...My mother used to say that to me all the time, usually referring to the lengths that we all go to, in order to look good.
Let's be real. I am a (ahem) "mature" student. And as of such, I am now at the age where I am beginning to get a little preoccupied with preventing skin from heading southwards, muscles from deflating, and bones from creaking.
Due to a series of unfortunate mishaps, and my body's incredible memory of said mishaps, I am reminded on a daily basis that things are in "decline". Let's run off those mishaps, shall we? I…
…tore ligaments in my kneecap when my bike skidded on some wet leaves, in order to avoid a clueless cellphone texter who stepped directly into my path -without ever looking up, of course.
…tore a ligament in my shoulder's rotator cuff when I flipped headfirst off of that same evil bike (wear your helmets, people! I am living proof that they work!!!)
…badly sprained my ankle when my foot stepped into a pothole. All I heard was crrrunch. And then I saw stars.
All of the above injuries unfortunately occurred on the left side of my body - left knee, shoulder, and ankle, all messed up within the space of a year and a half. Le sigh. And since my ankle is taking a little longer to heal, I find myself walking with a slight limp that is trying to age me by oh, twenty years or so.
I'm taking that not-so-subtle limp as a sign that getting back to a regular workout regimen might just be a good idea. I'm pretty sure if I had been going to the gym regularly, my ankle would have been much stronger by now. Time for Operation Bring Sexy Back.
So when my co-bloggers and I decided to embark upon a gym date, I was all gung-ho about it. What better way to kick off my Master Plan to Physical Fabulousness, than by working out with a bunch of cool folks??? Shannon organized our session at the Athletic Centre, and we met the following Friday in the dance studio on the second floor.
We were greeted staff who agreed to run us through some exercises and give us a great workout.
The dance studio was divided in to "stations" that ran along the walls. At each station, there were two exercises to do. We were divided into pairs, and were supposed to alternate exercises at each station three times before moving on to the next. To keep up our momentum music was timed to signal us to switch exercises in thirty-second intervals.
Almost all of the exercises were weight-free. Lunges, squats, abdominals with the exercise ball, planks...Who would have thought that you can get such a strenuous workout, just from using your own body weight???
Teiko, one of our leaders, was great - he kept walking the floor and checking each of us to make sure that we were in correct form and weren't trying to "cheat". It really helps having a personal trainer, or at the very least a good workout buddy or two.
We cooled down with some floor exercises on the mat. Tekio warned us that we would feel sore the next morning.
And sore, I was. When I woke up the next morning I felt as though someone hit me with a sack of potatoes. Even my hair hurt. Ok I jest, but you get the idea. I must say that the pain was a good sort of pain... I felt as though I had accomplished a lot in that one workout.
The challenge now is to stay motivated... I figure if I alternate my workouts between the gym, running, and yoga, I'll stay interested. The hardest part is getting started - once I get over that hump, I won't have any problems staying on track. Time to kick Project Summer Bod into full gear!!!
Dara
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