, appreciation, and gratitude for this experience, for myself, my body, mother nature and this beautiful earth we live in. Doing my Yoa Teacher Training in India was everything I hoped for and more.
It was...
It was like one big summer camp for adults.
It was practicing yoga 3-4 hours a day, 6 days a week.
It was morning neti pots and herbal teas.
It’s no secret that I love my ClassPass membership. I basically rave about it to anyone that I meet and can't stop talking about how amazing it is. There's recently been some changes to the model which I'm disappointed about, but I'll get to that in a second...In case you've been living under a rock for the last year and haven't heard about Classpass (they just celebrated it's 1-year Aussie anniversary), let me fill you in:
ClassPass is a monthly membership to a whole bunch of boutique gyms and studios. You pay a monthly fee but instead of being limited to one venue (as traditional memberships work), you get to choose where to work out from their long list of gyms, yoga studios, clubs etc.
We’ve all been there: having to go to work in our gym shoes (Holly, I'm looking at you!) or spending the day with our arms crossed because we’re secretly free-boobing.
Fitting in a gym routine is no easy feat as it is, but remembering all the things you need to bring for your workout and post-workout shower is a whole other story. And let's be frank: nothing kills your motivation like forgetting your headphones (I've actually had times where I considered going back home because I couldn't bare the thought of doing a gym workout without my beloved music...).
Ever since coming to Sydney, I've traded my weight lifting program for more low impact mat work, cardio, barre and pilates workouts (mainly because I've been excited to try out all the cool studios and their different styles around town).
I'd always been rather skeptical, especially of Reformer Pilates because it seemed like you're not working out hard enough. If you're not breaking a sweat, it's not a real workout, right? But after having done many similar-type classes in the recent past, I can assure you that this is absolutely not the case. In fact, you're in for a killer workout.
A reformer class sits perfectly in the middle of the "hard core" versus "minimal pain" exercise spectrum, leaving you with just the right amount of achiness the next day. And since it's not a bootcamp-like atmosphere, it especially appeals to us gals who might be intimated by grungy looking crossfit boxes filled with sweaty grunting men. I'm not saying I don't enjoy those workouts, but I can understand how some girls might be intimated by that.
If you still haven't tried anti gravity yoga aka aerial yoga, then you really need to jump onto the bandwagon. Here's why you should try anti gravity yoga in 2016:
Aerial yoga involves performing a series of exercises inspired by yoga, pilates, calisthenics and aerial acrobatics in a hammock-like swing. Think Cirque du Soleil for beginners!
It's a great new and exciting way of doing a full body workout, and hey, who doesn't like swinging around upside down playing kid every now and then.
Apart from the fun, there's actually some serious health benefits associated with the sport. Without the compression of the joints, especially the back, it's easier to achieve a proper posture by relaxing rather than trying to force yourself into an alignment that seems unnatural.
It's great for anyone with back issues, because the free hanging allows your spine to destress and lenghten.
It also helps increase strength and flexibility
The different types of stretches combined with the flippin' around helps improve the digestive system
It's a beautiful mind-body-spirit experience!
3000m up high in the middle of the Canadian mountains surrounded by fresh powder. Silence, only the sound of your own panting breath and your skis cutting through meter deep snow. Hazy memories of never-ending untouched runs and a rush of adrenaline like nothing else can give you...My first experience heli skiing in Canada...
I've always loved skiing. Having grown up in Switzerland and Bavaria, Germany, for a big part of my life, I've lived close to the mountains for many years and my parents put me on skies at the tender age of three. Over time I've gradually improved, graduating to the joys of off piste skiing, mogul slopes and learning to make my way through deep snow. Given my parents are major hobby skiers who've already accumulated 30k+ height meters of heli skiing, it was only a matter of time that I would make friends with heli skiing myself.
Vic, Sabrine and I have impatiently been waiting for the final pictures of our photoshoot with Fit Reserve and they are finally here! Plus we have heaps of updates to give you about this awesome concept, so if you are based in Suisse Romande, it's time to listen up.
If you haven't heard of Fit Reserve yet, here's a quick recap:
The idea behind Fit Reserve is a multi-gym membership that allows you to discover hundreds of the best studios in Suisse Romande, all with just one pass.
The price of the pass is CHF 99.- for half a year (valid from March 1 - September 1), which includes two classes for only CHF 10.- at every studio that Fit Reserve has partnered with. After that, classes cost whatever the usual price is at that particular studio. Which is a pretty sweet deal, because you get a buuuunch of classes at a reduced price (individual classes usually cost up to CHF 30.-) while trying out many different studios. For even more info, check out this description and for a full FAQ, look at this. You can also look at my previous blog post for even more info and some cool behind-the-scenes pictures.
A couple of weeks ago Vic and I had the pleasure of trying out My Private Gym in Geneva, a gym that offers personal training, group training, functional training, boxing classes, while also having cardio and weight lifting equipment that members can use depending on the type of membership they have signed up for. One of the four owners, Paola, is actually an IIN graduate (where I'm currently studying to become a health coach), so it was awesome to meet her and connect over our common passion.
We arrived a bit earlier to have a chat with Paola and were then introduced to Morgan, our trainer for the day. His first comment was that he's looked at our Instagram accounts and knows that we're fit, so he created an especially hard workout for us. "Damn it, showing off on Insta just totally backfired!" Let's just put it like this: we pretty much got our boo-tays handed to us on a silver platter.
The workout that Morgan created for us was based around functional fitness, one of my newest favourite ways of working out. Not sure what it is? Here's the lowdown:
The decision to seal the deal with a new gym subscription is not taken lightly. Oftentimes you have to commit for a minimum of six months and you have to be 100% certain that you're not going to throw in the towel after a couple of sessions. Joining just one studio seems limiting, but joining more than one becomes expensive.
Have you ever found yourself thinking about trying new fitness routines, or do you cringe at the thought of signing a 1-year contract with your local gym? Then the soon-to-launch Fit Reserve may be for you.
I've already shared with you guys on Instagram that Vic, Sabrine and I are ambassadors for Fit Reserve & I'm beyond excited to introduce you to this new concept (and show you the awesome behind-the-scenes pics from the photoshoot). Let's take a closer look.
So...this just happened. I can't believe how quickly the day went by and that the BBG Berlin Bootcamp is already over! About two years ago I started using Kayla's guides (see my initial review) and here I find myself training with queen K herself. How crazy.
But let's go back a couple of steps...Vic and I have been planning on doing a weekend city trip for a while, so when we heard that Kayla was coming for a BBG bootcamp to Berlin, we didn't think twice. We bought our tickets instantly without wasting any thought on how to get there, where to stay and if we even had time on that day. But there was simply no way we were passing up the opportunity to work out with our favourite personal trainer in person! Berlin is only a short 1 hour flight from Switzerland and we had been thinking of doing a weekend city trip together anyways, so it was perfect timing.
When I first started Kayla's BBG guides, I was hoping to get stronger and look fitter (take a look at my progress pictures here and here), but never in a million years did I expect to make a best friend along the way. Did you guys know that Vic and I went to the same university but only met because she found me through a #BBG hashtag that I was using and recognised the gym I was taking selfies in?! Thank god for Instagram & thank god for the amazing BBG community.
