Pat's Blog

Class #111 Cycling Friday Noon (Krissa)

2010-04-30T17:03:00.000-07:00

All good things have to come to an end and so too does the quest. There’s only this final cycling class to take and my goal will have been reached. Careful readers will note that the promised 110 classes grew by one when we added the Yoga for Kids class a few weeks ago. Either way, there are no more classes until Lisa adds something else but when she does that will fall outside of my jurisdiction.

As I stagger into class for the final time it’s hard to miss that one of the bikes has a colorful bouquet of balloons tethered to it. Someone, Krissa I imagine, has gone to the trouble to make me a seat of honor for this final class and I am appreciative. Basically, I'm happy to have arrived here at all and I’m ready to ride across the finish line (where’s the champagne anyway?).

Krissa teaches two cycling classes every week (Wed./Fri.) and splits a third class with Betsy on Sunday afternoons. She is an excellent instructor and her classes are among the most popular on the schedule. I really enjoyed the previous class I took with her (see blog #33 ) and I'm happy to wrap things up in her class.

The balloon-laden bike that’s been hand picked for me today happens to be in a back corner of the room and it’s one I used to ride on a regular basis in Carla’s M/W noon class. This bike, I happen to know, is one of the semi-magic bikes and it’s going to give me inflated numbers for my watts. I have studiously avoided “magic” bikes on the quest but it feels appropriate somehow to be on this one for the last class - I’m going to blow away my old average watts record.

Balloon-bike in the corner

Krissa sets a torrid pace for us right from the gate. She’s an excellent triathlete and is currently training for a half Ironman race in June so she’s in terrific shape and is coaxing us to ride in her slipstream.

Krissa’s style is playful and filled with an easy banter – she has a great personality and is very comfortable with a microphone and an audience. I enjoy listening to her as she alternately pushes us, asks how we’re doing (usually and endearingly she answers for us), interacts with individual riders and lets loose her infectious laugh. It’s obvious that she’s working hard because her gasping breath is audible but she’s also, somehow, having a rollicking good time along the way.

The class is nearly full and with everyone working hard the room is getting warmer, the A/C struggling (and failing) to keep up. I’m pouring sweat and my legs are weary but the adrenaline is pumping and I feel good. There’s not much reason to save anything for tomorrow because, well, you know why.

After a hard fifty-minute ride we downshift into an easy cool down and the deed is done. I check my numbers one last time to see another 500 calories incinerated, a magic-bike aided average watts score of 195 (my high score on a regular bike is 146), a maximum heart rate of 150 and an average rate of 127.

As we’re about to end the cool down the studio door opens and a large contingent of LRAC staffers, led by Krissa's sister, Lisa Cooper,who also happens to be the Group Exercise Coordinator, march in carrying a cake with the number 111 proudly displayed atop it. Someone initiates applause and the class joins in – giving a tribute to me and the now completed quest. Simultaneously I feel deep appreciation for all this warmth along with a familiar discomfort of being in the limelight, even for a few moments.

Celebrating with friends (that's Krissa on the far left)

Amazingly, one of the class members, Silvana Berlinski also produces a cake that she has baked to celebrate the occasion. Silvana is perhaps the most dedicated group cycling student in the Club – she attends an average of six cycling classes a week. Thanks so much Silvana!

As I mentioned, the class was near full with 22 or so in attendance. For this last class I thought it only appropriate to draw extra names for the gift certificate so I ask Krissa to draw five winners. Those five are: Lee Burrell, Heidi Tate, John Lang, Sabra Miller and Silvana Berlinski (instant karma).

Well, that about puts a wrap on things. I may check back in with a postscript now and then but my blogging and group exercising are (over)due for a temporary hiatus. I appreciate everyone’s interest in this project and for the loyal readers out there – whoever you are. I also greatly appreciate all of the kind and encouraging words that have been heaped upon me along the way. Bless you all.

Next up: I'll attempt to eat every item on the menu at the Blue Court Grill -- don't miss all the action!

See you at the Club!

Class #110 TBC (Total Body Conditioning) Thursday noon (Carla)

2010-04-30T15:00:00.000-07:00

After Cary’s cycling class ends at 9:40, I head up to the pool deck to help out with the bubble take down. I arrive at a good point because the crew (about twenty guys and a couple of gals) has just begun pulling the material. The bubble weights around 4,000 pounds and the only way to move it around is to assemble a bunch of willing bodies and start pulling.

I’m well warmed up from the cardio workout so I grab a “C” clamp and take my place on the line. Everyone complains about bubble day but the truth is when we have a good crew, like we do today, it’s actually fun. We’ve learned over time that it works best if one person calls out the commands to pull and when we all act in unison, we can move a lot of weight. Our de facto foreman is Club Manager Mary Olson’s husband Gary. Gary’s been an integral part of the bubble crews at both clubs for umpteen years and he understands the process really well. He’s also spent enough time in the military to understand the importance of teamwork and he does a great job of leading us.

We make record time today and have the bubble completely rolled up and put on the pallet by 10:45 a.m. All that’s left is to take off the pool cover, replace all deck chairs and lifeguard stands and we’re back in business. We’ll have the pool back open shortly after noon, which has never happened before – yippee.

Cary’s class and bubble duty serve as my ‘warm up’ for Carla’s TBC class, which starts at noon. TBC (Total Body Conditioning) has a well deserved reputation as one of the toughest classes on the schedule but I like it because it’s filled with variety.

I talk my volleyball buddy David McFatrich, who’s been helping out on the bubble crew along with his son Luke, to come take TBC with me. I know that Dave’s working out hard for the summer beach volleyball season and he’s still got about fifteen pounds to lose, he says. This workout is right up his alley.

It’s a beautiful day outside and Carla has us begin by taking about a twelve-fifteen minute run around the Club and through an adjoining subdivision. We finish this warm up by doing lunges up the infamous Peckerwood Rd., which runs along the south side of the Club.

When we get inside, Carla herds us down to the gym floor where we are divided into teams of three. We begin things with a relay where we take a 25-pound plate weight, wrap it in a towel and place it on the wood floor. The goal is to push the plate from one side of the gym to the other where our teammate is waiting to ‘run’ the second leg. Each teammate is to run/push the weight a total of four times.

Carla running a class through drills

I get very low to the ground when I take my turn and this allows me the best angle to push and so I’m able to move along pretty quickly. Since I’m already down so low, it only seems natural, albeit a little show-offy, to dive across the line. I do this the first time without a problem but on the second lap I bang my knee on the floor and I wince in pain. I’m wondering if I’ve done serious damage and I’m feeling extra stupid for this sophmorish move. After a few seconds I realize that my knee is probably not maimed but I know it’s going to be sore. No more diving on this relay.

Carla has us do a few more relays like this including one where each team gets a yoga blanket and the race is to drag a teammate who’s sitting on the blanket across the floor before changing riders until everyone’s been a rider for two times. This relay is great fun when you’re getting the ride across the floor and considerably less fun when you’re towing big guys like Dave or Chris Norwood (my teammates).

