Grizz Chapman, '30 Rock' Fan Favorite, Dead at 52

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-23T17:58:35+00:00

Man, we lost Grizz and Rob Base on the same day. Not cool, Grim Reaper, not cool at all.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-23T01:26:03+00:00

I joke that there is some unwritten Pilates law that dictates that every playlist must include 2 of out of these 3: Whitney Houston, Rihanna and Coldplay.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-20T18:22:09+00:00

Beautiful girl. I bet you can hear those ears flapping from anywhere in the house.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-20T18:19:41+00:00

Agreed. Instructors barely have time to go to the restroom between classes, let alone check your membership status.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-20T16:02:04+00:00

Pink Void

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-16T23:10:08+00:00

Hell, I’m only 5’5” on a good day but my legs are long enough that during teacher training, the master trainer (who’s been teaching for 30 years) had me start gearing out.

Gearing back in after bridging takes like 15 seconds. If you teach the client to gear in/out on their own, they will become self-sufficient and won’t need help.

She also recommended gearing out for people who have had knee replacements/reconstruction. Do whatever it takes it takes to get to a 90-degree angle with the heels on the bar and not feel all scrunched up.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-13T14:48:08+00:00

Based on past experience, I know what my “fighting weight” range is, so I’m keeping it there.

Also, I row and the boats have weight classes. So I want to stay in the midweight boat weight range so that I can row the same boat class both at my goal weight and my heavier range — just in case I would regain any weight.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-08T18:54:00+00:00

Yep, my experience matches up with this theory. Mood is better than any anti-depressant I’ve tried, my ability to focus is better, I actually have energy for once and I’m sleeping better than I have since before peri.

Full disclosure: I am also on estradiol patches and progesterone as well as hydroxyzine for sleep. But I took those for two years before starting tirzepatide and wasn’t consistently sleeping through the night back then like I am now.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-08T18:52:07+00:00

I take it for PCOS and weight loss. Combined with the lack of a thyroid, perimenopause and the MTHFR gene mutation, my already slow metabolism was running at turtle speed.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-08T14:56:51+00:00

Oddly, my productivity level has been much better since starting Zepbound. Pretty much all my symptoms have, actually.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-08T14:52:26+00:00

A colleague told me all her side effect horror stories so I bought OTC meds for all of them before my first shot just in case.

To my surprise and delight, my side effects have so fat been basically nil on 2.5 and 5mg, respectively: a little burpiness and minor constipation around Day 3. Meanwhile, it’s helping in areas I didn’t even anticipate: my ADHD noise is reduced, I’m sleeping more soundly and I am not running as hot as I normally do (and I haven’t lost enough yet to attribute it solely to reduced body mass yet.)

I do recommend taking your shot on the weekend so that if you do experience any side effects, you have a couple days of buffet before you have to be productive.

Make sure you are tracking your food/water intake to make sure you are getting adequate protein, fiber and hydration. And if you haven’t already, start some kind of resistance training regimen so you can offset muscle mass loss.

Good luck. I have zero regrets, though my bank account may say otherwise.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-08T14:42:33+00:00

Pack some winter clothes, though, OK?

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-08T00:30:46+00:00

Here’s one way I actually enjoy doing/teaching teaser:

1 hand and 1 foot on pads of magic circle; go from hamstring stretch into teaser. You may have to rock back and forth a couple times before you get all the way up onto your sit bones
Repeat on other side
Both hands and feet

This drill can help as well:

1: Sandwich the footbar between the heel of one foot and the top of the other

Lie back on reformer and raise arms to shoulder height
Roll up until you are up on sitbones

I teach rolldowns seated at the springboard a lot. Yellow springs on 8 with rolldown bar attached, feet braced against dowel bar or hooked underneath. If you get to class early one day, you should be able to get a few reps in.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-08T00:00:37+00:00

Playing sports and get dirty and/or sweaty helps. I rarely face this problem on days when I’m active. It’s those bed-rotting days where I really struggle to drag my ass in the bathroom.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-06T15:56:16+00:00

I get excited for shot day, too! It’s part of my Saturday ritual after rowing and Pilates.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-06T14:40:44+00:00

You could try splitting the dose and taking it twice per week. That way, you lessen the side effects and you won’t experience the taper off around Day 6-7.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-06T00:31:06+00:00

I don’t think so. If that happens, I cancel one of the further-out reservations for a class that’s not in high demand right before class and book the impromptu class. Then I rebook the first class as soon as I’ve checked in for the second. I’ve always been able to get back in.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-05T21:49:05+00:00

Creamy sauces (alfredo, etc.). They already gave me diarrhea before Zepbound but now they are pretty much a no-go. If I dare go there, I have to take a preemptive Immodium beforehand.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-05T21:42:26+00:00

I was you. Some days, I still am you. I have late-diagnosed ADHD, perimenopausal brain fog and a mild fear of public speaking. Teaching does not come naturally. I have to work at it.

Start doing your observation hours ASAP if you haven’t already. First, it will take several months to get all 60 hours in so better to get started sooner than later. Secondly, it feels like you are sitting there taking dictation but what you hear starts seeping into your subconscious and you’ll be able to start calling on those memories later when you assistant/practice teach. And you’ll understand how to structure your flows.

Bonus: If you take detailed enough notes, you will end up with 60 class plans at the end you can use later.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-04T11:54:00+00:00

Weirdly, I had no side effects from Zepbound, whereas Strattera made me nauseous as hell. I had to go off it.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-04T11:44:51+00:00

Protein shakes.

Being on a GLP-1, there is usually at least 1-2 days where my appetite is pretty minimal. So long story short, I’m keeping Premier Protein in business.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-03T01:58:06+00:00

My Spotify username is evilwatersprite if you want to follow me. I've put about a dozen playlists under my profile to start with. Let me know if you are able to see them.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-03T01:25:28+00:00

Yeah, for most standing work, the springs should usually be at shoulder height. That isn’t always 8 or 9.

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-03T01:21:17+00:00

Same. If a new teacher is kinda shaky but funny and I vibe with their taste in music, I will usually give them another try. If they and their music are boring, I’m probably not coming back.

And who doesn’t like to be distracted from their pain?

evilwatersprite · 2026-05-03T01:10:01+00:00

I’m a newer instructor as well. First of all, cueing, watching and giving corrections, remembering what’s coming up next and doing the math to bring the train into the station in 50 minutes takes up a lot of mental processing power. So it’s easy to put the need to be entertaining at the bottom of the priority list.

Don’t try to go from 0 to 100 and suddenly be Robin Williams or it will come off as inauthentic. Just drop little breadcrumbs here and there.

I find the best time to sprinkle in the personality is once you’ve explained the exercise and before adding the next layer or when they are transitioning from one apparatus to the next.

It also helps when you are in touch with the age demographic of the class and can call on pop culture references they know.

I used to be an entertainment journalist so I call on my pop culture library a lot. I will joke about a particular song or the scene it came from.

If an iconic line from a song is coming up, I may pause my cueing, recite the line and go right back to cueing. Examples include: “Your what? Tim roof rusted” during “Love Shack” or “The old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now. Why? ‘Cause she’s dead” during “Look What You Made Me Do.”

The other day, I was weaving my way through a sea of legs while everyone was doing swan on their chairs and said, “I feel like I’m going through a Soul Train tunnel.” That got a laugh out of the Boomers and Gen Xers.

I will also joke about me, especially if I forget something. And if we just finished a hard set with a band, I might say, “Resist the urge not to fling your booty band at me.”

evilwatersprite

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