Hurray for YMCA!

Long long time ago (actually only about 8 months ago :-p), I wrote about how I workout. But as I said in the post, soon the whole so-called routine was about to change. Winter came and how! There was simply no way I could go out without 3 layers of clothes. So obviously there was no question of running/cycling..

After about 1 month of doing no workouts whatsoever, we finally joined YMCA. Lexington has 4 branches of YMCA, we found the nearest one, took a tour and went ahead and joined it. Though the full form is "Young Men's Christian Association", its in no way a propaganda of Christianism. Well, maybe everything done stands for Christian values, but we were never subjected to religion as such...

I got into a new routine pretty easily. They have some pretty amazing group exercize classes, so I, who had never ever been to one, enthusiastically joined whatever was suiting our "time". Our "time" was in the evenings when Sri would return from work. So the routine shifted from mornings to evenings anywhere from 5PM to 8PM. While I attended classes, Sri worked out on the treadmil and weights.

I was introduced into a whole new world through group exercize. I mean, when I was working out alone, I kinda always had the option of quitting. So if I felt the least bit tired, I could give up ;-) :-D. But the classes are not like that. Though no one forces you to get back if you do give up, its a matter of pride to continue working out. Hence you are actually doing more justice to the job ;-) :). I attended 4 types of classes over a week.

1) Zumba fitness class:

This was a fun dance class every monday from 6 PM to 7 PM . Our instructor Cathya was of Columbian origin and was extremely thin (and she was a mother of 2 kids!!). So she was a good influence ;-) :-D. Zumba uses latin dance moves for a wonderful workout. Since it was held only once per week, we used to have more than 20 people in the studio. Dancing away without any care about how you look was really something :). Well, atleast the first step to the tango lessons I want to take someday :-D.

2) Cardio Kickboxing class:

This one literally kicked ass of everyone who'd attend. I used to attend this on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM. It consisted of hardcore boxing moves. So we'd jab, hook, kick, swat and what not! Our instructor Lisa would make us sweat and repeat every move until we would feel like begging her to stop :-D. But the best part was that it'd feel absolutely refreshing after the workout. Lisa also took an Abs workout class from 6:30 PM to 7 PM. I once took both classes one after another and was totally tired!. After that either I'd take only the Cardio kickboxing class or go half an hour late to the class and take the Abs workout class :).

3) Water fitness class:

This class was available 4 days a week from Monday to Thursday from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM, but I'd take it only on Wednesdays. Basically, water fitness means getting into a swimming pool and instead of swimming, do exercizes in water. Since water makes you feel light, its more easier to do some exercizes which'd be difficult to do on land :). I absolutely loved it. We'd run across the swimming pool, jump, jog at place and use accessories for other exercizes like water dumbbells (you have to push these under water rather than lift them :-D), kickboards (which we'd use for arm exercizes like rowing, pushing and pulling) and noodles (they are not eatable noodles :-p). Noodles were the most fun, as you can use them as weights for the legs, or for an abdominal workout or to support your weight while you cycle/do stomach exercizes, all in water ofcourse :-D. Our instructor Mary was a 8-year veteran in water fitness and she'd take the class even if there were only 2 people around :-D. But imagine, I had never even heard about something like water fitness before I actually took the class! The things people do!

That was it. If we'd somehow manage to go on fridays (;-) :-D), I'd workout on the treadmill as there were no classes available on Friday. Sadly, the fun lasted only for about 4-5 months. Notice how I have written everything in past tense? Recently we both got free annual membership for Gold Gym (which is a chain of costly gyms across the country), so we have started going there. Their group exercize classes are quite different and their aqua fitness class is more vigourous (details are for another post another time), but somehow I sort of miss the YMCA instructors and the "classmates". Maybe next year we'll be back :).