The Third of the Terrible Trinity:  The Statue of Liberty

I love New York City…the architecture and the noise; the energy; the intersection of so many different kinds of people and cultures.  I love the theatre district and Central Park; I like the Hudson River and Soho; I love just wandering around China Town getting lost for hours in the maze of narrow streets and alleys.  And I have always loved the Statue of Liberty.  Since I first saw it at age 12 I have been mesmerized by its majestic presence at the southern tip of Manhattan. A gift from the French to the U.S. in celebration of our victory for independence from the British, it is the landmark I always look for as my plane is approaching La Guardia.  I’ve visited the Statue five or six times, and am proud to say that I have climbed to the top to look out through Lady Liberty’s crown.  And even though post 9-11 has put an end to visiting Liberty Island, I still like to take the ferry to Ellis Island just so I can cruise past her.

Despite my love for the Statue of Liberty I was completely ignorant that lurking somewhere out there in the world of “physical fitness for the insane,” there existed an exercise by the same name:  the Statue of Liberty.  It has quickly become one of my least favorite exercises and it comprises the third component of the “Terrible Trinity.”

Basically, the Statue of Liberty demands that you begin by holding a weight in your right arm ABOVE your head.  Apparently the “above your head” portion of this exercise is critical as Ryan screams, “Arms up! Arms up!” over and over as we struggle to maintain form and composure.  From the standing position you are to move to a sitting position.  Note:  there is no chair J  That would be too simple.  Nope, you have to go from a standing Statue of Liberty pose, (although I’m pretty sure her lamp weighs a lot less than the weight in my trembling right arm seems to weigh) to a sitting on the floor move…oh, and did I mention you need to keep the arm with the weight in it above your head (insert sound of Ryan screaming, “Keep your arm up over your head!  Keep that arm up!).  Then, with the weight STILL in your right arm you lay back and extend your arm, yep, that very one with that very weight, over your head.

Now, if the exercise ended here I might be able to endure it.  But no…you have to sit up from that “but I just got as comfortable as humanly possible here on the floor with a weight extended over my head," to a STANDING position once again…and guess what…YES…you keep the weight in your arm which is extended…you got it…ABOVE YOUR HEAD.  From that point you MOVE the weight from your right arm to the left arm and repeat the whole process, including the part about the WEIGHT ABOVE YOUR HEAD.  You do this over and over again until a) Ryan tells you to stop, b) you can’t move at all or c) your dead.

I pretty much have been scoring a consistent B on this exercise.  It hurts just about every muscle I possess.  I shouldn’t be surprised…it’s designed to use pretty much every muscle I possess!

The experts sing the praises of the Statue of Liberty as “complete” core exercise.   

These same experts agree that to have a strong core, you have to do strong core exercises.  It's not enough to just do ab crunches and sit ups.  Hmmm…that sucks…I don’t mind ab crunches and sit ups as much as I do the Statue of Liberty. 

Oh no…to build a strong core you need to exercise a variety of muscles from your hips to your shoulders. Most people think of the core as a nice six-pack, or strong, toned abs, but the truth is that the abdominal muscles are a very small part of the core. The core consists of many different muscles that stabilize the spine and pelvis, and run the entire length of the torso. Benefits of "Good Core Strength" include the following:

1.  Strong Core Muscles Make it Possible to Stand Upright and Move on Two Feet

Hmmm…prior to doing this particular core exercise I WAS ABLE to stand upright and move on two feet.  It’s after doing them that I seem to have the problem.  My immediate impulse after I drop the weight I’ve been holding ABOVE MY HEAD for at LEAST 5 minutes is to keel over at the waist and stagger towards my water bottle.

2. A Strong Core Distributes the Stresses of Weight-bearing

While that may be true, the core strengthening exercises  we do at NLXF CREATE stress for me; it’s stressful to have Ryan yelling at you to keep your weighted arm above your head when every fiber of your body wants to lower that very weight…onto his head!