After the session in the gym we move into the Group Ex studio where we divide into pairs. In this exercise one person balances on the Bosu ball (flat side up) while doing squats and chest presses with hand weights while the other person does squat lunges (I call these ‘burpees’). We alternate back and forth for different lengths of time as called by Carla and with essentially no rest between sets. This goes on for what seems like a long time.

Squat on Bosu ball (flat side up)

We finish up class with a hard set of abs where we again alternate stations with a partner. Several times during the ab workout I have to rest because I’m seriously out of gas.

Carla’s workouts are always inventive and ‘fun’ in a sweat-drenching sort of way. It’s also fun for me because I know a number of the Carla-ites like Lori Millner, Tricia Buchman, Michele Langston and Chris Norwood because they hardly ever miss one of her classes including the noon M/W bike classes that I’m also a regular in.

Checking the numbers I see that in 56 minutes I burn 571 calories with an average heart beat of 128 and a max of 152.

There are twelve gung ho sorts in class – all women except for me, Dave and Chris. The $25 gift certificate goes to Karen Jo Trulock.

Class #109 Cycling 8:45 a.m. (Cary)

2010-04-30T09:18:00.000-07:00

At long last, the quest will end tomorrow and that’s a good thing because my gas gauge has the ‘low level’ warning light on. The proximity of the finish line though, is giving me a psychological boost and sufficient adrenaline (I hope) to cross it.

Yesterday was a rare three-fer marathon as I am in ‘mop up’ mode, crossing off whatever unattended classes remain. After ending Sculpt at 8:15 last night there was still some club work to do and I hung around for an hour to help pull the cover across the pool in preparation for the bubble take down today.

Today then is really the last big push. This morning I’ve got Cary’s 8:45 cycle class followed by Carla’s noontime TBC (Total Body Conditioning) along with a few hours of bubble work sandwiched in between. I should get out to the bubble project just in time to help pull the four thousand pounds of inert platic across the (covered) pool and roll it up – that’s the one part of the job that requires all hands on deck. The truth is, if you have enough folks during this phase it’s not too bad a chore – if not, it can be a real drag.

All this is on my mind as Cary tells us to ‘start our engines’ because class is beginning. Right off the bat, I note a sluggishness in my legs that I hope will subside out over the course of the ride.

After twenty-two previous bike classes you might think that there’s not much new ground to cover. You would be right. Still, each teacher has his/her own flavor and Cary’s no exception. She teaches two classes a week - I took her other one way back on March 1st (blog #23). I remember from that class that she likes to do ‘hovers’ - standing climbs where the rear end is pushed back over the seat to isolate the hamstrings. Sure enough we do those again today and sure enough my hamstrings feel it.

Cary Andrews

Cary pushes us through her own mix of climbs, sprints and intervals, which show up in most of the classes but she also throws in one unique twist that I haven’t seen before. A little more than halfway through she says we’ve got an eight-minute song and our goal is to cover four ‘miles’ on the odometer. Everyone knows that the odometer isn’t really measuring miles (we’re on a stationary cycle for goodness sake) but it’s a reasonable equivalent. The odometer moves faster as the watt reading goes up, which is a function of rpm’s and gears. Anyway, it’s up to each of us to decide what combination of gearing and pace is ideal to click off the requisite mileage. As it turns out, I can’t quite make the four miles because 1) it’s an ambitious goal and, 2) my worn out legs aren’t cooperating very well.

After 45 minutes of work we ease into the warm down and Cary chooses that time to tell us about a recent adventure she’s had. She is an avid horseback rider and lives far enough out of the city to own horses and ride them in her ‘neighborhood’. Recently, she was out riding when a new neighbor’s dogs breached their electronic fence and attacked her horse. Since this was a new, young and huge horse that Cary is still getting used to, she was afraid he would panic and roll on her – a frightening and potentially deadly proposition - so at the first opportunity she jumped off and the horse bolted for the barn. Fortunately, everyone was all right (the horse had a few bites on his ankles) but it was a harrowing event nonetheless. At the end, Cary asked everyone’s advice about fending off dogs in such a situation and the consensus was – the best defense would be to impress upon the new neighbors the danger of their dogs getting out to prevent a repeat performance.

Cary riding Rambo (not the horse involved in the attack)

In class I note that I’ve burned 450 calories while maintaining an average heart rate of 130 with a maximum rate of 145. It’s not my best effort but not too bad either considering my dilapidated state.

It’s a smallish class this morning with only four other riders – all women and all regulars in Cary’s class. The $25 gift certificate goes to Mary Klopfenstein.

Class #108 Sculpt Wednesday 7:15 p.m. (Melanie)

2010-04-29T15:59:00.001-07:00

My third class of the day and twenty-first (and final) Wednesday class is Sculpt by Melanie. This class is a companion to the Monday evening Sculpt class also at 7:15 taught by Beth and since I just took that class last week, I notice a lot of the same folks in attendance tonight.

I am very near the end of the quest (only three more classes remain) but the past several weeks have been a non-stop push to stay on schedule and to be honest, I’m pooped. As I set up for class I’m wondering what I’ve realistically got left in the tank to offer up here. Before we even start, I already feel sculpted, toned, buffed, waxed, whipped, scalloped, pureed and deep-fried.

Every Sculpt teacher has a slightly different version of this class and Melanie’s is a cross between Sculpt and Power Pump. For instance, she has us use the plate-loaded bars that are typical in PP along with hand weights (two sets), an elastic band and a step with risers.

Melanie eases us into a nice warm up where we move through essentially every exercise on tonight’s agenda but with only a sample number of reps. After about five minutes of warming up we’re ready to get down to cases (as Maude on the Big Lebowski might say).

Maude in The Big Lebowski

As expected, the “real” stuff is plenty challenging and on occasion elicits a few audible groans from the class (I always love a good groan). Overall, the class is well balanced and every major muscle group gets its moment in the sun. I particularly like the way Melanie does a brief warm up (or re-warm up) of each muscle group before we launch into the heavy work.

Melanie is a vivacious teacher with a big smile and a constant banter of encouragement (“you guys look great”) mixed with motivation (“c’mon, three more sets, you can do it”). She tells us several times that we’re being “saved by the music” when it ends before a set is quite finished and other times that we need to keep going because “the music hasn’t stopped yet”. At one point I catch her singing along with Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”. I was hoping she’d really belt it out but she stops short of going full karaoke even though she’s got the mic.

Melanie with daughter Madeline

Melanie has been teaching group exercise classes since June, 1997 when she started at a Bally’s Fitness Club in Michigan. In 2006, she married an Air Force physician and they moved from Belleville, IL to the LRAFB in July 2009. She started teaching at the LRAC and NLRAC last summer.

Her “real job” she tells me is being a stay-at-home mom to her 15 month old daughter, Madeline. This job will get more challenging, I’m sure as her husband is deploying soon to Afganistan for a six-month tour of duty. My best wishes go out to both of them as they go through this period of separation.

