A Lesson in Weights
Remember last December when I told you how I was venting to Casey about my weight gain, and how something drastic needed to be done so I didn't have to go up a size in clothes? Well, I'm just getting around to taking care of that situation...We joined a gym about a month ago and have only gone a couple of times, due to scheduling conflicts. You know...those conflicts that involve grabbing a beer...or something to eat...or a movie you just have to see that very moment. Well, my "situation" can no longer be ignored. It's time to ditch those sneaky, pesky 10 pounds that have taken up residence on my lower half throughout the last several months...for real this time.
Last night we went to the gym. It wasn't planned. At least I hadn't planned on going to the gym, so when I told Casey we had to stop at Right Turn Feed for grain he said, "Okay, and the gym, too, right?" I turned around and looked at my gym bag that has been conveniently sitting in the car for a month with fresh clothes, tennis shoes, socks, and a spare hair tie. It seemed to stare back at me with expecting eyes, like a traitor who was rudely imposing on my plans for the evening...which involved Casey going over to his friend's house to work on our lawn mower and me, sitting on the floor, folding laundry, with a glass of wine and a chick flick I have been dying to see: Silver Linings Playbook. "Yep, the gym, too..." I sighed, obviously disappointed. The truth is, I really do want to go to the gym...I just have many other things I would rather do first...But, if my jeans are going to get any looser, I have to start somewhere I suppose. Then I remembered that my headphones were at work, and I made an exaggerated sigh like an 8 year old having a tantrum and said, "Ah crap! My headphones are still at work!!! Working out is going to be awful today!" Casey rolled his eyes and said, "Well, if you want me to live a long healthy life, you've got to start motivating me to work out..." Good point. Well, when he puts it that way...I guess we are working out.
Once we arrived to the gym, I decided that now would be a good time for him to show me how to lift weights. The only things I have done at a gym before are the treadmill and the elliptical machine. Other than that, weight lifting is a completely foreign concept to me. I never really had to up until this point because I was always really strong from doing chores for the horses like lifting hay, pushing wheelbarrows, carrying 50 pound bags of grain, and holding a 1000 pound horse back to keep it from galloping across the landscape. Now that I'm only caring for two horses, and seldom stack hay, my strength has drastically diminished.
After about 20 minutes of the elliptical machine and some leg curls, we moved into the weight room. I should note that I was the only girl in there. Casey took me to this bench and said, "Sit here,"
It was a bar curl machine. Machine is probably a stretch...let's just call it a station. "Are you sure?" I asked...that looked a little advanced for me...I was expecting something with pulleys, you know? The ones where if you drop the weight there's a loud bang, but nothing really goes flying? "Yep, I'm sure," he said, "now sit your butt down."
"Okay..." I muttered, still unsure.
"Okay, now, put your elbows here on this pad, and reach down and lift up the bar so you're doing curls," he instructed.
"Okay, just the bar is heavy," I remarked. He walked over to the weights and grabbed two 25 pound weights. Now, I can lift a 50 pound bag of grain, but it's not concentrated like this...metal is...What was he thinking? Did he forget I'm not a dude???
"NO!" I said.
"Just try it," he said, sternly. So I did. I couldn't even lift the thing.
"No! That's too heavy!" I exclaimed.
"Okay, hold on," he said as he went and exchanged the weights for two 15 pound weights. That's more like it...so I thought..."Try this," he instructed again. So I did. And then...I discovered that my right arm is much stronger than my left arm (which makes sense because I am right handed), so the right side came up faster than the left side. The bar wiggled and wobbled and before I knew it weights went flying like saucers almost into one of the other guys that was standing in close proximity. Fortunately, Casey grabbed the weight before it hit the back of the stranger's leg. He couldn't help but laugh.
"See, I told you!" I said, "Maybe I should just start with the bar and work my way up..." and just as I started to do a set of ten, he went and got the smallest weights he could find to put on the end of the bar, and fastened a nice little clip to each end to keep the weights from falling off should the same fiasco happen again. "Oh, that would have been helpful before, don't you think???" I asked.
"Well, I wasn't expecting you to send the weights flying...Here. You gotta start somewhere," he said, with a grin on his face, "Do three sets of ten, and remember, what is my motto?"
"Uh...when you get to the end of your rope tie a knot and hold on?"
"No." he said, flatly.