3. A Strong Core Reduces Back Pain
Abdominals get all the credit for protecting the back when in fact, it is weak and unbalanced core muscles are linked to low back pain. Balanced core muscles help maintain appropriate posture and reduce strain on the spine, thereby reducing back pain.

Note that nothing in the above statement talks about the “new pain” the Statue of Liberty does generate in ones abs, glutes, quads, shoulders and arms (yep, the very ones holding the weight ABOVE your head.

4. A Strong Core Improves Athletic Performance
 All powerful movements originate from the center of the body out, and never from the limbs alone.

I don’t want to be powerful…I don’t want to be athletic…I just want to look good in my clothes AND be able to move my arms like a NORMAL person after I’m done working out, as opposed to a …oh I don’t know…stubby-armed Tyrannosaurus.

End Note:  You should be able to breathe evenly while doing the Statue of Liberty.  Good luck with that!

 

The Second of the Terrible Trinity:  The Gutbuster

Prior to my enrollment at NLXF I had never heard of a “gutbuster.”  I’d happily shopped at “Doorbuster” sales.  I’d enjoyed bargain fuel prices courtesy of “gas busters.”  But a “gut”-buster…well, our paths had never crossed.  Of course all that changed within a nanosecond of enrolling in the NLXF program.  And gutbusters are second only to burpees as my most loathed of exercises that we do at the gym.  And for that reason it holds the Number Two spot in the Terrible Trinity.

What exactly is a gutbuster?  Well, truth be told, the Gutbuster defies definition.  Really!  A google* search of the term “gutbuster” will not provide you with a Wikipedia description, a YouTube demonstration, or a succinct definition of this most favorite NLXF exercise.  What it will get you is thousands of hits describing ways to torment your body, elevate your metabolism, utilize an “ab” machine (of the same name I might add), or relegate your diet all in the pursuit of a finally toned core.  It will also produce a plethora of fitness challenges ranging from foot races, to uphill sprints, to triathlons, as well as pages and pages showcasing any number of epicurean delights guaranteed to stretch your stomach and cause heartburn for weeks!

Oh no…if you want to find out anything about that god-awful exercise Ryan fondly calls The Gutbuster, you must search for it by its real name:  The Squat Thrust Burpee. 

I knew it was a member of the Burpee family!  Will this insanity never cease!

Basically, the Gutbuster, a.k.a. The Squat Thrust Burpee, is a burpee WITHOUT the jump.  Whose idea was that!?!?  Let’s be real here…the JUMP is the EASIEST part of the whole damn thing.  I mean, c’mon, if you’re going to eliminate something from the regular burpee, how about…oh I don’t know…how about the catapulting of your body from a standing position to a belly flop?  Or what about that pesky plyometric move????  I think I could probably live without BOTH of those moves. But of course if you did that, then it would simply be a jump squat.  Or a push up plank.  Or foot fire into a push up.  And naturally, we do those as well!  I’m beginning to think that the Burpee is the seed that has spawned just about every exercise I really, really don’t like.

Anyway, I’m convinced that some person with too much sweat in their eyes, and too many exercise generated endorphins screaming through their body thought that eliminating the jump was THE essential element in creating THIS alternative to the burpee.

Sigh…a

 

And so we do them…lots!   And I suppose what annoys me most is that each and every time we do them I can’t help but feel that Ryan thinks he’s doing us a favor by “letting” us do gutbusters instead of burpees.

News flash Ryan:  the bigger favor would be to not have to do them at all!

Tomorrow starts week three of session nine.  I’m pretty sure that some gutbusters are in my immediate future…

 

*Note:  A google search of gutbuster WILL get you a direct link to my blog…you have no idea how that made my heart sing!