After class, Melanie sticks around to practice her Step class routine for Thursday night at the NLRAC. As for me, I’ve got to run upstairs and help put the cover over the pool because tomorrow, we take down the bubble (the air structure over the 25-yard pool).

Tonight in Melanie’s class there are about twenty….mostly women, naturally but late night regular and blog reader Bryan Davis is there to keep me from being the only guy. The $25 gift certificate goes to Phyllis Colclasure

Class #107 Pilates Wednesday 11:00 a.m. (Barbara)

2010-04-29T13:59:00.001-07:00

Barbara has just gotten back from a weekend workshop on Pilates and that’s always a great time to take a class. She’s already a fantastic instructor but workshops tend to re-invigorate teachers and spark new ideas.

We start class with something she learned over the weekend. Barbara has us take our mats to the wall where we sit with our hips and back against the wall and our legs straight out in front of us. She has given each of us a thick rubber band to be placed around the big toe of each foot, which are separated by several inches. From here we practice turning out one foot at a time ever so slightly but originating the movement from the hip instead of the foot. In order to do this correctly, the glutes and abs need to contract while the hip flexor is engaged. This is relevant because we’re to use this same movement when doing the side leg series. It’s a helpful demonstration and I make the connection in a way that I had not before.

To do Pilates correctly requires a great deal of precision and subtlety. Much of the movement originates inside the body in a way that cannot always be seen in the outer form. This subtlety of technique is why we offer an introductory Pilates series so newcomers can learn the proper inner technique and not just mimic the outer moves in one of the regular mat classes.

The class today is filled with students who’ve practiced Pilates a long time but even they need these subtle refinements from time to time. Barbara’s ability to clarify the fine points of Pilates, even after years of practice, is what keeps her students enthralled with her as a teacher.

Barbara also has an interesting teaching style. She modulates her voice, sort of like an actress, in a way that keeps your attention. When we’re doing something difficult her voice may rise in pitch with the effort as if imploring us to stay with it and do it correctly. At one point, as a reminder, she says to no one in particular “don’t you dare” do such and such. This phrase makes me laugh but it reveals Barbara’s passion for Pilates and her flair for the dramatic that makes her classes so consistently interesting and good.

Barbara Sarnataro

In today’s class we do a little extra stretching with each series of movements and that makes it even more enjoyable for me. During the quest I haven’t attended as many yoga classes as I would with my normal schedule and my flexibility has suffered somewhat as a consequence.

The class has 20-24 in it, mostly women. Bill Plunkett, Bill Felix and I are the token males in class today. The $25 gift certificate goes to Teka Bartter.

Class #106 CardioMix Wednesday 9:00 a.m. (Beverly)

2010-04-28T16:36:00.001-07:00

This class is a new invention from the creative mind of Beverly Lindberg. When I started the ‘quest’ Beverly had a class in this slot simply titled “Aerobics” but before I got to try that one, she implemented this new format beginning about a month ago.

Beverly has essentially divided the class up into a warm up, five ten-minute sections of ever changing exercises and a cool down/stretch. The ten-minute sessions are almost entirely cardio in nature although there is a ‘sculpt’ (i.e. weight lifting and ab) section near the end.

The cardio workout begins with ten minutes of kickboxing where we do jabs, crosses, uppercuts, speed bag work and a variety of kicks. It’s all very fast paced and has some manageable (i.e. I could mostly do it) choreography. There’s sufficient challenge in the choreography though to keep the brain engaged and on its toes, which makes it entertaining.

In another section Beverly uses a rope ladder on the floor to lead us through a variety of lightening quick foot movements. A lot of the drills look like things I’ve seen football players do with tires or in other agility drills. It’s surprising to me how tricky it is to do some of the steps with the ladder because at first glance they appear fairly simple.

Agility drills with a rope ladder

Other sections of class include various combinations of traditional aerobics moves like grapevine, heel jacks or side to side hamstring curls along with athletic moves such as simulating a basketball pass, catch and jump shot. Beverly also throws in a few Zumba movements like, say a mambo step here and there but it doesn’t get any dancier than that.

For me, the class is really fun. I’ve discovered that I enjoy these fast moving cardio classes where the patterns and exercises are changing all the time. And, a lot of the movements/steps that Beverly has included are more sports oriented making it somewhat more familiar to a rhythmically challenged guy like me.

The class today is mostly woman (there are two other guys besides me) and they seem to me to be having a fine time of it. Beverly is a really good teacher and can draw on her experience teaching a wide variety of classes to find interesting combinations of movements that keep things spicy.

Beverly Lindberg

In the forty-two minutes of class dedicated to cardio I burn 362 calories with an average heart rate of 117 and a maximum rate of 162. I could tell I was working hard in class but I was surprised that I got to 162 bpm because that’s quite high – I guess I was enjoying myself too much to notice.

Since this is a new class, I’d be remiss if I didn’t invite you to come check it out if you get the chance – I think you’ll like it.

There are about 22 in class this morning. The $25 gift certificate goes to Sabrina Dufis.

Class #105 Cycling Tuesday 4:30 p.m. (Heather)

2010-04-28T15:07:00.000-07:00

This is my third and final class from Heather Isbell who is one of the most popular cycling instructors at the Club. As a newcomer to Heather’s class, the first question you’ll hear when entering the room is “fan” or “no fan”? This isn’t a fan-club issue (everyone here is a fan of Heather’s) but an inquiry about air movement preference. For some reason, there’s a group of regulars in Heather’s classes (unlike any other class that I know of) who really don’t like the fans blowing on them.

In today’s class, the ‘no fan’ section is easy to pick out – it’s the one with hardly anyone in it. I’m no glutton for punishment so I stop just short of the dead air zone and wind up back on the anti-magic bike (see blog # 97). On this bike the gearing is a little harder than the regular cycles so I know my wattage “score” will be off somewhat but I can still keep track of my heart rate, which tells the real story anyhow.

As class gets started Heather tells us that we’re going to be doing the Hawaiian Ironman course today. Since that’s one of the most grueling races on the planet, I’m thinking ‘uh oh’. Of course, I know that the Ironman typically takes nine hours or more to complete and this class is only 50 minutes so we’ve got that going for us.

The microphone is on the fritz today so Heather is speaking over the music and/or giving hand signals. It’s a lot harder for the teacher when there’s no voice amplification but Heather handles adversity (here and elsewhere) with a great deal of aplomb. Basically, she takes such difficulties in stride and just keeps going.

At the beginning of the Ironman, Heather explains, there’s a big rush to begin the 2.4 mile ocean swim and a sprint to the first buoy to reach open water as quickly as possible. For us, it means a high gear and a short intense sprint right out of the gates (we’ve all been warming up for five or more minutes so we’re ready for it). My legs though are somewhat worn out from a hard Sculpt class this morning and when I shift into a high gear and start to sprint, for just a moment, I think my calf is going to cramp. In a flash I ‘foresee’ the embarrassment of having to bail out of class after the first few minutes. Almost simultaneously, my mind richochets off into a wonderment about whether anyone’s ever had a leg cramp at the beginning of a real Ironman and if so, what a drag that would be after so much training yada yada yada. (And, so goes the discursive mind in bike class….)

