fitness challenge 3 — boot camp

Clearly I am doing poorly on the fitness challenges. My goal was one per week. I'm barely making one per month.

Tonight Megan and I tried Boot Camp at the Rose Garden. It's one of the Fitness in the Park series. I've never experienced fitness boot camp. Megan has in Kentucky.

I liked that we were outside. I liked little else—except pushing/pulling the sled. That was sort-of fun.

Our first indication that it was going to be crappy was upon our arrival. We parked where I always parked and waited. And waited. And waited. Nobody. They usually meet near the bandstand. We saw someone arrive and followed her. She went to the playground area and there was lots of people.

The instructor came over and greeted us. But he left the wavier at home. He also forgot to collect our money. Don't think his bosses would like that.

It bothered me a lot that he was on his phone constantly. I hope he was checking notes and not twitting or texting. Megan said he also used it for the stop watch.

It opened with a run. Megan and I power walked. That should have been his first indication that things would be different. While he was running backwards with us, Megan told him we both had bad knees, and that she is post pregnancy.  He clearly understood that adaptions would be needed. But he didn't show any, and that pissed her off. At one point he said something like, 'if you can't do this adapt it'. But never said how.

The bulk of the exercises were on the ground. A lot of body weight, and pretty much all legs. No upper body workout except holding yourself up. I discovered I can no longer do jumping jacks. I could doing them for hours at 10.

I'm guessing the ladders were the aerobic part. Here I discovered that I cannot do more than 3 hops in a row. Again, the 10-year-old in me was disgusted. At this point I could no longer see out of my glasses. The sweat was dripping uncontrollably. There was only 2 ladders and about a dozen people. Though it kept moving. So there was no break time

The sleds were last. Again, there was only two.  It was a long wait—Megan and I were last—and I was totally cooled off by the time it was my turn.  The sled weighed about 10 and it had a 10 pound weight on it. I probably should have had added 5 more pounds on it. Some people were using 45 and a 10 or a 25. We pulled it up hill and pushed it down.

Then the class was over. Everyone high fives and you go. I realize I cooled off while waiting but there was no real cool down. No stretching. We stretched a bit and then walked around the block to get to the car.

The a/c int the burple people eater felt good.

fitness challenge 1—fitness in the park

Fitness in the Park is a series of fitness classes sponsored by the recreation department. Each set is 4 weeks, and it's cheaper if you buy by the set. A single class is $10. Can you tell from the picture which park?

Tuesday night is Power Toning. I've taken a toning class at Lafayette before and it was torture. Maybe it was the instructor. Or maybe it was because it was inside.  Or maybe because everyone in the class was a minus zero in size. Anyway you look at it, this was better.

The instructor was nice. She demonstrated every move and showed adaptions for the physically less fit. I still couldn't do them but it was nice. There were skinny girls but about half were plus size. It was outside. With a breeze. I took my dumbbells but they provided mats. I should have taken my yoga mat.

I did everything, but just less of them, with all the adaptions and then some. Not nearly as high or straight but done. I worked up a good sweat. Might go back again. I confirmed that my muscles are all sleeping and need to be woken the heck up. How do you do that? Squats are out of the question. Even pliés hurt. My knees were singing tonight!

Almost all the skinny girls take the other classes. Monday night is Boot Camp (Todays tip: Take a towel if you don't want to work out on the grass!). It sounds like Hell. Wednesday is Yoga. From the way they were talking it isn't beginners. Better skip that one. I can stand an hour in Hell. Have you met my roommate?

Still looking for more ideas. If you've got them, let me know.

walking classes in bethlehem!

Wow, the internet is filled with possibilities in our fair city this week.

First the new high line trail announcement and now Fitness in the Park! It's walking, boot camp and toning. I found out about it from my coach in the Walk Your Butt Off Program.

Michelle, the fitness director of WYBO has launched a website MyWalkingCoach.com. She'll be facilitating the walking portion. "This isn’t your ordinary stroll around the block. You’ll learn walking techniques that will help tone up your entire body—not just your legs. You’ll practice drills that will help you increase your speed and boost your metabolism so you can get a great workout in less time. You’ll also play walking games and explore new neighborhoods to keep walking fun and exciting." She has a link to the flier posted on the site. If you're interested you can download the flier here.

Clearly I can't sign up till the June sessions, since classes still run thru May. But I might even try one week of the boot camp. That will be hysterical. If nothing else the instructor is easy on the eyes.

Michele is also looking for testers for another walking program. If you want to apply, click here.

The other thing I stumbled into today, and I'm not really sure how, was Chi Walking. Everyone knows how much I had loved doing Tai Chi. I finally gave up since my schedule did not allow classes. "The Chi Walking technique emphasizes the proper biomechanics of walking including: good  posture, loose joints, engaging one's core muscles, and relaxing the peripheral muscles of the arms and legs." The closest instructor in around Philly. I might just buy the DVD. I'm intrigued.

Anything to keep me walking.

Finally, my niece Bonnie—the one that beats me in all the 5Ks and races—fell down her basement stairs and broke her wrist in seven places. Ouch. It will not keep her from walking. Or kicking my butt.