**Note:  see previous blog for description of other “fun” burpee variations.

The Terrible Trinity:  Burpees, Gutbusters and the Statue of Liberty

Okay…I know this won’t come as a shock to anyone reading this blog or any of my posts on the NLXF Facebook wall, but I really don’t like most of the exercises we do in class on Tuesday and Thursday, our “cardio and strength training” days.  But there are three that I really, really, especially, and completely dislike:  Burpees, Gutbusters and the Statue of Liberty.  I fondly refer to them as the “Terrible Trinity.”

Each of these exercises is designed to provide a complete body workout by working a multitude of muscle groups with each series of movements.  There is no other set of exercises we do at NLXF, with the possible exception of Bear Crawls, that so frustrates me, so torments me, so demoralizes me as these three.  They are hard.  They frequently defeat me.  And they always make me sore.  Individually, they remind me of how far I have yet to go on my fitness journey.  Collectively, well, let’s just say that they make a root canal look like a walk in the park.

Today we did FOUR MINUTES of burpees in a flurry of 30 second sets scattered throughout the workout.  To be honest, I was ecstatic after my first 30 second set…I did FIVE decent burpees.  True, they will never be as good as Nick’s or as fluid as Kristen’s but for me…well they were pretty darn decent.  I was so excited that I shared this happy news with both Creed and Ryan.  Creed gave me a BIG beautiful smile and a high five.  Ryan hit me with his signature chiseled glare and told me I should be doing at least eight.  Sigh…and he wonders why I like Creed way more better than him.

I feel that each of these exercises deserves further discussion and exploration.  In this installment I consider the Burpee.  Now…I know I’ve posted some of this material before but here’s the deal:

1. not everyone read last year’s post

2. we have lots of new people this session

3. I’m hoping that Jake Lewis will finally realize that I already know LOTS about Burpees and he will cease posting information about them on my Facebook wall and instead, send me love notes…I don’t think it’s fair Erin Hinton is getting all the love.

 

So…here we go:  My tribute to the Burpee.

Prior to my enrollment in NLXF I was a Burpee Virgin.  Somehow, I had managed to live more than 50 years in pure ignorance of their existence.  I sure as hell had never done one.  And I’m pretty sure I could have happily lived another 50 years blissfully unaware of them.

Sadly, all of that changed in October 2011.   I distinctly remember the exact moment Burpees entered my life.  It was week three of my first NLXF session.  Ryan announced near the end of a Thursday class that we would do Burpees.  And by the way, he doesn’t just say the word Burpees…he ROARS the word Burpees, making the U-R sound resonate like the engine of a small aircraft taking flight.  Then he demonstrated one.   You can imagine the look of shock on my face as I watched this exercise unfold before me.  I looked around.  Surely this was some kind of cruel hoax and in a minute everyone would start laughing and tell Ryan that was a pretty good trick.  But no one did.  Everyone just started flopping to the floor and then pushing themselves up to a jump, repeating the entire process over and over again. 

So I jumped in, too.  I had no problem hitting the floor; that was the easy part.  It was the getting back up just using my arms and toes and then leaping up again that created the all the problems.  By the time I was done my knees were bruised, my arms hurt and I HATED Ryan; I didn’t talk to him for two days.

What are they, you may ask?  Well first, a bit of history.  The exercise was named in the 1930s for American physiologist Royal H. Burpee who developed the Burpee Exercise as part of his PhD thesis as a “quick and simple way to assess agility, coordination and strength.”  Royal’s “invention” required simply that the exerciser move a “large load over a long distance in a short amount of time.”

A CURSE ON YOU AND ALL YOUR OFFSPRING DR. BURPEE!

Of course the true irony is that Dr. Burpees research didn’t remain obscure like 90% of that carried on by most academician annually, my own included. The US military LOVED The Burpee and immediately adopted it as a way to assess the fitness level of recruits during WWII. And then atheletic teams adopted it as well.  I don’t care if Navy Seals and the Green Bay Packers do them; I Hate Burpees (although I LOVE watching Clay Matthews [insert big swoon and sigh] do them before a game J).

