Miss Mom: The Workout Bus

I have decided to climb back onto the exercise bus, and I am not alone. My two daughters are going with me. We have decided that flab is not helping our clothes to look like they fit us, and personally I have been having some real issues with hip pain.

So this week Megan bought three workout DVDs, and last night we took “before” measurements and began our first workout session.

OK, let me back up here. Two years ago, I was going to the gym three times a week. Before I moved to Spartanburg I was taking two classes, Pilates and Nia. So I used to be in fairly decent shape. Then two things made me fall off the “stay in shape” bus, and it left me at the station. The first was the birth of my grandchild. Yes, I know, poor excuse. But as she was living with us for her first year because mommy was a full-time college student, plus working plus adjusting to parenthood, I was kept pretty busy. The second was that six months after Helene’ came along I had major surgery. I have thought about getting back into shape but that’s about all I’ve done.

Getting started is hard; so hard. Believe me, I’ve been trying to climb onto that workout bus for nearly two years now with little success. My biggest problem: Complete and utter lack of will power. Having someone work with you is easier, and my kids are willing to help me climb on that bus and hopefully stay there.

Following is what has occurred our first few days into the adventure.

Day One Megan and I put on our work out duds (tank top and capris) and turned on the DVD. It was a beginner’s yoga session. Now let me tell you, yoga is great. It builds strength and flexibility, it helps with breathing and balance. It’s a great form of exercise. The moves were simple, or so they appeared. It didn’t take long for Megan and I to realize that we would not get through the entire video. The warm up consisted of sitting in a lotus position and doing a series of stretches. Not so bad, except for the fact that the muscles around my right hip flat our refuse to go into that position without some serious pain. My hips and I came to a compromise. The result looked nothing like a flower.

We moved on to some floor stretches. “I’m sorry, serene-looking woman on the TV screen, but just how do you expect me to stretch my legs like that and still breathe?” I thought. Then we moved on to a new move … Do you realize how hard the downward dog position is? Well at first not so much, but the fourth time? How about the seventh? I was not sure that my shoulder were still equipped to carry the weight of my upper body for longer then a few seconds. They were but after that, Megs and I decided that we’d had enough. Looking at the clock, we had gone though 15 minutes of an hour-long video. That included a few minutes of intro.

Day two. I had Ashley and family over for grilling, and yes we ate way to much potato salad, baked beans and charcoaled braised burgers. But undaunted we were determined to try again to make de-flabbing ourselves a go. Ashley took home one of the videos to do at home, and Megan and I stepped into the world of Pilates. Here I was on familiar ground. (Yeah right!) The standing stretches weren’t so bad. I had obviously lost flexibility but I know from experience that can be regained. Then started the squats. After a few, we realized it was going to be difficult. Then the cute skinny woman on TV added lunges. We made it through, barely. Then she started on push-ups! I lasted through four push-ups as my arms and shoulders loudly reminded me of what they had been doing the night before. When the instructor went into a downward dog position I decided I’d had enough. I looked over at Megan to see how she was faring, and she asked me “Can we quit now?” The time we spent on this DVD? Yep. 15 minutes.

Day Three. I do believe that the workout bus ran over my legs sometime during the night. It hurts to bend, it hurts to move into a sitting position, it hurts to get up from a sitting position. You’d think that durn bus would have pity on me since I climbed back aboard, but NO! I called Megan, while at work to see how she was faring. Apparently that bus had decided to run her over as well. Workout on hiatus while we get less feeling in our thighs.

Day four. Back to yoga again. Surprisingly I was able to get into a semi-yoga position with less pain and stay that way during the entire segment. We skipped right over the leg stretch portion of the video and moved right to the easier floor work. Why? Because these old legs are still sore from two days ago. My favorite part of the yoga workout? The cool down. That is laying on the floor in a quiet position.

Day five. Back to Pilates tonight. I do suspect that I will once again be run over by that bus during my sleep afterwards. Hopefully it won’t use studded tires this time.

Seriously, I don’t mind the pains my body is going through, really, as I know that my goal of giving my self a new shape other then round is a sound one. I got myself that way, so its up to me to get myself out of that way. Thankfully I have a workout-nazi, err … I mean partner in the form of my youngest child. We both hope to be less of ourselves in the future. Our first milestone will be to get through an entire DVD without using the fast forward feature. Now if only I can survive it.