Meet Me at the YMCA – Day 1

With running out of the picture, I needed to find a new form of exercise to get and then stay fit and healthy. While I’m not overweight, I am definitely not fit and I want to change that. Unfortunately, my favorite spin place closed up shop and the only other games in town were either downtown or the YMCA. My mom and I enjoy working out together – it adds an element of humor not found when working out alone – and I managed to talk her into touring the Y on Sunday.

It is a nice facility and happens to be only 3 miles from my house. They have a covered pool that is open year round (while not warm and cozy, it is sufficient in the winter while the dome is up), four rooms for class activities, one level of weights, an upper level of cardio equipment, a cardio theater that plays a feature film on a large projector screen while you workout, a gym, a cafe and free child care while you are there. They also offer tons of things Wyatt can participate in plus a free date night out once a month.With everything they offer, it really fits nicely into my busy life schedule.

My mom and I both signed up and the best part was that we got 20% off for doing so and the join fee was waived as well. This brought the price down to only $48 a month for my entire family of 3 and only $32 a month for my mom. No other place in town comes close to matching that in price.

Monday around 4:15 pm my phone goes off as I wait for my last patient to show. It is my mom.

“Be there at 5:40 pm”
“Ummm…what?”
“Guts and Glutes at 5:40. Be there.”
“No way I can make that work. I have a procedure to do at 4:30, I don’t have my work out clothes with me so I have to go home and change and then I have to make it all the way to Wyatt, get him and go to the Y. Won’t happen”

After we talked for a bit, my mom decided to pick Wyatt up for me and meet me there. I ended up with just enough time to change and catch up to them as they were entering the building. My mom also talked my sister-in-law into using a day pass to give it a try with us.

Wyatt went into the child center until Dusty arrived and took him to the pool and the rest of us went upstairs to studio #3 where we proceeded to laugh, cry and groan for 30 minutes.

Guts and Glutes – a 30 minute exercise class with dumbbells that focuses on your lower body and abs.

So there we were…we dutifully grabbed our mats, light weights (4 lbs for me) and heavy weights (having no clue what we were going to do I used 5 lbs as my heavy) and looked around the room with anticipation. This was going to be fun! And easy because…you know…it was only 30 minutes long. A good intro to the Y.

We began.

About 3 minutes into the warm up I looked over at my mom and told her I hated her. I was not only warmed up, but also cooled down and ready to call it a day. And we hadn’t even really begun!

The real workout began. Planks. Then twisting planks. Then planks with one leg off the ground. Then planks with one of the heavy weights tucked into the crook of your knee and pulsing that knee towards the ceiling – don’t lose your plank now! – for an endless count of 16, switch legs do it some more.

Then came the squats and lunges. Dozens upon dozens of squats and lunges. With the heavy weights resting on your shoulders. Then point your toes out and widen the stance and squat some more. Legs not shaking enough? Go up on your tip toes and squat. Then stay on those toes and pinch your knees in and pulse. Then go back as far as you can with your knees. Stay on those toes!

Legs shaking in defeat – the three of us looked at each other and began to laugh. The teacher giggled.

Back to the floor! Crunches, sit ups, weights, no weights. Legs off the floor, on the floor…come on…you can do it!

By the time the 30 minutes were up, my legs were shaking, my abs were on fire and I was d-o-n-e.

Good introduction, Mother.

I wasn’t done though. I had to meet the kiddo at the pool. The 80 degree water felt more like ice and Dusty doesn’t handle cold water at all. Probably because he is like 2% body fat. When I entered the dome, Wyatt was practically begging Dusty to get in and Dusty was turning blue and chattering. So I jumped in. And immediately regretted that decision.

Wyatt wanted to jump in and I caught him easily since my arms still functioned. When he wanted to race to the deep end and I found myself having to tread water for 15 minutes as he slowly floated along, I nearly died.

I’m not sure how long we stayed in the ice bowl, but eventually we coaxed Wyatt out, changed and went home. It was a good first day at the YMCA and I am really excited for the future.