For the unenlightened, a Burpee is pretty much the most work you can do just using your body for resistance.  It begins from a standing position. From there you simply prepare to die.  You move to a squat and then fling your full body weight all the way to the floor by way of a single quick plyometric move in order to assume a plank position.  From there, in yet another one quick plyometric motion I might add, you return to momentarily to the squat position and from there you “jump up” in order to move your entire body weight off the ground before landing in an upright standing position, eager to begin this sequence from hell once again.

A PLYOMETRIC MOVE!  Just bite me!

I can do the start from a standing positon but from that point on, the entire process becomes a cluster of painful disasters.  Trust me, the only quick motion I’m good at is inserting and withdrawing my Visa card into the ATM machine.  And of course it doesn’t help my process at all to have Ryan hovering over me from start to finish yelling “get lower,” “faster”, or “jump higher.”

Burpees continue to haunt me at NLXF since my first encounter with them four months ago.  I continue to hate them and every single permutation of them that Ryan brings to the NLXF workouts including but not limited to:  the Squatting Burpee, the “Burpee Pushup,” the “Baby” Burpee, the Burpee in our kickboxing gloves while our partner “works the bag,” and my most recent nemesis, the Pyramid Burpee.  I am HIGHLY ANNOYED that Burpees are infiltrating additional workout days.  It used to be that Thursdays were Burpee days.  Not anymore…we do them on Tuesdays…we’ve done them on Wednesdays.  Is nothing is sacred anymore!

Sadly, a recent internet search reveals that there are NUMEROUS variations on The Burpee including these sick and disgusting permutations:

The Jump-over Burpee

The athlete jumps over an obstacle between burpees.

The One-Armed Burpee

The athlete uses only one arm for the whole exercise.

The Parkour burpee

Following one burpee on the ground, the athlete jumps upon a table and performs the second burpee on the table, then jumps back to the initial position. (I’m sorry, but clearly alcohol consumption must be a factor with this one!)

And finally, the Chirpee Burpee

Combine a pull-up from a bar extended from the ceiling with the jump.

I’m guessing that until I see tables and pull up bars in the gym, I’m safe for a little longer!

 

 

 

 

 

No Exerciser Left Behind

Last week Friday we did the NLXF “Fitness Test.”  This test consists of five exercise stations:  The Burpee station (5 burpees); the Sit-up Station (15 crunches); the Push-up Station (10 push ups); the Squat Station (20 squats); The Cardio Station (boxes, ladders and hurdles…three times through leading once with your left leg, then your right leg and then forward.)  There is also the “Catch Your Breath” station, the “I Need a Drink of Water Really Bad” Station and the “I Think…Wait…I KNOW I’m Going to Throw Up” Station, but apparently those are optional.  I exercised ALL the options!

You do eight circuits which means you “visit” each station 8 times. Yep…EIGHT TIMES!  Of course all of this was preceded by a warm up that consisted of no less than 60 squats, 45 crunches and 30 push-ups.  Sigh…I remember when that would have been my entire workout…for the week!

The whole nasty thing was designed by Ryan.  Frankly, I blame ALL the trainers EXCEPT for (oh joy, oh swoon) Creed.  I ESPECIALLY blame SCHULTE for this new form of hell we now experience each session.  I also suspect Scratch Cupcakes were involved.  I mean, can’t you see it…a bunch of bored and slightly sugar-coma buzzed well toned men sitting around a table.*(see below) Suddenly one of them, probably Eric says, “Wouldn’t it be funny to make everybody do all the exercises that Gretta hates over and over again!”  “Yeah,” Sully would add, “and then time them to see how long it would take them to finish?”  “Oh my God,” Eric would exclaim.  “That would be hysterical.”  “Yes,” Sharpe would chime in, “like Marine boot camp but without the uniforms and short hair.”

I can imagine Ryan, reaching for his eighth cupcake, listening to this discussion, and then smiling that Grinchy smile of his and thinking “This is a very good idea!”  And so Ryan created the fitness test. Since that fateful evening, like lambs to slaughter, we come to class on the first Friday and final Thursday of every session knowing we will do it.  It’s amazing any of us show up at all.

