My gym recently starting offering P90X group exercise classes and I’ve been dying to check it out. Last night was the night and, my gosh, my initial reaction is that it is not the workout for me.
It could have been a couple factors: the instructor, music, or just being unfamiliar. First, it felt like the teacher was racing/competing with the class. He was busting out a TON of reps, with the sole encouragement being, “Keep going, guys!” or “Work hard!” He may have even just said, “Faster!” Then, the music was a bit Muscle Beach for my liking. A few times I found myself smirking and trying not to laugh (I love Marky-Mark, but it’s 2013, people). Music is a big deal for me. Maybe Body Pump is more up my alley?
I did work hard and it was hard, but it didn’t feel fun and that’s an important motivator for group exercise. On a positive note, I expected to be crippled with pain today, and I’m only moderately sore (the squats, my God! The squats!). Still, I know how much I need to switch up my routine and incorporate both cross-training and weights.
It reminds me of a saying that makes me laugh, but is totally true:
Likewise, if you do what you’ve always done, you can’t expect your body to change. So, I’ll probably give P90X another shot, but not before spreading the love to some other wildcard workouts.
NOT a wildcard? More running!
About a month ago I was all bent out of shape because a race I had signed up to run in February was snowed out and rescheduled for the same day in April as another race I registered to run. Most of my angst stemmed from the fact that I had shelled out $20 for the February 5-miler (fair) and $45 for the April 5K (not fair), so essentially, I would be paying $65 to run 3.1 miles (because at the end of the day, the 5K was going to trump the 5-miler).
Then I started joking that maybe I could manage to squeeze in both. And it turns out, I can! Talk about bang for your buck!
It’ll be a fun personal challenge if when I actually pull it off, but the 5K is scheduled for 8:30 AM in Boston and the 5-miler for 11 AM in Brockton. The most perfect part? I actually have 8 miles at race pace on my calendar for that weekend. Boom.