The sprint to the first buoy in the Hawaiian Ironman

I pull back a gear or two and my leg settles down immediately. I’m definitely not going to be the first one to the buoy - more like the last one - but it’s a long race and I figure I can catch up later.

Heather talks us through the whole race, giving us landmarks, weather reports (we encounter high winds several times) and asking us for periodic pushes along the way. On the long bike section (it’s 112 miles in the real Ironman) she wants us to catch and pass four separate riders who somehow have gotten in front of us. Each time we catch one of the riders we shift to a high gear, stand up and sprint to get around our imaginary opponent.

The long hot ride along the Kona coastline

The visuals Heather creates of this race along with her great selection of music keep us inspired and entertained as we spin on down the road.

Near the end of class, Heather tells us we’re going into the ‘energy lab’, which is something, apparently, her class practices occasionally but about which I am clueless. In the ‘lab’, she turns off all the fans and the lights and we become one big ‘no fan’ zone. It only lasts for a few minutes and because of the short duration it isn’t really a problem. It’s simply a fun little twist that Heather’s figured out to keep folks guessing and to make the class more interesting. The real challenge for all cycling instructors is how to keep a cycling class like this from growing stale. We’re fortunate to have really great instructors at the Club and they’ve all learned how to pull a rabbit out of the hat from time to time to keep us engaged.

Heather Isbell

My average wattage is better than the last time I rode this sluggish bike but it’s still only 130, which isn’t too high. My average heart rate is 132 (not bad) and my calorie burn is about 400 for the 45-minute work portion of the class.

There are 12-13 in class today and atypical of most of our classes, the majority are men. The $25 gift certificate goes to John Bilger.

Class #104 Sculpt Class Tuesday 9:40 a.m. (Beth)

2010-04-27T17:58:00.001-07:00

Some of the biggest classes in the Club are ones we call Sculpt. The one this morning, taught by Beth Cirwinski and held in the gym is indeed a large class with around 30 in attendance.

The protocol, I’ve learned, for Sculpt classes on the gym floor, is to read the white grease board above the stereo system. On that board, the teacher has written what equipment is needed for class. Today I see that we need a step, two sets of hand weights, a heavy bar and a mat.

These classes are a non-stop assault on all the various muscle groups. We start with squats, move on to biceps, triceps, lunges, chest presses, shoulder raises, flys, push-ups and so on. In each exercise we do a LOT of reps so selecting the right sized weight is important. Too light and nothing is gained, too heavy and you can’t make it through to the end. Over the length of the quest, I’ve managed to gradually increased my weight amounts – not that the poundage is anything to brag about. I have clearly gotten stronger though so I know these classes are working.

Lunging

One of the things that’s helpful if you want to teach a class like this is to be able to maintain a smile while doing all the exercises and counting out the reps. This requirement would be somewhere between hard and impossible for me but Beth is great at it. She beams out a beautiful smile the entire time she's teaching – it’s impressive.

Beth Cirwinski teaching (note the smile)

One thing I should point out and I’m definitely not complaining here but somehow we get through this entire class without doing any abs. Glory Hallelujah. My poor midsection needs a break and I’ll happily accept this small crumb.

The rest of class though is plenty hard and there are times I’d really like to scream but I’ve learned that no one does that here. I’m still not sure why. We are a group of stoics and that’s cool with me.

Tricep Kickbacks

The class, as usual, is filled mostly with fit, strong women although there are a few fellow hombres trying to keep pace this morning. The $25 gift certificate goes to Sandy Copeland.

Class #103 Water Aerobics Monday 7:00 p.m. (Mary Lu)

2010-04-27T17:06:00.000-07:00

At one minute before seven no one has shown up for class and I’m trying to decide how I’m going to handle a ‘forfeit’ in the blog. Mary Lu and I start asking parents watching their kids swim if they want to take class – “you’re guaranteed a $25 gift certificate”, I say. For one reason or another though no one can take the class. Just then, a sweet little lady walks in and says, “I’ll do it”.

It turns out that the ‘volunteer’ is in town from New Jersey to visit her son (Roman) daughter-in-law (Alexandra) and her grandkids. Miss Helen as we came to call her is totally game to take class even though her original intention had been to come sit in the whirlpool.

Small Class (Mary Lu, me, Miss Helen)

Since it’s just the three of us, I tell Mary Lu that it’s okay with me if we cut class a little bit short. To tell you the truth, I’m secretly pulling for this outcome because I’m pretty tired. The thing is, Mary Lu is so passionate about teaching water aerobics that once we start, I feel certain we’re going all the way till the end.

Mary Lu has brought some special ankle and hand gizmos for me to wear to increase resistance in the water. Sure enough, with those devices on, everything is about twice as hard to do. I’m trying my best to keep up but it’s a struggle. We do some exercises where our feet are to stay off the bottom but with my doodads on I can barely keep my head above water and occasionally I slip just beneath the surface.

Mary Lu on shore

Miss Helen hasn’t done water aerobics before or at least not in a while and so she’s not familiar with the exercises. On some things it’s clear that she’s completely lost but she just keeps bouncing in the water and smiling or giggling the whole time. She tells us that she has a 5 a.m. flight in the morning and I keep thinking at any minute she’s going to say ‘that’s enough’ but it never happens.

Before you know it, eight p.m. arrives and I’m all but worn out thanks to Mary Lu’s new resistance toys. Miss Helen though is all smiles and fresh as a daisy.

After class, Miss Helen and I sit in the hot tub to warm up and she tells me that she’s Ukrainian but spent most of her early life in Poland. I learn that she speaks four languages and has lived in the U.S. for almost fifty years. We’ve only just met but somehow she seems familiar (and adorable) to me. I tell her how glad I am to have met her and wish her luck on her future journeys.

I go in to change clothes and when I come out I find an e-mail address written down. My first thought is, how sweet, Miss Helen has left her address for me but it turns out, she’s given me her daughter-in-law’s e-mail. She’s done the class, at least in part, so Alexandra Ratycz will win the $25 gift certificate. I find all this out from Alexandra who’s been taking Beth’s Sculpt class. I recognize Alexandra because she’s been in five or six classes with me but never won the drawing – until now.

Class #102 Step Class Monday 5:30 p.m. (Ronnie)

2010-04-27T15:57:00.001-07:00

When I started this whole thing back in February, this class was in the top three of classes I was most nervous about taking. I had it in mind from the beginning to wait until the last week of the quest before tackling it.

Ronnie’s Monday night prime time Step class in the gym is one of the longest running and most popular classes on our schedule and has a reputation as being hard and requiring some ultra fancy footwork. There are only six pure Step classes on the weekly schedule and I’ve done the other five. I’ve also learned that in certain other classes like CardioSculpt, teachers often use the steps and risers for the cardio portion of class. So, I’ve been in and around the Step world enough now to fake my way through a hard class – even Ronnie’s – I hope. Since this is the last Monday of the quest, if I’m not ready now, it’s too darn bad and too late to do anything about it.