Ryan insists that it is a way for all of us to determine our fitness progress, another “tool in the tool box” along with our beginning and ending measurements and weigh ins. Personally, I think it is just a way for him to play out his fantasy of being a military drill sergeant.  Bottom line, I don’t like the test, not one little bit.  And there are TWO BIG reasons why.

One:  It brings back every bad and horrible memory from every bad and horrible gym class moment I experienced in my impressionable youth.

Ryan began the test on Friday by reminding us that this wasn’t the third grade mile.  The hell it’s not!   It is exactly the third grade mile, the fourth grade chin up bar test, the fifth grade sit up contest and the sixth grade 600 yard dash all rolled into one. **(see below)   The challenge to test myself physically in a timed environment generates a mental re-run of  every fitness nightmare I endured as the “fat kid” in gym class.  It triggers all of the anxiety, embarrassment, teasing, and jokes I endured in every single gym class I had to take as part of my K-12 education.  Sadly, my complete failure at fitness tests of the past  still haunt me today, no matter how much I tell myself otherwise, and no matter how much the other members of my class cheer me on until I finish.

Two:  I have no ownership in the test.

I am an educator so I know a thing or two about assessment.  Bottom line, you assess  what YOU, the teacher VALUE.  Problems arise when what the teacher values and what the student values don’t match.

Hello!  News Flash!  Ryan and I have a problem!  We don’t match!  We don’t even come close!

Ryan values burpees, squats, high knees, hurdles and push-ups from your toes.  I value things like my ability to hunt down a sale pair of fabulous Italian leather heels in 20 minutes or less at any mall in the nation.  I value my ability to find the coffee kiosk within minutes of getting off the airplane in any airport around the globe.  I value men who take me to Paris for the weekend.  (Sadly, the latter has NEVER happened.) 

Additionally, the test that Ryan insists I take at the start and end of each session does not include ANY of MY ideas, nor does it reflect any of the fitness benchmarks and skills that I value.  If I was designing a NLXF test just for me, it would include the following:

1. Volume and frequency of audible cursing during class

Test:  count the number of audible curses during week one; compare to number of audible curses week 10.  If you see a reduction in the week ten numbers, I’m getting more fit! 

2. Amount of time it takes me to locate Creed anywhere in the gym

Test:  count the amount of time it takes me to locate Creed during any exercise week one; compare to amount of time it takes during week 10.  If you see a reduction in the week 10 numbers I’ve mastered the art of doing the exercise while looking for Creed. And to multi-task like that…well it only stands to reason I am more fit!

3. Number of water breaks I request compared to number of water breaks I demand, compared to number of water breaks actually granted by Ryan

Count each of the above during week one; compare to counts week 10.  If the number of water breaks I’m whining about match the number allowed by Ryan, I’m more fit!

4. Number of times I leave to throw up during class

Test:  count the number of times I leave class week one; compare to number of times I leave class for same reason week 10.  If you see a reduction in the week 10 numbers, I’m more fit!

Sadly, I don’t think my version of the fitness test is going to replace the one that Ryan has designed.  I’ll just have to suck it up, challenge myself to let go of the negative childhood memories that haunt me, and do my best.

After all, I don’t want to be the exerciser left behind.

End Note:  I completed the fitness test to the absolute best of my ability including HIGH KNEES through the ladders.  I managed to shave a bit more time off my end of session eight total.  In fact, I did so remarkably well for me, that Creed (Oh Joy Oh Swoon) gave me a post-test hug.  Now that’s the kind of measure I can handle.  I’m going for TWO hugs at the end of the week ten test J

*Note:  NLXF does employ female trainers but NONE of them would have gone along with this. Right Danielle!?!?!?

