Tag: exercise

Why I Climb

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I have to retract a statement. In a recent post I called kickboxing “the only workout I can stand.” It turns out that was a lie. I guess I didn’t know myself as well as I thought. You see, I’ve taken up rock climbing and I am smitten. 

climbing

Grace in motion.

A couple of years ago my boyfriend, Brian, and I were walking through the local Apple Harvest Festival and stopped by a tent for the nearby rock climbing gym. The young man who was manning the booth gave us a couple of free passes. In our joint quest to get in better shape, we finally used those passes in March. I was feeling a little worse for the wear after throwing myself whole hog into cardio boxing. I went to three classes in 7 days and by the last class I was seeing improvement in my cardio stamina but my abs were D.O.N.E. We got to the last 15 minutes of class and I could hardly pick my legs up off the ground. I’m pretty sure I pulled a muscle.

So when Brian asked if I wanted to finally use our climbing passes that weekend, I lept at the excuse to not have to go back to the boxing gym right away. We took a belay class and were unleashed on the gym.

We haven’t looked back since.  Continue reading →

Kickboxing: The Only Workout I Can Stand

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Flickr Creative Commons, Phicen Kickboxing, Edward Liu

It’s been a while since I kickboxed, but it was, by far, my favorite form of exercise. It’s the only thing that ever got me looking forward to class, and kept me coming back 3 or 4 times per week. Now, I’m thinking about getting back to it again, but all kickboxing classes are not created equal.

There are a few things I really love about kickboxing:

  • I don’t need to do anything else. My favorite class incorporated 15 minutes of ab work at the end of class, after I’d punched and kicked an inanimate bag into submission. Then we would stretch. There was no need for any other kind of work out.
  • I’ve never liked exercising for the sake of exercising. I don’t like to run just to run, or lift weights just to lift weights. But with kickboxing I felt like I was learning to defend myself, which made it feel like more than exercise.
  • I like to hit stuff. Let’s be honest, we all spend a lot of time being more civilized than we might like. I don’t yell at other drivers, or cuss out strangers in parking lots. But hitting stuff is fun!

Continue reading →

Why I Hate Running

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esbjorn2, Flickr Creative Commons

Yesterday afternoon I headed over to my gym for a yoga class. (Yes, I did find my way back to yoga despite this.) I know you’re supposed to be all focused inward and stuff, but I can’t help it…my mind wanders and I start looking around. There was a woman a few feet away from me who looked to be in her 40s and in really good shape, but for some reason she didn’t seem to be able to do some pretty basic yoga poses.

I was intrigued. 

After watching her through much of the class I came to a conclusion. The bad joints, inflexibility, and lean muscle mass were a dead give away: She’s a runner.  Continue reading →

What We Talk About When We Talk About Hiking

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I started reading Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail earlier this week, and it’s got me thinking about what it really means to be a “hiker.” It seems to me that lately everyone thinks they’re one, including me — but most of us are not.

Earlier this spring I hit the internet and started researching hiking shoes after I slipped on a few rocks in the woods, and anytime I purchase an accessory for an activity it means I’m truly invested. So I started looking into more local trails. There are tons of options, but as you might imagine, wilderness in Connecticut is not always easy to come by and I have a new rule: if you see a stroller or a child under the age of 8 on a trail, it’s not hiking, it’s just a walk.  Continue reading →

Bikram Revisited: Still Don’t Like It

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I was lucky enough to have my first post about Bikram Yoga make it to the Freshly Pressed page, which led to hundreds of people weighing in on the hottest, stickiest form of yoga. It seemed most people agreed with me: Bikram was not for them. But when I posted I had only been to two of the ten classes I paid for through Groupon. Being a frugal gal, I intend to get my money’s worth. With eight classes left I had plenty of time–usually while sweating profusely in a stinky room filled with half-naked strangers–to think about many of the points the commenters raised. Continue reading →

The Problem with Bikram Yoga

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I recently purchased a Groupon for a local Bikram Yoga studio. For $30 I get 10 classes. It was a great deal so I bought it on sight, and a friend followed suit.

I was worried about my friend who has a heart condition that is made worse in hot, humid conditions. She regularly passes out on gross summer days. Doing yoga in a 105 degree room seemed ill-advised. A few minutes into the first class she thought she’d have to give up, but she stuck it out and by the time we got to our second class she had acclimated and did much better.

I, however, still dread going. If this wasn’t a group activity, I think I’d give up. It’s not that it’s hard, because it’s not — at least not the yoga part. I’ve done yoga off and on for years, and the 26 poses done in Bikram are not all that challenging — though they are, of course, harder when you’re sweating profusely and dizzy. I have no problem sitting out a posture if I suddenly feel like passing out, and since many of the people in class are other Grouponers, they are also new to class and sitting out many of the poses. The problem with Bikram is that it strikes me as yoga for people who are hyper-competitive. I imagine helicopter parents and people with OCD enjoy it very much. But I don’t find it relaxing in the least. Continue reading →

Adventures in the Land of Fitness & Snow

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kevindooley, Flickr Creative Commons

I’ll let you in on a little secret. In 2006 I was in really good shape…at least for me. I belonged to a kickboxing gym and went to classes three or four times a week. Then I joined the gym’s demo team, and added a practice onto my normal gym schedule. After about nine months, I was pretty jacked. I could do a pull-up for the first time since I was in grade school. But then I moved.

When I left Connecticut and went to New York I wasn’t particularly concerned with staying in shape. I lived on the 7th floor of a building that, for all practical purposes, had no elevator. I went down those stairs, then walked about 10 blocks to the subway, got off the train and walked a few avenues over to my office, and then did the whole  thing in reverse at the end of the day. Add to that all the times I went up and down the stairs to get dinner or drinks, and I dropped about five pounds in a month without even trying. Continue reading →