Ronnie Stone leading Step class

In almost every Step class I’ve been to so far, even the Basic ones, there have been times that I’ve gotten completely lost. It’s a surprise then when in Ronnie’s class tonight I notice that I’m able to follow just about everything. There are times when he shows a Level 1,2 and 3 movement and often I have to go with the easiest one but still, I’m doing it (look maw no hands)!

The logical but unexpected consequence of being able to follow all of the movements is that I’m huffing and puffing – getting a better workout than in previous Step classes. As I think about it, I realize that in the past I’ve had to slow down or stop when the choreography got too hard to follow. In this class, Ronnie’s movements are physically demanding with plenty of squats and jumps but the choreography (except for Level 3) is mostly within my grasp.

Poetry in motion (that's me in the foreground)

My handy-dandy Polar watch tells me that I burn a little over 400 calories in the 45 minutes of cardio that I measure. During that time my heart rate averages 120 and peaks at 140, both pretty strong numbers for me.

After class I tell Ronnie about my experience and he says that he’s purposefully making the choreography easier to follow for two reasons: 1) To attract newcomers to Step and, 2) Because it’s easier for everyone to get a good workout (just like I did) when they can follow all the steps. Furthermore, he says, that by showing Level 2 and 3 movements, he can still challenge the Step aficionados. Sounds like a good plan to me.

There are about twenty-five in class tonight with about five guys in the mix. The $25 gift certificate goes to Karen Mourot.

Class #101 Yoga for Kids 3:55 p.m. (Stacey)

2010-04-27T06:57:00.001-07:00

Consider this bonus coverage since Yoga for Kids wasn’t on the schedule when I started the quest – still, I wanted to check it out and do a quick write up about it. Stacey Swanson who teaches a regular yoga class on Thursday at noon, recently received her certification to teach yoga to children and she pitched the idea for this class to see if it would fly.

The class is geared for young kids ages 5 – 12 and is a complement to the Zumba for Kids class that takes place on Tuesday/Thursday in the afternoon. Today was the fourth installment of YFK’s. Stacey mentioned that the kids were pretty wild at the first class and she wondered what she had gotten herself into. Each week since, however, the wee ones have gotten quieter and more attentive while obviously enjoying the class.

Today there are about 12 children in class along with four adults (Stacey, her husband Dana, Martha Plaster - training to be a sub – and me). The class works for kids because of the cleverness of the teaching. Instead of traditional names for poses – Stacey offers something more inventive and fun, for instance, instead of cat/cow pose (see pic) we do ‘moo’, ‘meow’, making the sounds as we take the pose. It’s pretty cute.

Cat pose (in cow the head comes up and the back dips down)

Some other poses include – ‘elephant’ – where our arms become the trunk as we bend over to ‘drink’ and then rise up to spray water into the sky. Then there’s the ‘hot air balloon’ where our breath is the fire that lifts our basket (body) off the ground as we float around the room. Another one, perhaps my favorite, is the ‘peanut better sandwich’, which even has it’s own song to accompany the pose. In this technique we sit on the floor, our legs straight out in front of us, reach our arms up high to grab some peanut butter, then we slather it all over our body before bending forward to ‘make a sandwich’.

Peanut butter sandwich

In the traditional final resting pose – Stacey puts a small rubber ducky on everyone’s belly so they can watch it rise and fall with the breath. It’s a simple awareness exercise about noticing our breath, which is an integral part of practicing yoga.

Stacey Swanson

The class is only thirty minutes long so it’s over before I know it, seeming short to me but perfect for the kids. If you’re looking for a fun way to introduce your children the world of yoga (and a little exercise to boot) this class is worth checking out.

Class #100 Hard Core Stretch 5:30 p.m. (Kris)

2010-04-26T13:07:00.000-07:00

As I hit triple digits (yea!) it’s a coming of full circle in a way. After all, my very first class on this jaunt was an early Monday morning smack-down (Kickboxing) by Kris Mougeot – so it’s only fitting that on this Sunday evening Kris should get the honor of kicking my abs for class number one zero zero.

It’s my second time to take the misleadingly named Hard Core/Stretch class with Kris. Actually two of the three words in the class title are apt (i.e. Hard and Core) leaving only “stretch” to dangle before us as a tantalizing mirage.

This is a dangerous class to watch the clock in but as a reporter I feel it’s my duty to check in occasionally with the time. In today’s class, Kris starts us off with a twelve-minute set of rapid-fire crunches from the supine position. Every forty-five seconds or so she has us change our leg position or the angle of the crunch but there’s no pause between sets whatsoever.

After the crunch set we flip over to our knees to assault the abs from a kneeling position. We begin with an opposite leg opposite arm pose (see pic) that’s moved through various planes and contractions before doing plank, side plank, forearm plank, you name it, if it works the abs, we do it.

Opposite arm/opposite leg core exercise

Now mind you, less than two hours before this class, I attended baby Mougeot’s (Jessica) Power Pump class, which of course, wore out most of my muscles. Therefore, my arms are shaking within the first thirty seconds of holding plank but complaining or backing down is out of the question. I know that Kris would never whine in similar circumstances so I do my best to tough it out.

There are only two others in class this evening and both of them are splendid endurance athletes (Betsy Meachum – 3^rd in the LR marathon and Stephanie Tharp) who I know won’t quit or complain. Apparently, this Sunday evening version of Hard Core has attracted a large contingent of elite runners who “enjoy” this kind of punishment. Kris tells me that typically there are twenty in this class and she has no idea where they all are tonight.

Finally, in the last five minutes of class we arrive at long last to the stretch portion of things but even that part turns out to be challenging. Kris moves us from downward dog to plank to chaturanga (she calls it crocodile) to upward dog back to down dog and so forth and so on for about eight repetitions. Leave it to Kris to make the stretch part hard too.

chaturanga dandasana (aka crocodile pose)

This class is an awesome workout for the core muscles. Newcomers may have to rest occasionally to keep their form in tact but there’s no shame in occasionally crying ‘uncle’ in this class. Just know that Kris will keep on going and going (and going).

After this workout it just doesn’t seem right to do anything but offer up the $25 gift certificate to both Betsy and Stephanie. It would be too depressing to get through that hard a workout and then lose a coin flip for the gift certificate.

I’m down to my final ten classes and five days. This will be a full week but come Friday at 12:50 p.m. – the end of Krissa’s cycle class – you can stick a fork in me cause I’ll be done.

Class #99 Power Pump Sunday 3 p.m. (Jessica for Beth/Betsy)

2010-04-25T17:30:00.000-07:00

“A whole bunch more like that,” she says. Uh oh, I think, this cannot be good. We’re doing plié squats and we’ve already done like a thousand when Jessica offers up the ‘whole bunch more’ directive. Specifically, we’re doing pulses – little baby movements of only a few inches – while maintaining the deep squat. Heretofore, she’s been saying “pulse for seven” or five or three so I know that a 'whole bunch' has to mean more than seven maybe its even the biblical seven times seven meaning essentially infinity. That’s what it seems like. And feels like.

