Fun at the gym!

Printable View

02-29-2012, 08:18 AM
Catrin

Fun at the gym!
I've entered a "body fat challenge" at my gym, and part of this is participating in 2 one-hour group training sessions a week. This is a fitness-research based facility and they do like to mix things up. There are 15 groups of 13 people participating in this challenge, and at the end of the 10 week period the group that has lost the largest percentage of body fat will receive free membership for 3 months. Quite the incentive!

Our workout last night consisted of the following:
- Dynamic Warm-up: this consisted of jumping jacks, standing lunges, and push-ups. There were 10 sets of these, starting with 10 repetitions, next time do 9, then 8, and so forth.
- Rowing Challenge and Circuit: All participants were challenged this week in a rowing machine challenge - how fast can you row 1,000 meters? Two groups were splitting 7 rowing machines, so our group had 3.
  Obviously 13 people can't stand around watching so our trainer had a circuit set up for us that included crunches with our feet in the air, stepping, and Bosu "burpees", and we also took turns motivating the rowers.
  
  I was in the last 3 to row and I was getting tired before I ever got there - but I did it :cool: Not as fast as I would have liked, but I did it in 5 minutes and won't admit what my heartrate was by then :o
- Weights This was close to the end - we used kettlebells for swings, Sumo dip and Romanian Deadlifts.
Apparently being a born masochist, I then went directly to an introductory 30 minute Bosu class! Much to my surprise I am not sore at all today, though it was hard to get out of bed. And, today is a rest day.

The idea behind the style of exercise in this class is called "Metabolic Training". By focusing on utilizing as many large muscle groups at the same time - and hitting it hard with fast transitions - we boost our metabolism higher than other forms of exercise for a period of time.Very interesting and fun, even if a little like torture :)

We have another class tomorrow night and while I might hit one of the cardio machines afterwards (at a moderate rate), I will save the Bosu class until after this 10 week period is done.
02-29-2012, 12:35 PM
indysteel

Cool, Catrin! That sounds both fun and challenging. It also sounds like your new gym really suits you. I'm jealous as you know!
03-02-2012, 02:50 AM
Catrin

Quote:

Originally Posted by indysteel

Cool, Catrin! That sounds both fun and challenging. It also sounds like your new gym really suits you. I'm jealous as you know!

Last night was just as wild, but a totally different set of exercises. I think this is good for my body. Certainly motivational, and I need that considering how much endurance I lost over the winter due to my neck injury. It is March however, it only goes up from here :D

Ya know, I still have that free month's full membership certificate to give someone... just saying :cool:
03-27-2012, 04:54 PM
Catrin

Had a wild time at my "slim it to win it" group training class tonight.

Our dynamic warm-up featured skipping, jogging, hopping and standing lunges. Then we went on to the push-up challenge. How many can YOU do in 2 minutes? I hate pushups and don't do them well, but I did my best and did 51 pushups (on my knees).

Then it was off to the "monster ropes". These are massive ropes that are soft, and will get your heart rate cooking by doing assorted methods of torture with them :cool: I think people also use them for climbing, but it is amazing what you can do with them on the ground, the diameter is so large that my hands just fits around them.

We finished off with 200 meters of lunges. That is a LOT of lunges, let me tell you! Every step was a lunge around the 200 meter track. So what did I do to follow up this class? Ever a glutton for more punishment I went to a 30 minute Bosu class. There were only 3 of us in the class, my stabilizers were toast, but it was a nice way to stretch out a bit.

Wanted to ride tomorrow but they are calling for 30mph winds, so I got my workout in tonight...wheww!
03-27-2012, 05:16 PM
Crankin

Catrin, this sounds just as bad (good) as my class. Somewhat similar.
Today, a new woman came and almost fainted. This is not a class for a beginner, and little is done (at least by the Tuesday instructor) to help people modify. I don't like this aspect and the woman said she felt like puking at the end. I was quite concerned. I often felt like keeling over for the first 2 months, but I guess my suffering quotient is quite high from cycling. I kept thinking, "If you can climb those 18% grades, you can do this."
03-28-2012, 12:58 AM
Catrin

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crankin

Catrin, this sounds just as bad (good) as my class. Somewhat similar.
Today, a new woman came and almost fainted. This is not a class for a beginner, and little is done (at least by the Tuesday instructor) to help people modify. I don't like this aspect and the woman said she felt like puking at the end. I was quite concerned. I often felt like keeling over for the first 2 months, but I guess my suffering quotient is quite high from cycling. I kept thinking, "If you can climb those 18% grades, you can do this."

This is a body-fat loss challenge that includes 2 group training session for 10 weeks. It focuses on diet and metabolic training - and my trainer, at least, is quite good at keeping an eye out for those who need to modify the exercises and helping them to do it. With my wonky knee I've needed some of that, though it seems to get stronger.

There are 13 groups and the group that loses the largest % of body fat gets 3 free months of dues - I want us to win that :)
04-20-2012, 04:56 AM
Catrin

Last night we went outside - and jogged over to the IUPUI Stadium (well, I power-walked about half the distance - my knee doesn't much care for running). After a warm-up of jumping jacks and pushups we ran/walked the bleachers around the entire stadium. That doesn't sound like too much but man! I did run up the bleachers 2 steps at a time, but was too afraid to run down the steep stairs so I walked those - and I wasn't the only one to do that.

There was a territorial goose at the start/end of our circuit who wouldn't budge - so she must have had a nest somewhere close. It was a beautiful evening to exercise outside. I had come close to just skipping class and going home to grab my bike...but we only have one week left of this class.

After the stadium run came hill zig-zag/running on the side of a quite steep hill after several sets of creative standing lunges and body-squats. I've strong legs but they are a little toasty this morning. I've a workout planned for today but it will be upper-body only...

Something funny about the standing/walking lunges. We were actually on the side of the White River trail just behind the gym - and that time of day it is a virtual cyclist freeway. One older rider stopped his bike when he got to us, then walked his bike while doing lunges until he passed our little group :)