60 Days of Gym Classes

Day 4: The Expresso Experience Bike/Reclining Bike

I raced to the gym and got there about 8:45am. The Cycle class was already full. Kelly felt bad for me. She said, “I know about your sixty day goal. I am so sorry.” She asked me not to leave. And to make sure I worked out in the fitness room. I got on a reclining bicycle, and rode that for 2.11 miles. I didn’t break a sweat. The purpose of this challenge is to sweat everyday, so I chose another machine.

I got on the Expresso Experience Bike. Expresso is an interactive experience. The bike has a monitor attached to it. I can pick my “bike trails” in terms of distance and difficulty. Those trials simulate the real thing. And I get a selection of music too. By the time I heard J.Lo’s “Let’s Get Loud,” I was BUMPIN’! With decent, jammin’ music, I can ride longer. I need to get an IPod. I rode a total of 2 miles.

Day 5: Cardio Dance. Teacher: Kelly K. and Dawn.

Not a great experience. Cardio Dance is a heavily choreographed class. That was the first time Kelly and Dawn taught this routine, and they made a lot of mistakes. A half-hour into the routine, I felt nauseous. I left the class because I thought I would throw up on the floor. The nauseous feeling lasted for two hours. I have no idea what happened there.

I also had trouble keeping my eyes open all day. I was terribly exhausted. I went to bed at 7:30, even though I didn’t fall asleep until 9:30pm.

Day 6: Yoga. Teacher: Me.

The exhaustion continued into Thursday. I peeled myself out of bed after 8:00am. The fact that I was still tired, and yawning by 10:00am told me something was off with me. Was it the hard-driving exercise, or was my Candida acting up? Probably both.

I teach yoga every Thursday morning. All my regulars were in attendance, with a new student named Lil. I told them about my 60-day adventure and that I would do more of the yoga with them than I usually do. But I had a hard time teaching. My eyes were heavy and all I wanted to do was lay down, but I got through the class with relative ease.

There’s a Six Week Detox that I want to do. I’d written Tera and Dr. RitaMarie in December to see if I could do a work exchange, but I never heard back. I wrote them again yesterday and heard back this morning. Wish me luck.



Day 7: The Expresso Experience Bike

Jona wasn’t feeling well yesterday. He fell asleep around 10:00am and woke up at 1:30pm. There went my classes. (And Jona woke up in great spirits. He is feeling fine.) This is a no BS adventure, so I had to get to the gym somehow. I took my mother-in-law to the radiologist; went grocery shopping while was there; picked up food for her; then I went to the YMCA. I got on the Expresso Bike again. I rode 5.25 miles in thirty-two minutes. I was a huffin’ and a puffin’ by the end. Sweat poured down my forehead and back. I felt so good! I am determined to conquer that damn bike! The bike has been the revelation of the adventure, and never intended to ride it at all.

Day 8: The Expresso Experience Bike

I rode 6.5 miles! Thank you to Prince, the B52s, and Ricky Martin for your wonderful music that kept me pumping further than I thought I could go.

Day 9: Yoga
I was the teacher this time. Myself and Ayesha did an easy class together. I needed the stretching and relaxation.

Day 10: Cardio Kickboxing. Teacher: Val.

Val’s class was harder and more complicated this time. She added roundhouse kicks, elbow punches, push-ups, shuffles, and jump roping. I was hoping it would be easier this time. It was not. The class was brutal. It was a forty-five minute class, and I was looking at the clock by the 15-minute mark. But I got through it….just barely!

Love,
Althea ◦

60 Days of Gym Classes

60 Days of Gym Classes

(long post!)

The lovely YMCA where I work. And it's my home for the next 57 days :-).

On Thursday, January 7, I was standing in line at Wal-Mart waiting in line holding a rug and a shower curtain. Only three lines were open, so I plenty of time to wait. I looked to my left and saw O Magazine. I love Oprah, but I don’t read O or any other magazine because they are too surface for me. But the cover of O caught my eye: “Can You Change Your Life in 60 Days?” “Something” propelled me to scan the article. The author had decided to take Bikram Yoga for 60 days straight.

I teach yoga. Not Bikram, but I know about it. In short, you do 26 poses in a row in a hotter than hot ass room. Every part of your body will scream and sweat. I’ve taken Ashtanga Yoga, which is similar and I about died. Reading the article, I could relate to the author’s story. She needed a drastic mental and spiritual change; something to transform her and push every internal button of denial.