This is how Power Pump goes with a Mougeot (Jessica is Kris’ step daughter) at the helm - lots and lots of repetitions. I already know, from previous experience, to put a small amount of weight on my bar but no matter how light I go, the sheer number of reps is going to burn out the targeted muscle every time.

After a five-minute warm up where we essentially get a preview of the whole class, Jessica has us put on our “heavy” weights for squats. From here we do non-stop squats with a heavy bar on our shoulders for about seven minutes. We do single squats (down/up in one motion), two counts down, two counts up, three counts down/up and pulses – three, five, seven, etc. All of these variations are mixed, matched and blended in an effort, I suppose, to distract us from the painfully obvious fact that we’re doing the same movement over and over again until the quadriceps muscle is (French) fried. Then we move on to the next muscle.

And so it goes through bicep curls, tricep extensions, bench presses, upright rows, shoulder presses, dead lifts (lots of dead lifts), lunges, bent over rows, plié squats etc. Each muscle group gets its five to seven minutes in the spotlight before limping off to lick its wounds.

I’ve said it before – if you want to get your weight lifting workout done in a group format with a motivating teacher and some pulsating music, this isn’t a bad way to go. It’s going to hurt no matter what – might as well do it with company.

I’ve had two other classes from Jessica, both of the kickboxing variety but it doesn’t surprise me that she’s qualified to teach Power Pump. It also doesn’t surprise me that her version would be hard. By the way, she does every single repetition with us, in fact, she does quite a few more than me because she changes her weights more quickly (between sets) and she never stops in despair to roll her eyes toward heaven while imploring ‘how many more?’ like I do on occasion. She did at one point say, “this is hurting me too”, which I took as a small consolation.

Jessica is 'stylin' in Komen's Ace for the Cure

At the end, we do abs of course – there will always be abs to do. The thing is I’ve got to be back in this room in 90 minutes to do Kris Mougeot’s “Hard Core” class, which is an abstravaganza of the most extreme kind and I need to conserve a modicum of juice for it without being too obvious about dogging the end of Jessica’s class.

This is class #99 and to tell you the truth, it sorta feels like it. This will be my last Sunday on the quest as I count down toward Friday and the magic number 110. Then I’m really going to dog it – for about two weeks. Well, one week for sure.

There are about 20 folks in Jessica’s class this afternoon and an unusually high percentage of men (maybe 40%). The $25 gift certificate goes to Heather Neal.

Class #98 CardioSculpt Saturday 9 a.m. (Michelle)

2010-04-24T10:50:00.001-07:00

Michelle’s Saturday morning sweatfest – called CardioSculpt – is one of the most popular classes on our schedule. Our members, I’ve noticed, really flock to the toughest workouts on the schedule and this one qualifies. Actually, I should say, the female members flock to these tough classes because there are only three guys present this morning. I’m still not sure why guys don’t attend classes like this in bigger numbers because I think men would love this workout if they tried it.

The CardioSculpt and TBC (Total Body Conditioning) classes are designed for a fit population. I purposely held off taking these classes until I was four or five weeks into the quest and had prepared my body to withstand such an intense workout. I suppose one could use a class like this to get into shape – it would just require a willingness to back off and modify some things when it gets too hard.

Even after training hard for almost ten weeks, I still have to modify some things. For instance, Michelle has us doing jump rope drills during much of the class. She is very skilled at jumping rope and, alas, I am not. I cannot maintain as quick a pace as the one she sets nor can I do some of the fancier footwork drills with the jump rope so I just bungle along doing the best I can. Sometimes, when I’ve missed connection three or four times in a row, I just keep jumping and doing the arm movements without the rope at all.

The basic format of this class is to alternate some form of hard cardio work (i.e. jumping rope, running around the gym or burpees) with using handweights to do flys, tricep extensions, bicep curls, etc. There’s no meaningful rest between sets but we are switching over from a cardio exercise that leaves us gasping for air – to a calisthenic set where the heart rate drops a bit while some poor muscle fills with lactic acid (sounds fun, eh?). It is hard but it’s also a smart way to workout each system in a rapid-fire manner that keeps one from getting bored. Tired yes – bored no.

Michelle also likes to use the Bosu ball (see pic) and a step in the training. For instance, we may jump from the floor onto the Bosu ball, do a squat and then jump back to the floor do another squat and repeat. This is a form of plyometrics along with core work that challenges all kinds of muscles and produces explosive strength and speed. On another set, we put our hands on the step to support our weight as we jump both legs from one side to the other over and over. You guys are wondering where you can sign up now, aren’t you?

Squat on a Bosu Ball

This class lasts for 75 minutes, which is 15 more than a typical class. In the last 15 minutes we do all ab work before finishing with a smidgen of stretching.

I wear my heart rate monitor to class but turn it off when we get to the ab work. In the first hour I burn about 600 calories, maintain an average heart rate of 126 and max out at 152.

Michelle Wilkerson - Cardio Sculptress

There are about 30 in class today. The winner of the $25 gift certificate is Sally Stokes.

With this class I have completed all of the classes on Saturday. I have a total of six days and twelve classes until completion. Tomorrow I’m doing the 3 p.m. Power Pump and the 5:30 p.m. Hard Core/Stretch (in case you’re bored and want to come keep me company).

Class #97 Cycling Friday 5:40 a.m. (David for Betsy)

2010-04-23T14:45:00.001-07:00

This morning’s class – my twelveth with a start time before 6 a.m. - completes my tour of the pre-dawn group exercise schedule. This is a good thing. My strategy early on in the quest was to knock out all of our ‘before work’ classes on the front end but I stalled out after quickly doing seven or eight of them. Instead, I’ve been picking off the stragglers whenever I get the chance and this morning puts a wrap on it.

For the second day in a row, the regular teacher is missing due to a wedding. Yesterday it was Victoria getting ready for her daughter Tory’s wedding on Saturday. Today it’s Betsy, off to California to witness the wedding of her sister.

Betsy’s sub this morning is the one and only David Prince. If there was such a thing, David would get my vote as the most enthusiastic, life-affirming, whoopin’ n’ hollerinest’ securities lawyer in the world (who also happens to be a group cycling instructor). Maybe there’s another one out there like him but frankly, I doubt it. Anyway, we’ve got him and we’re not giving him back.

Super Dave (cleverly disguised as mild-mannered securities lawyer)

The bike I usually ride in class was occupied this morning so I just moved down a few places and picked another one. When I get on it David mentions that he used to ride this particular bike and that it’s the opposite of a magic bike – that is, the work is a bit harder at a lower gear. Sure enough, my normal basement gear is a 7 or 8 but on this bike it’s a 6. It shouldn’t matter but psychologically it’s hard to see the watts score consistently reading lower than usual. Plus my legs are already fried from a hard week AND it’s five forty in the morning….shall I go on with my whining?

