This is the first day of a new series...

I'm not sure how wide of an audience that this little blog gets, and I'm sure I've pushed more than a few people away with my love of all things VEGAN, so essentially I am going to write this for me. And if it helps, inspires, uplifts or motivates even one other person then that's a bonus.

Once upon a time long long ago in a far away land called Nanoose Bay, I started a blog series about a month-long fitness challenge that I wanted to embark upon and needed a way to keep myself accountable. I know! I thought to myself, I'll go public. And at first it was literally just my sister and the crickets that read it. And I don't think the crickets were really reading, they just rubbed their legs together mocking my pain. But, as time passed and my suffering became a form of entertainment for many women around the world, I managed to build a small, very authentic and warm community around me and even made some genuine real-world friends in the process. Two of which I just skyped with on the weekend, and many of whom I keep in touch with regularly though this magical app called What's App. Ain't technology grand?

There was something so genuine about the lot of us, sweating through these challenging workouts, trying to see if we could reach a month of consistency, showing up for ourselves by taking time to move our bodies. A month turned to three months, three months turn to five years and so on. But things changed. I moved away from that magical west coast island, I got tired of reporting on the same things over and over again and I stopped writing about that fitness routine.

But let me take you to a time before that. For years, I'd had a relationship with yoga. I practiced daily. I was devoted to it. I'm nothing if not loyal. But a neck injury stole my practice away in one fell swoop. I was lost amid a sea of trainers, workout videos, styles, and classes yet nothing fit me. I missed yoga. I then found something that I enjoyed almost as much as my beloved former practice and eventually, in time I came to love it and write about it beyond that initial  month-long challenge.

But like many things in life, my health changed yet again, that particular workout evolved in a way that no longer suited me, and it became obvious that our relationship had to come to an end. I did dip my toe into the water of another workout - which I still do on occasion but because of said health issue - that work out was too vigorous for me. If I did a full class, it would be the only thing I could do that day. It's as if I'm running on a consistently low battery or near-empty tank of gas. I needed to be extremely careful of where I placed my energy. As I was told by a lab tech yesterday - and I quote - I'm a middle agey lady. That's not a typo. She had an accent and it was adorable. And I thought --

Yeah, I am a middle agey lady. But should that stop me from working out, from living fully in my own body? Surely there had to be a workout that was just right for me, no?

I am happy to report that there is. A couple of friends turned me onto it last August and I haven't looked back. I have written about it once or twice on here. It's called LEK Fit and it was created by former dancer Lauren Kleban. But up until now, I've been pretty mum about my fitness practices for a myriad of reasons. Mainly because I thought I was kind of over writing about my workout, I did that for five years for crying out loud, but also out of some misguided loyalty to the old workout. But I'm ready now.

I want to share my passion for this incredible fitness instructor, for her amazing classes, and because I want to share my pain! Misery loves company people. Again, I don't expect that a lot of people are going to read this, but perhaps some day, 975 posts in, someone will want to try this workout and think, Hmm, I wonder if anyone else has done it and wonder what they thought of it. And they'll find me here and they can read about the classes that I loved loved loved, the classes that kicked my ass, and maybe share in a laugh or two along the way. It's about community baby - no matter the time or space you find it.

So without further adieu, allow me to introduce you to my new blog series...

LOVING LEK

To begin with, I am not a fitness expert. I have no expertise on the subject to speak of other than finding what works for my body and sharing that information here. I can't really tell you about Lauren because I don't know her, nor have I ever met her, and other than subscribing to her on demand workouts, I have no affiliation with her. (Read, she isn't sponsoring me to write about her)

What I can tell you is she's a boss! She knows her stuff. She's in command of her classes. And she's kinda badass. She almost always wears black. She's my people! She offers two kinds of classes that drop each week (on time and without fail, just sayin') one is a sculpt class and the other is called bounce, which is more cardio based and done on a trampoline. But if you don't have one, don't worry about it. Everything is modified so there is an instructor showing you how to perform the moves on the floor.

