Body Pump

 

So, the gym thing is continuing.  And this time round, I have mixed things up.  Even though I have been a member of various gyms, along the years, I've chickened out of going to classes.  Ultimately, the bigger I got, the less I wanted to go.  So I stopped several years ago.  

When I was doing my own weight-loss regime, I embraced The Bodydoctor.  I still think it's the best programme out there.  But it does take a long, long time.  You get the results but it's a big commitment to get round all the weights and cardio.  And I haven't yet ventured into the weights room (of the new gym) with my big red book.  So the gym had been all about the cardio and tennis.  Until I heard something that made my brain go click, click, click

Dietgirl and MizFit have done something amazing; they have their own podcast.  Isn't that fantastic?  Do listen to it. Funnily enough, it was just before a gym visit that I plugged in to the whole thing.  I tried a couple of times before but kept getting interrupted.  Shauna was talking about body pump as a starter for weights.  My brain started whirring into action then.  I've got friends who go to body pump. I know of body pump but I don't really know what it is.

But now I do!

I cycled to the gym - the journey is so much better by car - not for the lazy factor but for the terror.  It's got lots of blind corners with cars going fast.

And I joined the body pump class.  It was so small (number of other pumpers!) and there were mirrors everywhere.  And that's when the freakouts started.  I am used to seeing myself from the front but not from the side.  I have to admit, readers, I had to look away.  I did not like what I saw.  It was painful.  How did I get so chunky again?  And it's all in one place - the visceral fat.  I'd already scanned the room to know that I was the biggest in the class.  But it was how I looked.  And I was soooo wearing the wrong clothes.  I felt like a big fat giant.  And they are not words I use casually.

The class was hard, hard, hard.  It's basically lifting weights to music.  With other people around you doing exactly the same but looking way sleeker and in control.  BUT I had a major breakthrough.  It stopped the negative thoughts in their tracks (body issue ones, aside, of course).  I was so busy trying to keep up, trying NOT to look in the side mirror and trying to understand what the hell the teacher was saying.  Overall, I felt it was a humiliating experience except nobody humiliated me and I got through the class. Hmmm.  I think I just felt ashamed of my size, to be honest.  And that, in itself, is ironic, because I am now at the weight I could never get below when I was much bigger.  This current weight I perceived as a holy grail weight.

All of this was not helped by the fact a well-meaning classmate was very helpful in showing me the ropes - where the weights, mats and poles are kept.  Where I could get water, etc. And what classes were worth attending.  She looked at me and I know she meant it nicely but she explained how she had been coming to body pump for four months and lost two stone.  Wow, I replied.  Congratulations.  But all the time we were chatting, I could tell she was thinking, ah, there's a lass who could drop a few pounds.

All of this, however, did not deter me.  Like Arnie, I'll be back. It spurred me on to want to be more capable in the class.  Body pump did it for me!

Comments

[Peridot]

I rather liked body pump when I belonged to a swanky gym. Bet you ache tomorrow! I like that ache - you really know you've achieved something stretching.

love
Peridot x

[Karen]

I certainly been to classes where I felt like a freak and would have loved someone to speak to me.

I'm sure you classmate was just offering the hand of friendship because she knows what its like to pitch up to a class feeling fat and awkward.

[Vanessa]

Good for you for going! I love body pump classes. They're great for you and if you keep going, you can easily see improvement.
I'm sure your classmate was a) just trying to be helpful or b) wanted to brag about her successes! or c) Both! If the answer was a) maybe you'll keep seeing her and make a gym friend. If it was b) oh well, move on and keep enjoying the class.

Thanks for writing. I do love your blog!

[shauna]

Woohoo! You are going so well!
I think you hit the nail on the head in your latest entry. I am EXACTLY the same if left to my own devices on the gym floor, faffing around on machines. You just work so much harder in classes! Maybe it's that perfectionist thing, knowing that teacher is watching? Hehe. Who knows... but it works.