As I’ve mentioned before, the truest ‘score’ where effort is concerned is heart rate and that isn’t affected by gearing in the least. Even by that metric though I’m not at my best. During class I work hard enough to max out at 148 (pretty good) but my average heart rate is only 126, which is a little low. I notice that it takes me a long time to get thoroughly warmed up (i.e. awake) this morning and that dampens my numbers somewhat.

David plays great music (see play list below), which he seems to arrange or rearrange for each class. I’m not sure how teachers learn how to put music together for the various parts of a class (i.e. sprints, climbs, intervals, rolling hills, etc.) but I know there’s a definite rhyme to their reasoning.

I’ve now completed twenty-two bike classes and have only two more remaining. Thankfully, I can report quite proudly that we’ve got a very strong group of committed, caring cycling instructors and I’m sincerely grateful about that.

This morning there are about nine of us in class. The $25 gift certificate goes to early morning regular David Menz.

Tomorrow I’ll take my last Saturday class – the mega-hard Cardio Sculpt with Michelle.

David’s play list follows:

1	Warm Up	Let’s Just Fall In Love	Jason Castro	3:28
1	Flat Road & Surge	All In	Lifehouse	3:56
2	Seated Climb-Continuous Push	All Or Nothing	Theory of A Deadman	3:31
6	Sprint	Check Yes Juliet	We The Kings	3:40
2-4	Seated Climb to Standing Climb	S.O.S.	Jordin Sparks	3:33
2	Seated Climb	I Never Told You	Colbie Callait	3:53
2	Seated Climb-Continuous Push	Never Say Never	The Fray	4:17
2	Interval (4x30)	Low	Flo Rida	3:50
2-4	Extreme Hill	Two Is Better Than One	Boys Like Girls	4:03
6	Sprint	Girlfriend	Avril Levine	3:37
2-4	Seated Climb to Standing Climb	According to You	Orianthi	3:20
2	Seated Climb-Rolling Hills (4-6)	This Afternoon	Nickelback	4:35
2	Seated Climb	Somebody Told Me	The Killers	3:17
2-4	Extreme Hill	Someday	Rob Thomas	4:08

1	Cool Down & Stretch	Baby Can I Hold You	Tracy Chapman	3:14
1	Stretch	One Day	Matisyahu	3:28
1	Stretch	Hard Times	Mary J. Blige	3:58

(53.0 minutes + cool down) (Spin 050

Class #96 Zumba Thursday10:00 a.m. (Brittney)

2010-04-23T10:02:00.000-07:00

With today’s Zumba class under my belt I will have completed the entire docket of dance offerings on our weekly schedule – a baker’s dozen of Zumba and Nia classes. Has this experience transformed me from Al Gore to John Travlota? Well, not exactly but it may have helped - I guess.

Several weeks ago I took my first Zumba class from Brittney (see blog #67) and came away deeply humbled by the experience. After having seen all the Zumba teachers, I’d have to say that Brittney has the most intricate choreography and it’s pretty tricky stuff the first time through. Today though, I’m seeing everything for the second time, which gives me a fighting chance.

I notice that there are certain patterns of movement that Brittney repeats – kind of like her base chords, and if you can master those, then it’s possible to add on. The thing is, the movements are really quick and sometimes my size 11 tennis shoes won’t zig quite in time to hit the zag on beat. Nonetheless, I keep focusing on the basic steps and by the end of class I’m on them maybe half the time – a small step for a man, etc. etc.

The women who regularly come to Brittney’s class have these dances down cold and it’s fun to watch them move in unison. The really good dancers, and there are plenty in attendance, can even add their own unique flair while staying with the same pattern that the group is making. It’s a little like a choir singing together with different voice ranges – where differences are complementary to the whole. I, on the other hand, am more like a free electron bouncing off in unpredictable directions. For that reason, I try to stand in a back corner where my randomness won’t detract from the beauty of the others.

Near the end of class we do a dance to a song called Disturbia. This song’s title iis an apt description of what you will be if you watch me do this dance. On the refrain we’re to do this lightening quick torso sway from vertical to horizontal and back in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction while emitting a high pitched squeal. My manly pride won’t allow me to participate in the vocals. I feel certain my fellow dancers forgive me this intentional omission.

One thing I can say about Zumba classes is that they go by really quickly. I’m not sure why this is exactly but at some level I guess you’d have to say I’m having fun. As I’ve written before, dancing in this way is a challenge for me but when I give up worrying about the results and just focus on process, it’s enjoyable.

At the end of class, Brittney, bless her heart, leads the group in applause for my efforts. She says I’m one of the best guys ever in her class. This is likely sincere though faint praise since I’m doubtful that there’s ever been another male taking this class. Still, I’m happy to take compliments about my dancing where I can find them. Furthermore, I’ve set the bar low enough for most any guy who wants it to claim my title of ‘best ever’. All you fellows tuned in to this channel can take that as a challenge.

Brittney Patty

In closing, let me sincerely thank Brittney, Paige, Karen, Beverly, Bonnie, Susan and Antoinette, our dance teaching corps for being so kind and welcoming in your classes. I seriously had fun dancing with all of you!

In Brittney’s class today there are about 15. The $25 gift certificate goes to Kelley Flaming.

Class #95 Pilates Thursday 8:45 a.m. (Paige for Victoria)

2010-04-22T16:54:00.001-07:00

For most of the quest I’ve been e-mailing teachers before I show up to let them know I’m coming. Recently though I’ve had trouble keeping all the balls in the air and so sometimes I just show up. Such is the case today and it turns out that Victoria is out of town for her daughter’s wedding so Paige is substituting.

Our teachers, by the way, are really great at arranging substitutes when they can’t make a class. Typically, the subs they get are ones that they know the class will ‘resonate’ with. That’s certainly the case today as most everyone in class knows and approves of Victoria’s choice as pinch hitter.

Before coming to class this morning, I stopped by the Racquet Club for about an hour to help with preparations to take down the bubble (the 5,000 pound air supported structure that covers their 25-yard pool). We typically assemble a crew of about twenty guys to do ‘bubble day’ and I’m almost always on the crew. Since I’ve asked several friends to help out over there today, I want to at least make an appearance cause I feel bad about being absent – even though everyone knows and understands about my group ex commitment. A week from today we’ll take down the LRAC bubble and I’ll miss part but not all of that day as well. I’m taking classes today to free up most of my morning next week so I can work on the bubble crew. Next Thursday, after the bubble's down (usually just before noon) with whatever energy I have left, I’ll do Carla’s TBC class. It'll be a fine warm up I'm sure.

Compared to working on the bubble crew, taking a Pilates class should be fairly tame although in the middle of the stomach series I may momentarily forget that. I’m so glad when we get to the end of that section today and someone let’s fly an audible moan. Some of this stuff is hard - we needn’t be so stoic - wail, weep and gnash teeth, I say, if you feel like it.

The other killer part of every Pilates class for me is the ‘side leg’ series. Every time, about halfway through this torture test, my thoughts turn dark about Joseph Pilates and whoever happens to be asking me to do ‘hot potato’, leg circles and leg pulses. Grrrrrr.