**Note: Actually, I did set the school record for the 600 yard dash as a sixth grader…a record that lasted until the next 6^th grade class came onto the playground that afternoon and ran the same dash but STILL it was and remains my ONLY fitness moment of glory.  And the only reason I ran fast at all was because Terrence Bannon threatened to punch me in the stomach every time he lapped me.  I was scared shitless of Terrence Bannon.  There was no way I was going to let him hurt me. 

I Get By with A Little Help From My Friends

Sarah is my bag partner.  Actually, she’s more than that.  She’s my work out partner.  Sarah and I have been workout partners for two sessions; this week marks our third 10 week “do or die trying” partnership.

Five mornings a week Sarah is either next to me in the front row or at the bag ready to push me, prod me, challenge me, and cheer me on.  She’s also there to laugh with me…and occasionally at me J  She is one of the ten reasons (Creed being the other 9 J) that I keep coming back each day, each week, each session.  I can’t let Sarah down.  I need to show up.  I am her support person.  She is mine.  More importantly, if I don’t come to class…well, let’s just say she’d be more than happy to rip me a new one!

Sarah thanks me almost daily for pushing her through each and every workout.  I have pointed out to her that given a choice between doing 2 minutes of burpees myself OR cheering her on as SHE does 2 minutes of burpees, that I will pick the “cheer Sarah on” option every single time.  I’ve tried to explain to her that being bossy, demanding, and rude comes naturally to me.  I have told her repeatedly that I have a natural tendency to yell, shriek and verbally abuse others, especially when I am unhappy, sore, frustrated or sweating.  But I don’t think she believes me, and as I’m currently “between boyfriends” it’s nice to be able to share these gifts with someone.

I don’t really recall exactly how Sarah and I became workout buds, but we have.  I feel honored that she wants to work out with me.  And what makes it especially special for me is, well frankly, Sarah could have ANYBODY as her work out partner.  I mean…she’s good.  And she’s young!  I know I am at least twice her age!  Old enough for sure to be her mother and in some cultures probably her grandmother.  I tell her all the time she should find a partner closer to her age and ability but she just laughs and says "no."  Sometimes I think she keeps me around for comic relief! 

Sarah is the one who laughs at my “air kicks” (that awkward moment when I go to throw a right roundhouse and somehow manage to completely miss the bag with my foot), smiles,  and then tells me to "try again."  She empathizes with my burpee frustration.  She makes sympathetic cooing sounds whenever Ryan yells at me or blows the whistle in my ear.  She laughs at my constant stream of commentary on what we are doing.  Sarah is the one I know I can exchange a “WTF? Look” with and not have to worry that she doesn’t agree with me.  Sarah seems unfazed by my grunts, groans, mutterings and occasional use of profanity during workouts.  Okay…I’m lying just a bit there…my FREQUENT use of profanity during workouts!

Sarah almost always gets a mat for me.  She helps me with my kickboxing.  She tells me all the time I can “do it” and to try “just one more.”   Tomorrow we will most likely do a “circuit fitness test.”  Sarah will complete hers in about oh…14 minutes.  And then she’ll follow me around as I work to finish mine in less than 30.  She’ll dash with me from station to station.  She’ll do burpees with me.  She’ll count my squats…she’ll chase my butt through the ladders, across the steps and over the hurdles.  She will see my success as her success.  And I will see my success…as a both a miracle and the result of Sarah’s relentless support!

And that’s the great thing about NLXF.  All of us either have a “Sarah” in our class or are the "Sarah" for someone in our class.  If you are new to NLXF, you will experience both of these great gifts soon.  Because if your experience is anything like mine has been and continues to be, you find that everyone is willing to support one another.  Everyone is willing to give just a bit more, especially if it means that it will help someone else do one more rep, pick themselves off the matt and try again, push themselves to go just a bit longer, a bit stronger, a bit harder.  I wish more places in my life had a Sarah.

