Drumroll… It’s Monday again! *Gasp* Will I actually make it to Chiseled??? I try asking my Magic-8-Ball and it rolls around then laughs out loud before spewing a “better not tell you now”. I spend most of the day trying to rationalize things in my mind. Eventually I tell myself that RubySlippers would not have suggested that I try her class if she didn’t think I could do it, right??? I go through a flash back of our last session and no, I don’t see any reason for her to want to torture me any more than usual. Nope, we’re on good terms, sadly I have nothing really to keep me from her class. The only problem is that I have Zumba at 5:30 and Chiseled isn’t till 7:30 so what will I do for an hour?
Sure enough 5:30 rolls around and I’m running a little behind for Zumba but I know that while the music gets set up and the new people introduce themselves, I have a few minutes before it starts. So I’m speed walking through the women’s only area on my way to the back gym when I hear an all too familiar voice ask: “Is it 7:30 already?” I glance back and grin at RubySlippers, now there’s no way I can miss her class *gulp*.
Zumba hour is always way too short. I wonder if that’s why the universe makes my personal training hour longer just to balance things out. So by the time I stretch, talk to my friend and a few others from Zumba, I still have half an hour before Chiseled. So I head to the cardio room, and I see RubySlippers rowing away, from the intense look on her face I can see she’s in mean trainer mode. Since she’s here, going on an elliptical is out of the question as those are forbidden in Jedi training. I look around trying to decide what I can do that won’t have me dying before her class. I decide on a treadmill, and walk for a few minutes until I feel it’s a safe time to go and just wait in line outside the class gym.
I’m surprised to see a large line-up of mostly fit women. She wasn’t kidding when she said her class is not for beginners, and I can see why. Then I see her walking towards the class and she flashes her devilish smiles saying “so double duty tonight huh?” As soon as the door to the class opens I see everyone rushing in and gathering along the wall at one end of the gym. So I make my way to the wall, and then see something that makes me do a double take. RubySlippers is all smiles, saying hi to everyone, getting her mic on, testing her playlist, doing a few little dance moves, announcing that one of her best friends just entered the class… she was so happy-go-luck that for a moment I thought I had stepped into a Fringe style parallel world and she was getting ready to teach Zumba or something. Alas, the doors closed and we were then treated to one hellish workout!
When bright orange cones were being set-up for suicide runs, it suddenly dawned on me that I should have asked more questions before coming to RubbySlippers’ class, or at the very least read the class description on the gym’s website. The words “intense strength training” would have been more helpful in my decision making process than my Magic-8-Ball!
Suicide runs, walking lunges, high knees…one order after the other being spewed through that mic, and RubySlippers is doing all of them right along with us, smiling and cracking bazooka gum type jokes from time to time ending that part of the torture with the words “that was just the warm up!”
What came next was a full circuit of push-ups, sit-ups, deadlifts, push presses, jumping squats, burpees and whatever brothers and cousins these exercises might have. Seriously it was brutal! Somehow I survived through the full three rounds of RubySlippers’ insane circuit, and as I was lying on the floor after my last burpee she walks up and asks “you like?” The assault of this whole experience on my body is such that I can’t even speak at this time, but I manage to raise my hand and reply to my crazy trainer with a one finger gesture…No, not that finger, I used my thumb! Because as hard as that was, I powered through it, and as insane as it might seem, I know I’ll be back next Monday.
So if you’re thinking about trying a new class, or starting a workout routine, don’t overthink it, just do it! Don’t trust your Magic-8-Ball, lucky coin, or horoscope to point you in the right direction. You don’t need them, because you are your own compass and you know what the right path is, otherwise you wouldn’t be questioning your current one. If you’re scared that it might be hard, then you should be, because it will be a lot of hard work, but trust me it will be worth it. It won’t be easy at first, but you’ll get stronger and better. So just get up and go do it! You’ll be surprised what you can live through *cough* Chiseled *cough* 😉
imacookiefiend 