Fitness Love

Close readers of Sarah Loves Hearts may notice that I frequently mention the various fitness activities I engage in.  Throughout my life I have been very inconsistent in that regard.  In high school I went to the Y every single day (it was THE workout spot for my high school) and stuck to an unbending regime of elliptical, weights, and abs. 
Once I got to college and discovered there were about 50 million more fun things to do with my time I rarely worked out aside from a few random trips to the Nat and the Serf.  When I was in law school I occasionally worked out with a trainer at my campus gym but never did it consistently.  Post-law school I briefly got into yoga and pilates but other than that didn't do much.  Upon moving back to GB in 2010 I really wanted to commit to a fitness routine.  I started slowly, taking once weekly pilates classes.  I still remember the very first pilates class I took.  Afterwords my arms felt so jello-y I couldn't even lift them.  I stuck with it though and started taking a weekly mat and a weekly reformer class at the fantastic Pilates Central.  In the interest of fitness and at the urging of my BFF, I took up an activity we used to enjoy together as children, rollerblading.  Fun fact: the very first time Cher and I hung out in seventh grade was to go rollerblading.  Unfortunately while rollerblading I broke my ankle, had to have surgery and was unable to walk on my own for about eight weeks.  Crazily for me, I stuck with pilates even when I was in a cast and in a boot.  I had to stop the reformer classes but I kept going to mat classes twice a week and did what I could with the broken ankle.  Once I was healed I also started taking yoga again.  The fabulous Morgan Fisher offers lunch hour yoga classes at my work.  I began taking these and enjoyed it so much I also took classes from her at a local community center as well.  I wanted to get into more strength-building and cardio stuff so I purchased a groupon for a local fitness center that offered personal and small group training; XO Fitness.  I began with once weekly personal training sessions that included cardio and strength.  I liked them so much I started attending their small group classes as well and talked Jeremy into training with me.  I really loved the fitness routine I had created and all the places I worked out.  The only problem is it was really expensive to take all those small group classes at separate places and it was taking a big bite out of my budget.  I decided to look into a gym that offered the classes I wanted for one monthly fee and first checked out Western Racquet.  My friend Sam was a dedicated Western-goer for years and had always raved about it.  After looking at their class offerings I decided to give it a try.  I realize about myself that I much prefer group classes to working out on my own.  They push me harder and give me more accountability.  Another bonus was that Amy, one of my favorite instructors from XO also taught at Western.  I have been going there for nine months and love it so much.  The classes I take regularly are Monday: yoga and Zumba, Tuesday: yoga or strength and Zumba, Thursday: yoga or strength and kickboxing, Friday: sometimes cycling (Biker Chicks), Saturday: Zumba or Yoga.  In addition to this I try to go running with my BFF three times a week, usually Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.  We trained for a 5K in December and had such a good experience we did another in February.  We are now working towards a 10K in June.  So that's how I do fitness.  It works really well for me.  I like the variety and the schedule allows me to take classes either over my lunch hour or right after work.  I never take classes later because I know if I went home I wouldn't want to leave.  Another bonus is buying cute workout clothes!  Of course I love Lulu although I do NOT support their politics but I also like Target, random stuff from TJ and lots of other things.  I highly recommend all of the places I mentioned above.  How do you do fitness?  Do you like classes or do you prefer working out on your own?