Winter Workouts: Grab Some c2 Apparel

October 28, 2016 by Cazey Williams in Cazey's Column, Makeup Sales

As a blogger, I am occasionally presented with opportunities to review products, and this fall I jumped at the chance to try some workout apparel by c2. The performance tights and half-zip I got were made for cool weather, which is fast approaching here in Richmond. (Okay, some days it doesn’t feel that way. It was 80 degrees last week.)

Still. We know winter is coming. Jon Snow might even say it’s here. And I need to be prepared, especially since I’ve gotten back into running and I don’t want to be forced to run inside all winter.

c2 is a clothing brand developed by New England native. The founder wanted to create and offer clothes that would allow you to exercise outdoors long after the temperatures have dropped. Upon receiving my tights and half-zip, I knew they would keep me warm in the coming December and January winds. That said, it’s sort of hard to try them out in that weather here in Richmond. Anyone have a walk-in freezer I can borrow?

Gym Offenders, Part III

December 30, 2015 by Cazey Williams in Cazey's Column, Humor, Life In Your 20's

This is hopefully the end of my list on gym offenders, but knowing gym goers, it probably isn't.

Offender 8: The Pack Hounds

Similar to the romantic couples that work out, these are the groups that work out together. Except "work out" is a generous term. There will be three or more dudes to one piece of equipment. One will be using the equipment and the others will stand off to the side or, worse, sit on another piece of equipment and not use it (that's an offense in and of itself!). I'm not even sure your cells are respirating.

Gym Offenders

November 09, 2015 by Cazey Williams in Cazey's Column, Humor, life lessons, Life In Your 20's, Leisure

In working out at the gym, I have encountered a few types of people that deserve a rant. So let’s chug a protein shake and rage about them:

Offender 1: The Rogue Runner

I don’t often run on the indoor track, but when I do, there are signs that point which direction you should run. Apparently the gym staff alternates the direction every so often. Something about wear-and-tear. Either way, they make it pretty obvious which way you should run. Even the illiterate should be able to interpret an arrow pointing left and/or everyone else on the track going clockwise around the track.

Holy Sweat: Hot Yoga

July 08, 2015 by Cazey Williams in Cazey's Column, Humor, life lessons, Life In Your 20's

On a recent Saturday, my friend invited me to bikram yoga. I knew what bikram was - your regular poetic yoga poses in a sauna - and had been wanting to try it. My friend told me to bring a towel, and that's it.

Five minutes before the class, my friend goes, "I forgot to tell you to bring water."

Your Personality By When You Go to the Gym

June 04, 2015 by Cazey Williams in Uncategorized, Cazey's Column, Humor, life lessons

Depending on class schedules and work obligations, I have visited the gym at many different hours. Each hour brings a different breed of person.

Before 6:30 AM. You are addicted, and you don't appreciate sleep enough. You also are ignoring that your body needs recovery time, which requires sleep. Then again, you probably don't lift. You probably swim laps or watch the local weather from a treadmill. I would say you might dabble in sunrise yogas, but the sun isn't even up yet.

Questions You've Always Wanted To Ask Your Yoga Teacher

February 23, 2015 by Cazey Williams in Cazey's Column, Guest Post, life lessons

At least one night a week, I go to a yoga class offered through Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Over the last year, I've gotten to know the instructor, Anja Bachmann, and I recently asked her to answer some burning-like-my-hamstring-when-I-try-to-stretch-it yoga questions for me:

How did you get into yoga? I was in high school and took a few yoga classes, but wasn't into it. My freshman year of college, I went to a small liberal arts college out of state and hated it. Yoga helped keep my mind off of being homesick. Their yoga teacher was graduating, and I was trying to find a way out of the food industry up there and decided I would take the summer intensive yoga teacher training in Richmond while I was home for the summer. The usual program is 9 months, and I did my RYT® 200 in 3 months. I never went back [to the liberal arts college] and started classes at VCU instead! Then, I was hired as a yoga teacher for VCU the following spring.

hat is your favorite pose? This is a hard one! It totally depends on my mood and whatever my body needs. Normally, chaturanga. It's normally thought of as a transitional pose and often overlooked, but done right it is so liberating. It makes you feel strong, balanced, and light all at the same time once practiced enough.

Gym Mishaps

January 23, 2015 by Cazey Williams in Cazey's Column, Humor, Life In Your 20's, life lessons

I work out regularly at the gym, and every so often - aka every other week - I either forget something or do something that makes me cringe and then go tweet about it. Here's a sampling:

Colorful socks. Last night I showed up at the gym to go running only to pull down my pants (don't worry, I was wearing shorts beneath!) and see I forgot to change my socks. Oh, I was in socks, but they were pink argyle socks. Thin, too. Not the worst thing that can happen, but like . . . I wasn't trying to make a statement on the treadmill catwalk. Or get a blister on my heel.

Sara Does the Biggest Loser

January 03, 2015 by Sara Woznicki in Leisure, Life In Your 20's, life lessons, Sara's Column, Tweets and Mascara, Work, Young Professionalism

I've read a lot about diets and workout exercises. I once watched an entire workout video too (sitting down). Unfortunately, none of those activities help you lose weight. I've written about my weight before, so it's no secret that I'm not known for my skinny, toned bod. I'm not grossly flabby either. I'm somewhere in the comfortable middle with some pounds to spare. Anyways, we were talking about losing holiday weight at work, and BAM, we (well -- I didn't really do anything to help) organized a Biggest Loser competition.

It'll include sharing recipes, workouts and motivation. We'll bring in healthy snacks, take walks around the lake and verbally assault each other when we're trying to sneak some cookies into our mouths. All things I can get down with. I wasn't planning on taking it too seriously (I mean, I'll have to lay off drinking and eating donuts if I want to win), UNTIL I realized this is an outright competition. We're doing weigh-ins, sending around updates and paying a tiny fee so that the winner gets a huge prize.

Awkward Gym Encounters

November 28, 2014 by Cazey Williams in Cazey's Column, Life In Your 20's, Tweets and Mascara, Uncategorized

This morning I’ve finished doing leg lifts on a dip machine and am about to do some decline crunches when this dude approaches me: “Hey, man, can you spot me?” He smells of sour cream and onion BO.

Points of information: I don’t know this man, he reeks, and I am not comfortable spotting people. I am also wearing headphones, which is like wearing an invisibility cloak: Don’t disrupt someone with headphones. So why are you asking me, dude? Do I look like a for-hire spotter?

However, I acquiesce. It’s more awkward to say “No, I can’t” than to feign spotting (unless I end up allowing the barbell to crush his sternum; that could be way more awkward).

My First Run

November 07, 2014 by Sara Woznicki in Leisure, Life In Your 20's, life lessons, Sara's Column, Tweets and Mascara

It's been a few weeks since the great mirror fall of 2014. Since then, the bone has been covered, stitches have been taken out and mederma has become a daily addition to my routine. All is going well, and my workout ban has been lifted. It's been lifted ,plus a few days (just got to make sure that it's fully healed, right?). But finally, I decided to get back into the swing of working out.

Transitioning back to exercise is exciting. The feeling of getting your treadmill legs back. The slow rhythm building, despite all the trauma of the previous weeks.

A slow burn building in the left muscles of the stomach. Breath is getting slower. Staccato.

As the sweat build and muscles tense, only one thought crosses my mind...

It's good to be back.

Even though the run was slower and shorter than usual. The weights are lighter and the reps are lower. But, hell yeah, it's good to be back.