A Visit to the Gym

For the last 4 weeks I have made a conscience effort to get healthy, in-shape and all that stuff. Don't laugh! It has been 4 solid weeks and I am still doing quite well. But I like to exercise by doing fun stuff, walking with my husband, gardening, basketball with McKenna, etc.. And I do it this way because "work-out facilities" scare the bee-jeezers out of me. It may be just me, but I am very intimidated by the "fitness champ" with the matching gym clothes all the way down to matching shoes. That is why I never enter those places!! I would have to walk in with my old t-shirt, sweatpants, and my one and only pair of tennis shoes, the same ones I go fishing in!! So that is where I stand on gyms. WELLLLLL, two of my dear friends (they shall remain nameless - but they know who they are!) are members at the local gym. They have been telling me for weeks about this Pilates class they were taking. Sounds like fun, I thought! They assured me Thursdays were the day to go because it was fun......So here I go into the class with them. I was saved from my embarrassing shoes and left them off, apparently in Pilates - you don't wear shoes! I admit, I was very nervous but I wanted to go and see what the craze was about. We got into class and everyone got a mat and went to their place in the room. I scooted some people over so I could position myself in the very back corner - you thought I was going to say front, didn't you? In walks the teacher....a little petite thing about five foot tall and all of 50 pounds! She announces to the class we would be doing the "six-pack" class. After the groaning ended from all the students, I looked to my friend and said, "Guess it isn't the easy class tonight." She assured me it wasn't easy but I would love it. Fast forward 15 minutes, I am covered in sweat - and my abdominal muscles were feeling like someone sliced me with a knife! For those of you like me, that are clueless about Pilates - it targets your abs...Trust me mine were taking a beating. We started off doing "roll-ups" which is lying flat on the floor with you legs stretched out and your arms straight about your head. Now, sit up and touch your toes WITHOUT raising your legs off the floor. Kinda like a sit-up but with your legs straight. It is very hard. Try it, go ahead, get up out of the chair and try it.....Done yet? It's hard, huh? Well, we did that about 1,000 times along with 9 other moves. When I sat up after 45 minutes of this harsh injustice - I though I was going to pass out! Seriously! Then we entered the cool down phase, we got to lay back on our mats and the instructor came around and laid lavender scented towels on our faces. Now that was nice. I did make it out of the class and I do still love my two friends but this experience clearly backed up my belief that the gym is NOT the place for me!!