The closest Bikram Yoga studio is 30 miles from my house. That was not feasible, nor realistic. So I thought, “I work at the YMCA. (I teach yoga there.) I live six miles from the place. I could take a gym class every day for sixty days. My kids love to go to childwatch there. I could do that.”

I chose to take classes, as opposed to working out on the machines, is that it’s easy to cheat. I can walk a mile without breaking a sweat. It’s easy to stroll on a treadmill. The elliptical and the bikes are the same. Fast or slow, it’s my choice. But a class…that’s different. The teacher is motivating. The other people in the class are all looking at each other. And worse, there’s a wall-length mirror in front of me to capture my every move. Mirrors don’t lie.

And why do 60 days of classes? I’ve taken care of other people for five years. I’ve had high and low moments in healing myself. I love and appreciate my raw vegan journey, my juicing, and my smoothies. The one thing always missing was exercise. Whenever I get low, my mom always asks me, “Are you exercising?” No, is my consistent answer. After I read that article, I thought, I can do this. I need to do something just for me.

And my 60-day venture has nothing to do with weight loss. I weigh a whopping seven pounds more than when I got married in 2001. Similar to my 14-day juice fast in 2008, I’m doing it for emotional reasons. It’s all about healing and release. No BS. No crap. No excuses.

And I’ve done three classes so far!

Day One: Step Class. Teacher: Kandee.
I spilled my water bottle right before class started. Another lady named Christine helped me clean up my mess. I took the spilled water as a blessing or baptism of my new venture. It’s all in how you look at it!

The two biggest surprises of the day were that I actually went out in the arctic cold, and dragged my happy sons along. Second, I was a mess with the Step class choreography. Step, touch, jump, turn, swing, doubles, singles, mambo…I was like, “What the hell? Am I still black? Do I have to give back my Black Card because I’ve lost my rhythm?” My loss of coordination tripped me out!

Day Two: Body Sculpt. Teacher: Patty.
That was not the class I wanted to take. Cardio Blast was at 10:00am and I just could not get my butt in gear. I’d had an “Exhale” (girlfriends getting together to eat and gab) at my house the night before. I was dragging. But I did make it to the only other class offered on a Sunday. We used the Step, a light weight (I used 3 lbs) and a heavy weight (I used 5 lbs). Did I hate every second of it? Yes.

But Patty is a great instructor. She cued well, yelling over the Beyonce and J.Lo club remix music without a microphone. The abdominal work killed me. After I had Jona five years ago, my midwife told me I had separated recti muscles. I think that’s code for flabby abs. I hate, hate, hate abdominal exercises. But I guess I’m taking the advice I give my yoga students: the pose you hate the most is the one you need to practice the most.

During the class, I kept hearing, “Everything is perfect as it is.” The cynical side of me was like, “You call this perfection?” The other side of me understood the message. The first decade of the 21st century was a difficult one for me. At times, I’d like a do-over of 2002 through 2009. But life is a Hero’s Journey. If you survive “the dark night(s) of the soul” you can be transformed if you use the darkness to find out who you really are. If, at the end of this 60-day “road of trials,” I come out better, then perfection is indeed in play.

The back of Val teaching Kickboxing.

Day Three: Cardio Kickboxing. Teacher: Val.
Rom’s work schedule is weird right now. He was home this morning, when usually he is at work by 6:00am. I was able to take the 8:15am Kickboxing class without dragging my sons along. Childwatch doesn’t open until 8:30am. Here’s how determined I was: At 7:24am, Rom asks, “Are you still going to Kickboxing?” I said, “No, I’ll go to the 9:00am Body Pump class.” I didn’t want to lift weights two days in a row, so believe it or not, because of that motivation, I was in my car by 7:47am.

Val’s class was militaristic. Lots of interval training. I don’t know how many times I wanted to tear out of there. All my muscles were hurting. We did two abdominal exercises I’ve never seen before. Lying on our backs, with our legs straight up in the air, she had us circle our legs around using our abs to keep us stable. With the second one, we had our knees bent and punched from side to side.

How do I feel right now? Sore.

I feel physically stronger already, but I am hurting, and I’m ready to go to bed (smile). Tomorrow morning is Cycle. I’ll be honest. The last time I did Cycle, I swore I’d never do it again. What I am seeing is that it’s easy to say I don’t have time for something. Apparently I do have time to work out for an hour a day. I just didn’t FEEL like working out for an hour a day. Now I see that I can.

Until next time,
Love,
Althea ◦

60 Days of Gym Classes