Business & Tech
Getting in Shape Is ... Fun?
Our contributor shares the latest in her fitness challenge experience and finds she's not having such a bad time after all.
Our contributor commits to a fitness challenge at local health club Coreology Fitness. In the column, she lets us in on the workouts and some fitness tips.
Day 1: I’ve come to really look forward to my classes with Brandi. No matter how hard I try to stay serious and focused throughout the session, I always lose it and fall out of whatever pose I’m in due to uncontrollable fits of laughter.
Day 2: Throughout the course of my day I notice a number of physical improvements:
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- It is now easier to lift my nephew.
- My balance in the plank position is way better.
- I found a new muscle in my arm.
Day 3: Moment of weakness: I had an uncontrollable urge for chocolate. Immediately I felt a rush of guilt. I had worked so hard to get this fit, if I submit to the urge I will ruin everything.
Then I remembered my Daily Challenge email for today: RELAX. So I took a deep breath and a big bite of Toblerone.
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Day 4: After my lovely day of relaxation I’m back to work! Unfortunately, that means no time for a Coreology class. Throughout my work day, I can feel my body craving a good workout. This experiment has quickly changed from a challenge to a habit.
Day 5: Took Barre-ology with Sarah today and learned the meaning of “feel the burn." The first few seconds of plies I thought ‘This isn’t so bad. I used to do these in ballet when I was 5.’ Two minutes later, I started to feel a slight burn in my calves.
I don’t remember ballet bringing on a burn in my youth. It then moves up my thighs, going from a slight burn to a raging fire. Five minutes in, my legs are shaking uncontrollably and no amount of mental strength can stop them. At first I feel embarrassed at my obvious weakness, but then I look at the rest of the class and everyone else is shaking like jell-o, including Sarah! She notices everyone's discomfort and says, “Don’t worry, it’ll stop burning when we stop!” Forty-five minutes later, we stopped.
Day 6: Today’s Daily Challenge: Be fearless. They told me I was “in charge of the moment” and that I should do something I've always wanted to do. I’ve always wanted to not have to deal with makeup in the morning. So I didn’t.
On one hand, it was nice to not have to spend the extra 10-15 minutes applying makeup, but on the other, I felt very naked. It was the first time in 10 years I’ve left the house without makeup. Once I got over the initial shock, I felt liberated. Why do I need makeup anyway?
Day 7: I was lucky enough to get a private training sessions with Texan Cherilyn Hefter. Not only did she kick my butt in less than 10 minutes, but she also made me laugh. Hard. The session felt more like two friends getting together for lunch rather than one friend putting another in challenging positions in order to work an itty bitty muscle where the hamstring meets the gluteus maximus.
She’s named after Cher, the musical icon, and is a total goofball. In her youth, she found her love in running and was able to train herself to breathe through her asthma. This was something I found very impressive considering everyone I knew in elementary school used asthma as an excuse to get out of physical education.
In our short session, I learned a lot about muscles I never knew existed and just how to work them.
Here’s what we learned this week:
- People will still talk to you if you don’t wear makeup
- My body actually likes exercise
- Don’t wear see-through leggings to class
Stay tuned for the last part in this series and catch up on what you missed. Check in with Coreology on Facebook.