Jeff and I - like millions of other overweight Americans - have joined the gym. This is partially a New Year's resolution ... but it's been coming for a while. December was just too busy to join (but not too busy to spend time eating ... do we see a problem?), but now we are proud owners of Gold's Gym memberships.
We have been a few times since joining. Monday, I went to my first Pilates class. I'm a big believer in Pilates - I love it. It is hard (painful) enough for me to feel accomplished, but I don't have to sweat too much.
I'm not sure if the teacher was trying to encourage us or discourage us ... but here are some things she said on Monday ... and my reaction (in my head of course).
(Before class starts) "Wow, I went to a couple of classes over the break and realized I must just be a hard teacher, because they were so easy" GREAT ... I'm going to die.
5 min. into the class we are "warming up." I whisper to my friend Anne, who is torturing with me, asking how long the class lasts. She responds a full hour. I decide then and there I will probably die.
(About 15 min. in) "This one never gets any easier" Encouraging ... especially since I am trying to keep the ginormous exercise ball under my feet (while laying on the ground) and it keeps rolling away. If I can't do the exercise and it doesn't get any easier what does that mean?
(About 30 min. in) My thighs are starting to quiver. I didn't know muscles could actually spasm so quickly after beginning a particular exercise.
(About 45 min. in) "Wow you should really be feeling this one in your butt." AND in EVERY other inch of my body.
(During every exercise) "Two more times" Maybe my counting skills aren't up to par, but my idea of 2 more times and her idea of 2 more times were DRAMATICALLY different.
(10 min. before we finish) "Little circles with your legs; isn't it amazing how something that seems so simple could be so hard" And I would add HURT so much. At this point I was doing like HALF the amount of exercises she was. And had decided that walking the next day was a moot point.
And the stretching lasted WAY longer than it should have ... but it meant I had survived.
Weirdly enough ... I'm going back for more tonight!
Wish me luck.
6 comments:
hahahaha as a regular pilates goer this made me LAUGH- best of luck :o)
yay! oh, I know...those good pilates teachers are torture! mine has her own counting system also, where she says numbers more than once...like, "four, three, three, three, two, one and a half, one..." AUGHHH.:) what we'll do to get in shape.
Good luck with the getting into shape thing! I'm a fan of the cardio-strength training stuff! I'm up to 193 lbs on the leg press! 10 reps of 3! If your gym has turbo and kickboxing, give those a try, but you will sweat! I love those classes.
HAHAHA! GREAT post! I snortled aloud, and then had to read it aloud to Bill.
Zumba was fun! Definitely going again - and I'd love to join you and Ann in a round of Pilates sometime.
"little circles with your legs".
Maybe it's the artist in me, but I can make my circles WAY littler than hers.
I love the gym. And I didn't know you went to Zumba....where do you go?? Golds??
LOL. The laments of the Pilates-going journey.
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