Why do I love it?  (I write this as a reminder to myself if I ever come back here looking for excuses to not work out one day.) It is the perfect hybrid of yoga and ballet and is its own thing really. I mean I can't hold postures for a long time because the stretch along my spine causes the muscles in my neck to seize. I can no longer stand on my head or do shoulder stands or even many poses that your grandmother could do, so yoga's out for me. I like ballet but I get a little bit bored standing at a bar doing all the ronde de jambes, and other leg things I simply can't pronounce. But I like the relaxation of yoga and the results of ballet. So was Lauren reading my mind when she created her series? Probably.

Still it's more than yoga and ballet. She incorporates bands (oh no, the dreaded bands... don't panic, she does them in a way that they don't slip and whack you in the face), weights, both standing legs (my fave fave fave) and legs on all fours. And works your whole body but each week she focuses on specific areas - for example this past week's class the one that dropped on Wednesday April 4th (4/4) focuses on the back, outer thighs, glutes and obliques and lemme tell you I feel it.

This is the class that made me want to start the series. So if you happen upon this post in 2020, look up the class that came out on 4/4/18 - it's soooooooooo dang good.

Here's the thing about the class. It starts off with classic Port de Bras arms and plies, then once your arms are good and warmed up she brings in the band. Now if you are familiar with my old blog, and the good old days on my other workout, you'll know that I HATED the band. Hated it with passion. But not with Lauren - I mean to tell you she works that band in such a way that it feels as good as using dumbbells or wrist weights. 

Back to this class though - you finish standing arms with bands then move into seated arms and holy crap do you feel it. But in a good way.

The reason that I can do her classes and not run out of gas is because she is entirely measured. Nothing is rushed. She has you perform each and every move with accountability. You're not struggling to keep up at a break-neck pace, sacrificing form for speed, no craning your neck to see the screen - why? Because she is an expert teacher who talks you though shit dude! She tells you how to do the move, shows you how to do the move, then has you stop for a moment, check your body against her body, and once you have it, she counts you down. No jumping to the next move without cluing you in. I mean who'd do that?

She does a lot of reps, slow and controlled exactly how I like it. You feel the burn and just when you think you're gonna die, that she is in fact trying to kill you with "death by leg-lift" she starts counting you down so you finish every rep of every move because Lauren makes you believe you can do it! Yesssss! It's so fucking awesome. I'm not even joking. You'll push yourself if you know you're near the end, right? I know I do.

But because of this pace, this control, this inclusion of the breath and reminder of proper form, AND the fact that she takes the time to cool your ass down at the end of class, you don't feel wiped, spent, pooped, drained, or begging for death. Well sometimes I beg for death. Her classes are hard. But they're super fun too. And something as simple as a thank you at the end of class goes a long way. When she's says thank you ladies - I call back, No! Thank you, Lauren. I'll see you tomorrow!

So on that note - Ima sign off here. But I want to leave you with this. I am so excited to share this new series with you. I won't write about every class, but I will share some of my older faves in case you're new and want to pick through the archives. Lauren keeps all of her classes up but there are organized in such a way that it's not overwhelming. Have a look...

Under My List - you can save all of your most favorite classes. It's where I keep pretty much EVERY class. Lol. Below that are the newest classes that have come down. There's a ton of other sections for you to have fun with as well.

Don't have a clue where to start? Start at Welcome to LEK where she walks/talks you though a class so you know what to expect when you're ready to jump in. Short on time, she has shorty classes too.

Exhausted from a day of work, kids, cleaning, cooking, life of a middle agey lady, Lauren will give you that much needed "me time" without burning your ass out. She'll add to your energy bank, trim your tummy, perk your bootie and sculpt your everything.

I love Lauren, I love LEK and I'm not afraid to sing it from the rooftops. For me, it's the workout of the future. Thanks for stopping by. You too crickets. I've missed you in the quiet of my little internet corner.

xo
Shan