Diary of a Fitness Newbie: Pour Some Sugar On Me

   

Posted by Leslie Warren

Sep 13, 2017

progress_blog_09.jpgThe class I took this time was Les Mills BODYPUMP. I’ve been avoiding this class for a while. I knew it was a weight lifting class and I’ve seen people go in there and just know all the equipment you need to grab and it’s all just very intimidating! I didn’t know if I could commit to that knowing that I might look like a total idiot. But as far as I know, I didn’t look like an idiot!

I’m finding that most Les Mills classes are fairly difficult but also tend to be easily adjusted for all fitness levels. Like most Les Mills classes, this one had different sets of muscle groups you worked on at a time. You might do leg muscle groups for a few awful minutes and then move on the arms. BODYPUMP uses a weight bar and a bunch of different weights of your choosing. Every person had a different amount of weights and you would adjust your bar weights throughout the class depending on the exercise. It was nice that I could choose how much to put on and even after I seriously overestimated my strength and put a ton of weight on, each set was so short that I was able to finish it.

Merritt Clubs Strength & Conditioning Classes

I did have some trouble with the push ups. Push ups and burpees are the bane of my existence and I want to curse the instructors out every time they have us do them. I can do a few regular push ups but not after I’ve just spent 45 minutes thrusting a weight bar above my head! I had to do push ups on my knees and I was still dying. Then at the end we had to take a weight in each hand and lift them out to our sides. I used 5 lb weights, which, after that intense workout, was basically like trying to lift a building. My arms and legs were definitely shaky afterwards when going up the stairs and lifting my arm to brush my teeth (which is why I just let my teeth get black and grimy for a few days). But I did it! And I think I will do it again whenever I need a good muscle workout.

Guys, turns out anyone can do it! Each set is long enough that just when you feel like you will probably quit working out right there and never come back because you are the weakest human being ever, the set ends and you move on to another muscle group, leaving you feeling nothing but proud of yourself for doing it! Although the last exercise we did was a bunch on planks and I fell over like 12 times and hit my face on the floor once, so that wasn’t the proudest I’d been that workout.

I’ve seen a big body change since I’ve started this whole thing. Maybe I’m just pleasantly surprised because I didn’t go into this with the intension to have any defined muscles, but I do feel like trying all these different classes is great for GAINS! (I hear that’s a word people use when talking about building muscle…) The only thing I have yet to accomplish is having some more definition in my abs, which was of course the main goal I had. I am coming to realize that no matter how much work I put towards having better abs, I probably have to eat a little healthier to see a difference. But come on, ice cream or abs, ice cream or abs… That is something I will probably have to think on which is more important because I am obsessed with chocolate and also everything bad for me and I hate vegetables. I’ve also always had the cravings of a pregnant woman. If I don’t feed my belly what it wants, I get cranky! Maybe eventually my willpower will win but not while there is still wine and chocolate covered pretzels in the world. Sorry, abs.

 

Class taken: BODYPUMP @ Canton with Julia Ngo

Goals to achieve: Touch toes (check!)

            Get killer abs (who knows?)

            Be healthier (always a work in progress)

            Decide if giving up delicious food is really worth having abs

Me thinking about my goals:

“I’ve decided I’ll never get down to my original weight and I’m okay with that. After all, 6 lbs 3 oz is just not realistic.”

Topics: strength and conditioning