Getting Some Class

Exercise class, not classy class.

This week I only have two appointments with Woodstock, so I needed to find something challenging to do for my Wednesday workout. I figured I'd get in trouble for following her around with her Wed am client this week, trying to copy whatever they did, so I found a class. (Okay, she suggested one).

It's called Circuit Training and it starts at 6:15 am. Perfect! Here's the description:

"Blend energizing cardio with serious muscle strengthening. Get variety and the motivation you need to finish your workout strong."

Now I've seen this class take place, because the room it's in is right behind the warm up bikes where we watch our 20/20 videos. (Photo above from ProClub website) People come out looking pretty sweaty, so I knew I was in for a workout.

And was I ever nervous. I raced in there, and people were stacking weights all over the ground. Each in his/her own space. What the heck? I thought this was mostly cardio with a few weights around. I met the instructor, grabbed a few weights and hopped onto a treadmill. The first 15 minutes or so, we did cardio and then we all came into the middle for weights.

Music is playing the whole time, thank goodness I've been listening to some pop music lately (so I can keep up with my teenagers) so I recognized Lady Gaga and a few other songs.

The weight part is hard- I can't remember how many of each exercise we did, but I think it was 4 sets of 8. The instructor is very clever- she counts forward and backward and talks about technique while you forget that you've done so many reps you won't be able to raise your water bottle at the end. I know this because I picked mine up and sprayed myself in the face halfway through.

Every so often, we all get on a machine (they have elliptical, treadmills, bikes, and this thing that looks like a horrible climbing machine) and we stay there for 4 or 5 minutes. Then back to weights.

I really liked this class, it is something I could see myself doing long-term to stay in shape. It lasts just over an hour including stretching (she takes you through a lovely stretching routine) and you leave knowing you got a great workout.

When I got to the locker room, I checked my heart rate monitor. Here's what it said

Total time: 1 hour, 12 minutes

Average heart rate: 120

Peak heart rate: 177

Pretty good workout, if you ask me. I'll be doing this for the next couple weeks on days I am not with Woodstock. (Now that I am in Phase 2, I only see Woodstock 2 times per week for workouts).