Working Out at the Gym.... Week one...

Well week one is over at the gym. Let me tell you, working out at the gym.. I don't care WHAT kind of cardio you do.. is NO replacement for ballroom dancing! I can handle 40 to 70 minutes on the elliptical machine (the kind that has your arms moving too) with resistance and hill, and still not feel the same complete work out that ballroom dancing provides in 30-40 minutes. There is no wonder why Ballroom gets the reputation it does as such a complete workout.

I started this week with my personal training session. My trainer was very nice, she's actually a professional kick boxer too, and that's something I can respect. I don't know what it is that people think of me when they see me, in all honesty I don't normally care.. but my trainer really underestimated my level of physical fitness. We started with a 5 minute cardio warm up on the treadmill... and then went right for conditioning exercises. I did wall push ups against a yoga ball... good tip because that helps you engage your core for balance... but it doesn't really feel very safe. We then did some weights, they were kind of light for me... the trainer made the comment that I wasn't sweating enough...and increased my weights... all done while balanced on a yoga ball to make sure my core was engaged.. which is exactly what I needed.. and told her as much during my warm up. After weights we went to the free range of motion machine....well.. one of them.. they are kind of like resistance bands...only put into a machine with weights. Here I did some leg extensions where the trainer was impressed that I could keep my knee at such a high level. :-)

Finally, we went to the floor and worked on some non-sit-up ab work... which was interesting... and hard. It involved a lot of balancing on my knees..which my knees didn't care for much...at all. But I stuck it out and didn't complain.. unless it really hurt...which it did a couple of times! My favorite part of the whole ordeal was the assisted stretching at the end. It was very reminiscent of an episode I'd seen of "No Reservations", where Anthony Bourdain goes to Uzbekistan and gets a crazy "massage".... I survived! It was a 40 minute work out...with 20 minutes carved out to sit in one of those offices and talk about a possible plan.. hmmm.. that sounds a lot like a first lesson in a ballroom studio! ;-) Well I did tell the trainer that a "plan" was not an option... and I was very firm about it. I did however listen to her prices and plan idea...and she in turn listened to my feedback on my experience. I did like working with her.. and I told her in the end that if I'm around when she decides to fight next I'd like to see it... a kickboxing match might be a fun experience.

Once we parted ways I decided that my workout was good...the stretching was nice..but I needed cardio.... the only way to lose weight is to burn calories...a lot of them.. so I jumped on the elliptical for an additional 30 minutes.

While I did hurt the next day...a lot... I still showed up to the gym and pounded out some more cardio and for the most part have been doing just that twice a day... plus some of the core work the trainer showed me. I hope to keep this up until I have gainful employment, and who knows... I may consider joining a gym (one of my own choosing, not this particular one) once I do have a job to help in addition to my dancing.

Next challenge... get the eating under control.. but more about that later...