Congratulations to Sue on all your accomplishments as our Studio Challenger!

OUR STUDIO CHALLENGER, SUE DUMOND, DID AN AMAZING JOB OVER THE PAST THREE MONTHS KEEPING UP WITH HER WORKOUTS! SHE TRIED ALL OF OUR DIFFERENT STUDIO FITNESS CLASSES AND KEPT HER DUET ON THURSDAYS WITH MARIANNA THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE CHALLENGE! WE ARE SO IMPRESSED BY SUE’S DETERMINATION, COMMITMENT AND WORK ETHIC AND LOVE SEEING THE RESULTS SHE’S RECEIVED FROM ALL HER HARD WORK. IT HAS DEFINITELY PAID OFF BY GIVING HER MORE DEFINITION, A STRONG CORE, A HIGHER LEVEL OF ENDURANCE AND MORE!

READ SUE’S FINAL BLOG POST ABOUT THE CHALLENGE BELOW AND CHECK OUT THE PICTURES OF HER IN HER NEW OUTFIT FROM LULULEMON OLD WOODWARD. DOESN’T SHE LOOK INCREDIBLE?! BE SURE TO CONGRATULATE SUE WHEN YOU SEE HER AT THE STUDIO NEXT!

“I have officially completed my fitness challenge at Equilibrium. The time has gone by so fast and I feel so appreciative that I was given the opportunity to go through this fitness challenge.
When Sarah first told me I was selected, I was honestly nervous and excited at the same time. Would I be able to truly commit to 4 classes a week and would my body and mind be able to handle such an increase in physical activity? The answer is YES!!!

I have learned so much about myself and feel empowered to continue on my fitness journey.

This is what I have learned:

• Keep to a schedule
  • I decided right from the start which classes I would do during the week and I stuck to the same routine for the entire time except when I was on vacation. I always took 8 am or 9 am classes and typically didn’t repeat the same class during the week. It just made it easier not to have to think about which classes I should take. My week consisted of:

  Monday : Xtend Barre Express

  Tuesday: Total Body Conditioning

  Wednesday: HIT55

  Thursday: Duet Class with staff instructor Marianna (typically using the Reformer)

  Friday: NY Times Circuit (This is a relatively new class and once I tried it, I was hooked on it)

• Pace myself
  • Other than walking during the summer, I was not aerobically fit when I started this program and I certainly didn’t have a lot of strength. I made sure to pace myself in the classes. That meant I didn’t always do every “rep” with weights when I started and I didn’t always go the fastest during the aerobic parts of the classes. I had to build up slowly and I had to keep telling myself that I will naturally pick up the pace as I get use to these classes.
• Give myself a break
  • There were times that I felt I wasn’t as strong as a previous day or I wasn’t as energetic. What I have come to realize is that sometimes my muscles just had to take a break and sometimes I wasn’t getting enough sleep which impacted my work out the next day! But that’s ok! I just worked through it and didn’t give up.
• Try heavier weights every so often
  • This may sound strange, but I was so use to always using the same weights that it never dawned on me that I could handle heavier weights. I remember during one Total Body Conditioning class, Sarah told us to grab a body bar…the only one left for me to use was the heavier one. I could have opted out of using it but I decided to give it a try and shocked myself! After that experience, I decided that I might as well try to start using 5 pound weights in Total Body Conditioning Class! I just didn’t realize I was ready to take it up a notch!
• Exercising on vacation doesn’t have to be difficult or complicated
  • When Equilibrium first introduced the NY Times circuit workout, I knew right away that this was the class for me. I was able to download it on my IPAD and bring it with me over Thanksgiving break up at Crystal Mt. Ski Resort. I didn’t need any special equipment and felt great that I was able to do a workout by myself.
• Set goals
  • I wanted to be able to hold a plank correctly and to hold it for 2 minutes. I also wanted to be able to use 2 pound weights in Xtend Barre Class. I’m proud to say I am able to do both but I’m also honest enough to say it’s still a HARD for me to do! Will it ever be easy? I’m not sure but I will continue to challenge myself.

Now that my fitness challenge is over, my new goal is simply to CONTINUE! To take what I have learned, map out my week with a variety of classes that hit every muscle group, and to COMMIT to do it! I will continue to enlist the help from my 2 good friends (Lisa Cohen and Mary Derian), who helped me get started on my fitness journey. I ’m will continue my duets with Marianna, who right from the beginning kept my spirits up with her positivity and advice. Certainly I will continue to take classes with Sarah who always looked out for me and made sure I was doing the exercises correctly so I wouldn’t get hurt and always made me feel like I was doing an amazing job!”