Workin' It On Out

Two posts in one week! This is highly unusual, isn't it? There are three explanations for this. The first is that I've had a very light workload here in my cubicle this week (for practically the first time since the new year), and the second is that I'm reading Anne Lamott's wonderful and inspiring book on writing, Bird by Bird. I'm only a couple of chapters into it, and already I'm feeling motivated and rejuvenated. The third reason for the increased blogging frequency is that I've also been reading the Bad Mother blog, written by Ayelet Waldman (Michael Chabon's wife and a novelist herself). She stopped writing in February but all her old posts are still available online. I really enjoy her blogging style. She comes across as honest, genuine, funny, and thoughtful, which is how I'd like like my blogging to be.

So anyway, I'm writing today about my newfound love of the home workout, something to which I never, ever thought I'd take. I've always been a definite exercise-class person and have participated in such classes as yoga, Spinning, step aerobics, Latin dance, ballroom dance, Pilates, and something I'll call "faux bo" (fake boxing), because I can't remember the exact name. I enjoy working out within a group of like-minded exercisers under the tutelage of a living, breathing human being (as long as he or she is competent). There's something about the "we're all in this together" mentality that I find motivating. Most of the time, though, the class schedules don't quite jibe with my own, so I end up schlepping to the gym to work out independently on various pieces of equipment, which is just OK. I've been doing it for years, but lately I just can't tolerate it.

Maybe I'm getting old and crochety, but the entire gym experience is wearing on me, big time. Driving there, circling around for parking, keeping my membership card together with my water bottle and keys, waiting around to use sweat-soaked machines that don't always work, and witnessing way too much unsightly bare flesh in the locker room are among the lowlights. Also, my current gym features a red and black color scheme I find cold and depressing. Honestly, there's very little about the experience I'm not sick of.

So, when coworker-friend J first told me about a Karen Voigt yoga and Pilates DVD she'd recently received from her mom and started using, I asked her if maybe I could borrow it and give it a go. J had raved about how good the yoga had been making her feel, and I was familiar with Karen Voight's kick-ass, highly ripped self. She's been an exercise guru and icon for decades.

When I borrowed the DVD and gave it a whirl one weekend, there was the predictable awkwardness of trying to establish a suitable exercise space in my shoebox-sized living room combined with the constant repositioning of my yoga mat so that the television screen was always visible. Add to that a couple of curious felines nipping at my heels and fingertips whenever those body parts got within their range. Despite all of this, though, I enjoyed myself. Karen Voigt is not overly perky (hear that, Denise Austin?), her workout was doable but challenging, and I liked the yoga-Pilates combo. The music was quite cheesey and synthesized, but it seemed a small price to pay for the opportunity to stay out of the gym. And after my workout was over, I just rolled up my mat, dragged the coffee table back to the center of the room, and headed into the bathroom for a shower. The whole shebang was over and done with in one hour. Nice!

I returned the Karen Voigt DVD to J, ordered my own on Amazon, and wondered if Netflix had any fitness DVDs available that I could try. Sure enough, they do! I'm excited, because it means I can try out and experiement with various home workouts without having to actually purchase them, which means the potential for my becoming too bored with home workouts to continue is significantly reduced.

A couple of weeks ago I received "10-Minute Solutions: Pilates" from Netflix and ended up LOVING it so much that I bought it on Amazon, too. The disc cotains five 10-minute Pilates workout that you can do individually or all together for one fifty-minute session. You can also create your own workout by building a session from the 10-minute programs. I have to tell you, this whole "ten minutes" concept is genius. On a day when I'm tired, grumpy, or pressed for time, I need only pop the disc in for 10 minutes and still get the benefits of exercise. It's much less daunting than, say, a DVD that contains one 90-minute workout. Typically I do two workouts together, preceded by some walking in place and jumping jacks as a warmup, with some light stretching at the end. The whole bit is done in 30 minutes. On the weekends, when there's more time, I might do three of the workouts in a row, followed by a walk around the neighborhood.

I reeeeally like Pilates. I first took a Pilates class about two years ago at my gym and loved it right away. I went to maybe six or seven classes before reluctantly quitting because the class was at 1:00 p.m. on a Saturday---a most inconvenient time. Like yoga, mat Pilates helps you build strength without a bunch of boring weight-lifting and waiting around for equipment. There's a focus on trying to maintain a bit of grace as you perform the movements, which I appreciate. It's challenging and requires concentration, and it's so exciting to feel yourself start to improve. I also respect Pilates's history as a form of physical rehabilitation and medical treatment for soldiers wounded in war, and as a form of strengthening and muscle-lengthening poplular in the professional dance community.

So, I'm excited about working out at home and have been enjoying it immensely so far. It will be interesting to see whether I will choose to forego the gym for good or still get the urge to head over there on occasion. I do, after all, like the treadmill and the elliptical trainer. But now that the days are getting longer and the weather is gradually, tentatively getting warmer, I can't imagine wanting to relegate myself to the dank, cavernous gym anytime soon. Hooray for the home workout!