Monday, August 24, 2009

If Two Days Are Good, Four Days Must Be Better.




I went to the gym twice today. Once this morning and then again in the evening. It just occurred to me that it might be impossible for me to get on top of this weight gain thing unless I pump up the volume a bit.

I mean, let's face it. Even though I worked a desk job, I can't tell you how many times I would get up to go to the printer, make a copy, visit someone's office, etc. Well, a lot of that movement is not happening now. Even though this is a big house, and I do have bursts of activity (like when I prune the shrubs and trees), that activity is far from consistent. There are some days that I work on my scrapbooks, read a book, watch TV. You get the picture. None of these activities use very much energy. I do, however, still eat my 3 squares plus snacks. So the input is the same but the output has been reduced drastically. You know what that means.

This morning I decided that I would increase the amount of time I spend in the gym. Why not? We spend $79 a month for our membership. There are classes around the clock. So why should I just go twice a week? I should go to the gym at least 4 times a week.

While looking over the schedule, I found that there was a 6:00 pm Hydro Tone class being held in the 25-yard pool. I decided I'd go. I'd taken a water fitness class using this equipment last week and it was an excellent workout. Actually I only used the hand weights (called bells) last week so I decided I'd take the plunge and use the boots as well as the bells for this class.

I walked into the gym and the first thing I noticed was that it was packed. Not at all like it is in the morning. Must be most of the working folk. Anyhow, I joined the class in the pool and started the process of getting geared up.

The bells are easy--you just hold them in your hands and as you perform exercises in the water, resistance is increased as the water pours through the holes in the bells. The boots were a different story. Just getting the boots on took a major effort. They have 3 velcro straps and once you have them sufficiently tightened, you feel like a monster. The boots cause extra drag when you're walking in the pool and the combination of the bells and the boots make you feel like you're walking through quicksand. It's hard enough to do exercises like bicep curls but when you attempt to do jumping jacks with these contraptions, the intensity level is amazing. If you add to the drag on your legs, the need to keep the boots from hooking onto one another and the fact that you need to do a minimum of 30 jumping jacks in 1 minute, you can see what level of exercise this is. At least twice, I fell face forward into the water because my boots hooked onto one another. Embarrassing to say the least.

The class lasted one hour and I will admit that I was watching the clock. When we started the cool down I was one happy camper. I took the boots off and put the bells up. As I climbed out of the pool, I realized that my legs felt so tired I could hardly lift them. I knew that I would have to take a Epsom salt soak tonight. As I was toweling off in the locker room I looked at my arms. Hey, is that more definition I see there?

Watch out Michelle...

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