Oh…and Sarah…I’m shooting for 28 minutes tomorrow J

Fear Factor

A new 10 week session began at Next Level today.  And this first day had everything you would expect:  the buzz of excitement; friendly hellos as session-mates greeted each other warmly following what had been a four week break; lots of activity and movement as people warmed up, changed into their workout gear, wrapped their hands (it was a kickboxing day), had “before” photos and measurements taken.

The room was charged with energy…and FEAR!

True, it wasn’t necessarily “wet your pants horror film Jesus take me now I think I’m gonna die fear,” but it was fear, real fear, all the same! 

There was a hint of fear among some of the returning faithful like myself.  Our fear had more to do with how much things were going to hurt and concerns about how our bodies might respond to the workout after a four week hiatus.  Not to mention the overdose of carbs, sugar and fats that most of us probably enjoyed in our respective “Last Supper Before We Hit the Gym” feasts from the night before.

But the REAL fear was among the new members; those who were trying it for the first time.  I could see it in their eyes; the way they nervously twitched as they waited for our class to be invited into the gym; in the “deer and headlight” looks they exhibited as they watched in horrid fascination at what the class preceding ours was doing.  And frankly, the guy who came out of the gym and threw up all over the rug in the waiting area didn’t help ease their panic!

And my heart felt more than just a twinge of compassion for each and every one of them as I watched them twitch, stare, swallow hard, and laugh nervously.  Because it wasn’t that long ago that I was one of them.  And to a certain degree, I still am.

I joined NLXF in September of 2011.  Actually it was September 25….at 6:29 a.m.  I got to the gym at least 20 minutes before my session was to start.  NLXF was in a different location at that time and there was no “holding area.”  People just pretty much waited in their cars until they saw the class before them start to walk out, (or limp, or crawl), depending on what Ryan had made them do that day.

I can distinctly remember sitting in my car, scared out of my mind.  I had the standard fears:  could I make it through the whole hour?  Would I pass out?  Would I throw up on the person next to me? Would I be the oldest?  The weakest?  The most out of shape-est?  Was I wearing the right thing?

And then there were the not so standard fears…would I be able to get my left kickboxing glove on if my right hand already had a glove on?  Did I eat enough before the workout quickly followed by did I eat too much?  Would we get a water break?  Had I remembered to include an emergency contact on my registration form?  What about my blood type?  Would I know anyone?  (Please God…no former boyfriends OR bartenders from any of my favorite places…)  Would any of my current or former students be in the class? (This fear generates from a time when I went to have my yearly mammogram, only to discover that the x-ray technician had “had me in class.”  As you can imagine, that was a ‘special moment’, especially for me J) 

By the time I walked into the gym for the start of my very first class I had managed to work myself into a full blown panic attack.  My “resting” heart rate was probably hovering somewhere around 160 and we hadn’t even started the warm up…and by the time that was done I was completely drenched in sweat.

But as the class went on I began to relax. With each stretch, squat, jab and kick I began to realize that I didn’t have to be afraid.  First of all, no one was even paying attention to me; everyone was so focused on their own efforts that no one had time to even think about whether that old lady in the third row far end had done one or 21 pushups.  And second of all, I felt like they were all silently rooting for me.  There was such a sense of community; of family.  Sort of like working out with my sisters except without the cursing, eye rolling, and sarcasm.

Everyone was more than willing to give a shout of encouragement, invite you to partner with them at the bag, or to help you with your form.  Don’t get me wrong; people were competitive but only with themselves.  As individuals, they were driven and intense.  But collectively, they were passionate and supportive.  There was this amazing spirit of camaraderie which only grew as the days and weeks went on. 

And it continues…the camaraderie…the support…the sense of community.  Since that first day I’ve made incredible “from my gym class” friends…one older than me (Roger J) and the rest significantly younger.  And it is this connection to the people who show up to do the work that keeps me motivated to return day after painful day.

So to all you new people…hang in there.  You will get stronger; you will get fitter; you will get better; you will meet fabulous people. 

I just wish I could tell you you’ll be less sore but you won’t.  You’ll just find better pain meds J