It’s almost my Birthday, time for a Giveaway!

Posted on February 18, 2010 by kymarie13

Okay it’s not really my Birthday, my Birthday is January 15th, but in 3 days my blog will be one month old! How exciting (don’t make fun of me, I am new to the blogging world). In order to celebrate Shape Up NYC’s birthday I am having a giveaway to thank all of my readers and to hopefully get some new ones! And I am giving away one of my favorite things to do, a Core Fusion DVD!

If you don’t know what Core Fusion is, you haven’t been reading my blog carefully enough but there is still hope for you ;) . Core Fusion is a mix of yoga, pilates, and ballet. It is the one exercise I have seen a major change in my body from. Now don’t get discouraged if you can not take a class their DVDS are just as good, a fellow fitness blogger, Rachel, from Shedding it and Getting it, did a Core Fusion challenge with her DVD and you can read her results here! Now you can do your own Core Fusion Challenge for free because you have the chance to win the Core Fusion Body Sculpt DVD from me!

For my birthday I would love more readers so all you have to do to enter is:

1. Leave a comment on this post telling me why you would like this DVD or what your fitness goals are (mine is to incorporate more cardio into my routine and I would want the DVD because my mom stole mine).

2. Be sure you’re following me on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway @kymarie13 (make sure you include the link to this post).. make sure to include my Twitter name so I know you did

3. Subscribe to my email updates, it will email you as soon as I put up a new post. You will find a link to subscribe for email updates on the upper left side of my blog (if you already have no worries, I know who you are :) )

4. Write about this giveaway on your blog or Facebook profile and include the link to this post…and then comment on this post letting me know!

5. Become a Fan of Shape Up in the City on facebook and invite others to be fans

You can enter EACH way, EACH DAY till Friday Feb. 26 at 6:00 PM. Just be sure to leave me a comment every time you enter; I’ll select a random winner from the comments! If you don’t want to risk your luck, you can also buy the DVD from amazon but free is so much better :) Thank you for reading my blog, I am having so much fun writing it! Good luck!

Filed under: MISC Wellness Info | Tagged: , , , , , | 13 Comments »

Bring Core Fusion to You

Posted on January 26, 2010 by kymarie13

So you read my blog about Core Fusion and how much I love it but your not anywhere near an Exhale location. That is not a problem Fred Devito and Elisabeth Halfpapp have made DVD’s so you can get the same results at home. During my first visit to Exhale I left with the DVD because I didn’t know when I would be back in New York to take the class again. I bought the Core Fusion: Body Sculpt.

The Body Sculpt DVD is divided into 5 different segments, just like the class, each section last about 10 minutes. The DVD is just like the class except for a few minor things. The one thing I do miss is the fun music they play during class so if you need a little more upbeat music I would suggest playing some of your own music in the background to keep you motivated. Equipment you will need is: a set of 3 pound weights (4 pounds is you want something heavier for biceps), and the back of a chair. If you have a band for stretching that is also a great idea. You do not need too much space for this workout.

If strength training is not part of your routine and you do not know where to get started, this is your answer. I promise if  you do this 3-4 times a week you will start to see changes in your body. I even challenge you to do the 30 Core Fusion Challenge. Do a Core Fusion DVD 4-6 times a week for 30 days and you will start to see amazing changes in your body. I can finally do straight legged push ups!

The DVD even comes with a free class so if you make it out to New York, give me a call and I will go take a class with you. Core Fusion has made 4 DVDs and they have more coming out but Amazon sells Exhale Core Fusion Collection for $32.49 which is an amazing deal. You will get 3 of the DVDs in one.

  1. Core Fusion Body Sculpt
  2. Core Fusion Pilates Plus
  3. Core Fusion Thighs and Glutes

Or if you don’t want to get all three you can order the separate DVDs on Amazon for $10.49.

Filed under: DVD | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Review: Dance with Julianne Cardio Ballroom

Posted on January 25, 2010 by kymarie13

I am not going to lie, being a huge Country Music fan I wanted to try Julianne Hough’s Cardio Ballroom workout. What is not to like about Julianne Hough, she is beautiful, she can sing and she can dance. Who wouldn’t want to look like her, or for those fans of Dancing with the Stars, dance like her. Her DVD has  3 parts:

  • Cardio Ballroom Workout
  • Personal Dance Lesson
  • Behind the Scenes Interview

Here are a couple of things, you will look silly, I used to be a dancer and even I didn’t get this the first time. I was so glad my roommate wasn’t home to watch me. This is primarily a cardio dance DVD. There are no strength exercises only dances. It is a fun way to get some more cardio into your workout routine. If you have never danced before this will be more difficult she moves pretty fast and doesn’t tell you what foot your starting on, you have to mirror her. Now I won’t tell you if you haven’t danced to not get it because you can it will just take longer to nail the moves.

If you have never danced before or even if you have I recommend doing the personal dance lesson, she breaks down some of the more difficult moves for you more slowly. This was a huge help. I was a little upset that she only broke down about 6 moves because there are some things that will take you a couple of times to learn. It is only 12 minutes so it doesn’t take much time.

The cardio dance workout lasts about 40 minutes. It starts with a quick warm up and then you move into the cha cha. The cha cha was a lot of fun and it was a sexy little dance. I did not get this the first time, and I looked pretty stupid doing it. The second dance, and in my opinion the most fun even if you look stupid is the Jive. This one even if I wasn’t doing it correctly I felt like I was getting my heart rate up. The last dance is the Paso Doble which is the most serious and you need to position yourself correctly to get the benefits. This one I looked pretty ridiculous doing but got better towards the end.

Overall, Julianne is a descent instructor. She does move quickly which will get discouraging but the best advice I have is to keep doing it. You will not have this DVD down the first time, maybe not even the second, third time or fourth time. It moves very fast. Julianne is very sweet so it doesn’t make it too intimidating and she comes up with funny names for all the dance moves so when she shouts it out you know what is coming next. Some names are: the twist, the flirt, the hussle, the cape, and the kill.

In order for you to get a good workout you MUST do it full out every time and you have to work on your positioning. If you don’t do it full out you won’t even get out of breath, and if you don’t work on positioning you will not be targeting all the muscles you could have. If you watch Julianne she does it full out every time. For $7.99 on Amazon  it is not a horrible DVD. In my opinion is it the best, no but it was fun.  If you like dance or you want to learn some quick easy dances to get your heart rate up this is not a bad option. Will it leave you feeling like you just had the most amazing workout of your life, probably not. I do not recommend this DVD to anyone that does not like dancing and really wants to be sweating heavily by the end of their workout. I will give it a couple more tries and update you with my progress but I have to say I miss my Tae Bo.

You can buy the DVD on Amazon here http://tiny.cc/nsOr2

Filed under: DVD | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

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    Hello! My name is Kristine and I live and work in New York City. Since I have been here I have realized how hard it is to maintain a healthy balance while living in the City. Work starts to consume your life and you can get lost in everything around you.

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