And I'm also pretty sure that most of you won't really consider this much of an adventure anyway. But I'm one of those for whom...well, it just doesn't take much. ; )
So here's the big news:
Last night I signed up and started working out at our local fitness center!
*Wow. I'm thinking if I dropped a pin right now, I'd hear it hit the floor. And I'm on carpeting.*
Seriously folks, this is BIG stuff for me! I have a very distinct comfort zone and seldom step anywhere near its boundaries, let alone outside them. We got Perri a membership there the first week of January to give her somewhere to go to workout and stay fit. All those years of gymnastics left her with a desire to be moving almost constantly, and for that I am so very grateful. You see, I've never been athletically inclined or anywhere close to physically fit. I mean really nowhere close. But over the last couple of years I've been feeling the need to get myself into better shape. Age creeping up on me? Perhaps. I'm feeling it and I have no desire to spend the rest of my days sitting around doing nothing and allowing my body to fall into even greater disrepair.
My first night at the gym taught me a few valuable lessons I thought I'd share with you, my lovely readers. : ) Don't laugh too hard, okay?
#1. If you should go to the gym with your fabulously fit 13 year old daughter, don't allow her to convince you that the stair climber is the place to start especially if she's the one who has to adjust the settings for you because you have absolutely no clue as to what all those buttons do.
Can you say OH. MY. GOODNESS? Three minutes into level 6 and I was nearing the point of hyperventilation. To a beginner, anything above level 3 on the stair climber is Satan's spawn, I tell ya.
#2. The wet noodles that take the place of your legs after 3 minutes at level 6 on a stair climber make it extremely difficult to maintain any sort of dignity while walking to the next machine.
#3. Handrails on the steps leading to different levels of the fitness center are useful and necessary features when attempting to ascend/descend the stairs on the wet noodles that take the place of your previously stable (if not firm and shapely) legs.
#4. The dual motion handlebars on the elliptical trainers are a godsend.
Not only do they provide an upper body workout and strengthen your core muscles, they also provide just enough upper body motion to hide the involuntary trembling of muscles too long unchallenged.#5. The rowing machine ROCKS.
#6. Before leaving home for a good, strenuous workout, make sure the music on your iPod has been changed since Christmas. You might get there, all set to kick up some Nickelback and some All American Rejects to get motivated, only to pop in the ear buds and discover only Christmas carols, Josh Groban, Michael Buble, and the soundtrack to My Best Friend's Wedding. Not what I consider great workout music.
So there you have it. The What Not To Do List for a first time gym rat. Consider this my PSA for the week. I'm working out at home this evening and going back to the gym on Thursday, so I might be too sore to even type by that time!
