Taskmaster Kate

I made it to class, as I usually do, with about two minutes to spare. Last week, there were only twelve of us in class and, this week, there were 20 plus which meant that the only space left in class was wayyyyyyyyy up front -- close to the mirror. This young woman and I looked at each other like, hell no, not so close.

And, so, it was destined to be and I had a front row seat viewing my animated self. In the end, it was kind of cool because I ended up doing synchronized squats et al. with the woman that was equally horrified to be exercising near the mirror. Really, we could have been Olympians with our synchronized squat routine, especially when there were just a few of us doing squats as a modification.

By the way, the woman next to me was agreeable, nay, amicable. Did I ever say how amicable folks move me in a Nina Simone kind of way? But I digressed...

Sometimes I succumb to my juvenile side and when things got rough, no, I didn't get going, I started making faces and I connected with this woman's eyes in the mirror and she was smiling and I was smiling and I got a, thank God, short case of the giggles which I'll just chalk up to butt-kicking delirium.

Kate is becoming more efficient at doling out pain. As a matter of fact, I'm going to start calling her the Warrior Pain Princess Hurricane Taskmaster Kate.

I looked at the clock at 5:12 and couldn't believe that only 12 minutes had elapsed. I think we did about 40 minutes of high impact cardio. For the record, I still hate imaginary tires and I'm not too fond of lunges.

Towards the end of class, Kate said that we still had six minutes for abs. Oh goody, I muttered. We tried to put our feet on the ceiling, turned our legs into scissors and slowly lowered one leg at a time. Ouch, that's all I'm saying.

As we exited the class, the condensation fresh on the windows, I noticed that my behind was already sore. No wonder all of my pants are sagging.

She Was All About The Tough Love

As I was changing clothes in a fast and furious manner, I saw a familiar face, Joy, who said that she takes classes because she operates in that manner:

I need to be told what to do.

I went to Muscle Works, a new class for me but taught by the same Kate that teaches Tuesday's Cardio and Muscle.

Muscle Works:

Time to target muscles and get lean and toned! See and feel the changes in your body!

We warmed up by marching and doing, of course, the grapevine but we didn't do a whole lot of cardio. We did a lot of squats. A whole lot. What's more interesting than a regular squat? A squat with your leg elevated on a step platform.

You all are going to love me tonight.

Sure, Kate wished us a happy Valentine's Day but she didn't mean love in that manner; she was all about the tough love.

My favorite exercise of the night was leg work with the resistance band. We waddled for awhile and I couldn't help but think about March Of The Penguins. Waddling made me smile and you can't beat smiling while working out.

Kate reminded us that, for extra work, we could hold our abs in during most of the exercises. Kate's reminder made me feel like I had homework. She also reminded us to breathe. What is it about holding in ones abs and repeating shoulder presses with heavy weights that makes you want to hold your breath?

It was kinda of weird not doing high impact cardio and I was tempted to jump on a machine after class but I've wanted to do more weight training so, voilà, I got weight training.

As I was leaving, one of my classmates told me that I looked wonderful. It's hard for me to be on the receiving end of a compliment but I'll take it.

Just Bicycles And Planks

I hauled it across town to get to Cardio and Muscle.

I went a long way and I've come a long way. I wanted to make it on time and participate in that class with every fiber of my being.

I changed into my workout clothes the way Clark Kent changed in a telephone booth. I walked into class just as they began to march.

Be careful of what you ask for. As the saying goes, you just might get it.

Swing, swing, swing, Kate called out as we swung our imaginary jump ropes.

Up, up, up. I think Kate got stuck on a note because she was calling for up even while we were doing fast feet.

Kate came and did fast feet by me at one point and, of course, I had to rise to the challenge. My feet have never been faster. ;)

We did some kickboxing moves. We lifted our knee as if we were aiming at an attacker. Then we squatted it out followed by jacking it out.

We also worked with a resistance band and regular weights and did the obligatory ab work.

We went hard and hard again for our last eight minute cardio stint.

Don't quit. Go all out.

It was only fitting that Rhianna's SOS was playing around this time but there was no rescue -- just bicycles and planks.

Post-Script:

Epsom Salt Directions (For External Use)

As a bathing solution: 2 cups added to the bath water for a refreshing bath after strenuous exertion.

TopCare didn't lie; it was a refreshing bath.