"Oh, uh...Courage is being scared but saddling up anyway?"
"No! Well, yes, that's one of them, but it is: 'Go until you think you can't go much further and then go a little further,'"
"Oh, okay...yeah, that, too." And with that, I completed my first workout. After my three sets of ten and some situps...
Last night we went to the gym. It wasn't planned. At least I hadn't planned on going to the gym, so when I told Casey we had to stop at Right Turn Feed for grain he said, "Okay, and the gym, too, right?" I turned around and looked at my gym bag that has been conveniently sitting in the car for a month with fresh clothes, tennis shoes, socks, and a spare hair tie. It seemed to stare back at me with expecting eyes, like a traitor who was rudely imposing on my plans for the evening...which involved Casey going over to his friend's house to work on our lawn mower and me, sitting on the floor, folding laundry, with a glass of wine and a chick flick I have been dying to see: Silver Linings Playbook. "Yep, the gym, too..." I sighed, obviously disappointed. The truth is, I really do want to go to the gym...I just have many other things I would rather do first...But, if my jeans are going to get any looser, I have to start somewhere I suppose. Then I remembered that my headphones were at work, and I made an exaggerated sigh like an 8 year old having a tantrum and said, "Ah crap! My headphones are still at work!!! Working out is going to be awful today!" Casey rolled his eyes and said, "Well, if you want me to live a long healthy life, you've got to start motivating me to work out..." Good point. Well, when he puts it that way...I guess we are working out.
Once we arrived to the gym, I decided that now would be a good time for him to show me how to lift weights. The only things I have done at a gym before are the treadmill and the elliptical machine. Other than that, weight lifting is a completely foreign concept to me. I never really had to up until this point because I was always really strong from doing chores for the horses like lifting hay, pushing wheelbarrows, carrying 50 pound bags of grain, and holding a 1000 pound horse back to keep it from galloping across the landscape. Now that I'm only caring for two horses, and seldom stack hay, my strength has drastically diminished.
After about 20 minutes of the elliptical machine and some leg curls, we moved into the weight room. I should note that I was the only girl in there. Casey took me to this bench and said, "Sit here,"
It was a bar curl machine. Machine is probably a stretch...let's just call it a station. "Are you sure?" I asked...that looked a little advanced for me...I was expecting something with pulleys, you know? The ones where if you drop the weight there's a loud bang, but nothing really goes flying? "Yep, I'm sure," he said, "now sit your butt down."
"Okay..." I muttered, still unsure.
"Okay, now, put your elbows here on this pad, and reach down and lift up the bar so you're doing curls," he instructed.
"Okay, just the bar is heavy," I remarked. He walked over to the weights and grabbed two 25 pound weights. Now, I can lift a 50 pound bag of grain, but it's not concentrated like this...metal is...What was he thinking? Did he forget I'm not a dude???
"NO!" I said.
"Just try it," he said, sternly. So I did. I couldn't even lift the thing.
"No! That's too heavy!" I exclaimed.
"Okay, hold on," he said as he went and exchanged the weights for two 15 pound weights. That's more like it...so I thought..."Try this," he instructed again. So I did. And then...I discovered that my right arm is much stronger than my left arm (which makes sense because I am right handed), so the right side came up faster than the left side. The bar wiggled and wobbled and before I knew it weights went flying like saucers almost into one of the other guys that was standing in close proximity. Fortunately, Casey grabbed the weight before it hit the back of the stranger's leg. He couldn't help but laugh.
"See, I told you!" I said, "Maybe I should just start with the bar and work my way up..." and just as I started to do a set of ten, he went and got the smallest weights he could find to put on the end of the bar, and fastened a nice little clip to each end to keep the weights from falling off should the same fiasco happen again. "Oh, that would have been helpful before, don't you think???" I asked.
"Well, I wasn't expecting you to send the weights flying...Here. You gotta start somewhere," he said, with a grin on his face, "Do three sets of ten, and remember, what is my motto?"
"Uh...when you get to the end of your rope tie a knot and hold on?"
"No." he said, flatly.
"Oh, uh...Courage is being scared but saddling up anyway?"
"No! Well, yes, that's one of them, but it is: 'Go until you think you can't go much further and then go a little further,'"
"Oh, okay...yeah, that, too." And with that, I completed my first workout. After my three sets of ten and some situps...
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