Exploding Was Kind Of Cool

Kate promised us that it would be a whole new class each time we meet. So far, so good -- not that I need new all the time.

Kate also told us that if we held our abs in for the entire hour, well, that's like a bonus hour-long ab workout.

I hold my abs in for, like, two minutes before I get all preoccupied with the tasks at hand.

It's warm up time, and I can dig the marching. Ditto for the knee lifts, hamstring curls and grapevine but...

I hate ab work (10 minute special for today's session).

I hate high knees.

I hate lunges.

I hate lunges with weights even more.

I hate planks.

I hate being in a holding pattern on a squat. I hate pulsing on a squat.

I hate squatting, hitting the floor then going around the world with it.

What am I -- a frog?

We did fast feet around the room. We did fast feet then touched the floor on the six count.

Kate instructed us to do fast feet then explode (by jumping in the air).

Fast Feet

Kate: explode!

Fast Feet

Kate: explode!

Fast...

Kate: explode!

Feet...

Kate: explode!

I hate exploding.

Okay, exploding was kind of cool. And, for some reason, I also dig jumping jacks and the shuffle situation.

Can You Feel It?

Got to the gym earlier today, spent about 10 minutes on the treadmill then trotted off to class where things looked different since there were blue mats all over the floor. The teacher looked different too. As it turned out, the newbie didn't know that Jackie was substituting for Kate and that's how Step and Muscle class turned into Cardio and Muscle.

I missed the step, missed Jackie and Jackie's awesome aerobic workout remix CD. It's amazing how fast you get used to a person.

Wanna know what's more interesting than a jumping jack? A jump squat that segues into a jumping jack. And who knew that a jumping jack, challenging in and of itself, was a modification for mountain climbers which I dislike almost as much as I dislike burpees.

Fast feet or the football jog just about did me in tonight too as did the basketball defense-like back and forth shuffling with a jump somewhere in between.

I was quite verbal tonight with my oohs and aahs since it was a way to absorb the rigorous workout and carry on with the task at hand.

Can you feel it, Kate asked?

I don't know about it but I felt used and abused after the burpees, planks, push-ups, squats et al.

It was cool, though, when many of us wiped out women convened in the locker room to talk about the beat down that we had endured. There was this camaraderie among, mostly, strangers.

Check Your Body

The Thanksgiving Day boot camp at the Carondelt Rec Plex was packed but, by the end of the class, at least 20 people had dropped out.

Check your body. I didn't really hear why we were checking our bodies because the music was kind of loud but I assumed that the instructor meant it in the mind/body connection way and not check your body because San just wrecked it way.

Oh my, San was all about the jumping jacks and squats. I think we did 100 plus jacks and just as many squats. We also did burpees and I'm going to go ahead and say that burpees are not my favorite form of calisthenics.

The 50 minutes of San's boot camp seemed to last forever and the camp class was the last one to leave the Y. It was weird to see all of the cardio equipment at rest.


I swung by Jay International because I had everything that I needed for sweet potato puree except for a lime. I used olive oil instead of butter and agave nectar instead of honey. Calories-wise, agave and honey are alike but, supposedly, agave's glycemic index is lower than honey's.

Love this little two pound bag of sweet potatoes that I got from Trader Joe's -- not too big and not too small.






I oogled the gingerbread cookies at Jay International because it doesn't hurt to look.

Month-End Review, September

September will go down as the month in which my workouts were more varied. I was flipping through an old journal and was reminded about how I used to hit the workout DVDs much more. I got out my kickbox bootcamp DVD and it was just what I needed for, at least, one day this month to be reminded that it's not just about working out but also how much effort you put into the workout.

10 Minute Solution: Fitness Ball Workouts (Upper Body), 7 x's

10 Minute Solution: Kickbox Bootcamp (Basic Training), 1 x

10 Minute Solution: Kickbox Bootcamp (Fat Burning Blast), 1 x

Adaptive Motion Trainer, 2 x's

Army Crawls with Weights, 5 x's

Bicycling, 8 x's

Elliptical Trainer, 1 x

Mowing Lawn, 1 x

Rock Climbing, 1 x

Shooting Hoops, 1 x

Squats, 1 x

StairMaster, 4 x's

Swimming, 8 x's

Treadmill, 5 x's

Walking (Outdoors), 7 x's

Yard Work, 1 x