Paige is so sweet though, it’s hard to sustain any ill will toward her – she’s just a sub anyway. She’s a good Pilates teacher though, knows her stuff and plays nice music while we suffer in silence (mostly).

Paige Perritt

Okay, that’s enough whining for one blog. I need to save a little for the Zumba class I plan to take at 10 a.m.

In Victoria/Paige’s class there are about 18 fellow Pilateans. The lucky $25 gift card winner is Denise King.

Class #94 Kickboxing Wednesday 6:35 p.m. (Jessica)

2010-04-22T16:42:00.000-07:00

My second class of the day will be cardio – kickboxing to be exact – and I’m glad of that. I don’t think I could take another Sculpt or Power Pump class today. Still, I know that Jessica’s class will be hard and near the end she will have of us do exhausting sets of triceps, pushups and abs but the rest of the time we’ll be moving around.

This is my second time to take Jessica’s Kickboxing. She teaches a companion class on Monday nights (see Blog #78) so I more or less know what I’m getting into this evening. I had fun the first time through so I’m glad to be back.

Before class I put on my hand wraps to protect my knuckles for when we do the gloved punching of the boxing pads that Jessica wears. I’ve only put these on once before and I can’t remember how to do it. Fortunately, Steve Schexnayter, a regular in kickboxing, sees me struggling and shows me how to put them on correctly.

Most of the class is fast paced cardio where we maintain a constant boxers bounce along with throwing a wide array of punches, kicks and combinations. Similar to Zumba or other classes that require coordination, kickboxing is definitely a little easier to do after having been through it a time or two before.

This class is out on the gym floor and sometimes it does feel like we’re on display. It’s surprising how that doesn’t bother me – it seems like it would. The truth is, I rather enjoy looking around myself while in class and watching the world go by. At one point I look up on the track and see two four-year old girls doing their best to mimic the kicking routine we are doing. The kids are pretty cute and it’s a reminder that the best way to get kids to exercise is for parents to model that behavior for them. I’m glad my parents did that for me. Of course, I never saw ‘em take a kickboxing class.

The most fun part of class is when Jessica comes around to each individual in class with her boxing pads for a private sparring session. I feel a little more coordinated this time through than I did in the first class. She probably only spends about 45 seconds with each person but that’s plenty of time to get worn out while throwing as many rapid fire punches as possible. It’s hard to imagine the conditioning it must take to be a boxer.

Jessica is one big ball of energy as an instructor. It’s obvious that she’s giving the class 100 per cent and encouraging us to do the same. It’s effective for me – I burn up 400 calories, maintain an average heart rate of 110 and max out at 143.

Jessica with singer/song writer Billy Joe Shaver

Best of all, I’ve now completed all of the kickboxing classes on our schedule without creating any noticeable problems for my back. Yeehah!

There are about 15 in this class – all women except for Steve and me. The $25 gift certificate goes to Leigh Anne Jewart.

Class #93 Power Pump Wednesday 10:00 a.m. (Betsy)

2010-04-21T16:07:00.000-07:00

My legs, especially my quadriceps, are still sore from Beth’s Sculpt class on Monday night so this Power Pump class will be a “hair of the dog” remedy. Frankly, I have no idea if this concept actually works for hangovers or for sore muscles. Apparently, the origin of the phrase came from a long ago belief that if one was bitten by a rabid dog placing some hair of that dog in the wound could prevent (cure) rabies. On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t take this class.

Betsy (aka the Betz or the Betzinator) teaches this class immediately following her 75-minute “Cardio Sculpt” class in the gym. Since she participates along with the class in everything she’s teaching, this is a tough double. I’m hoping the hard workout just before this one will take some of the edge off of Betsy’s vim and vigor however I’m not going to hold my breath.

The Betzinator

While we are setting up our equipment at the beginning of class, Betsy tells us snippets of what sounds like an ongoing story about her “dysfunctional” family. The stories, I discover, are like tales from Lake Woebegon both serious and tongue-in-cheek – her family is dysfunctional in the way that all of ours are. The effect in class however is that the “story” becomes our commercial break between hard sets. These breaks are short so we only get a tidbit here and there before she promises to resume where she left off - after the next set. It’s an effective and entertaining way to make the time pass as we do the work.

These episodic stories remind me that one summer during my college years I got in the habit of watching an afternoon ‘soap’, Days of Our Life, I think it was and thus came to know the story line and regular actors. It was entertaining in a sort of tawdry way but I felt certain I could live without it when school resumed. Then, some fifteen or twenty years later I would happen by a TV and see this show on and be amazed that many of the same characters had somehow survived various terminal cancers, gun shot wounds, voodoo hexes and countless sordid affairs. Wow!

Some day, in a few years, I’ll come back to one of Betsy’s classes and see what I’ve missed.

Betsy Kortebien

Today’s class is hard – what a surprise. I decided I would put the exact same amount of weight on my bar as Betsy (mind you, I outweigh her by at least 40 pounds) and see if I could hang. For the most part I could make the sets but just barely. I feel certain that tomorrow my arms will be as sore as my legs are today.

In many ways Sculpt and Power Pump classes are essentially the same thing. The main difference is that in Power Pump we almost always use the plate-loaded bars where as Sculpt classes typically use hand-weights and body bars. One thing’s for sure, it’s possible to wear out one’s muscles using either format.

Betsy asked me today in class if my body had changed after taking so many classes – especially ones I wasn’t accustomed to doing. I gave an evasive answer but it’s a fair question and I should give a real answer. My muscles have definitely tightened up and become more defined over the course of this training. The truth is, this undertaking has been a grind on my body and I’ve been as careful as possible about eating only (well, mostly) nutritious food and getting plenty of rest. When I finish, in nine days, I will no doubt take a week or so where I let my body completely rest, relax and repair itself. It’s fun, in a way, to push really hard to accomplish something but I know that rest is also a critical component of fitness and increasing the body’s capacity.

Betsy has about twelve in class today. The winner of the $25 gift certificate is Camille Fort.

Up next – Kickboxing tonight at 6:30 with Jessica.

Class #92 Nia Tuesday 10:00 a.m. (Susan)

2010-04-21T12:08:00.001-07:00

This morning’s class will complete the Nia quartet on the schedule and I’m looking forward to the freedom of movement this class brings. Since I took Susan’s class on Saturday (see blog #88) the routine is still fresh in my memory and there’s less angst than usual about learning the steps.

As I mentioned on Saturday, Susan is at the tail end of this particular routine so her regulars know it well and can really cut loose. This is my third time to do the sequence and I’m comfortable enough with the steps to experiment with including the arm movements too. I typically find that if I initially try to learn both the steps and the arms at the same time, I can’t do either so I focus on the feet first.

One of the pleasures in these classes is watching the good dancers do their thing. I admire athleticism in all its forms and the ability to move rhythmically (i.e. dance) is highly athletic. It’s interesting to me how I can more easily connect with the fluidity when we do a movement that is similar to something I practiced in Aikido for years and years (there are some Aikido inspired moves in Nia). The thing is, I have to actually pretend that I’m doing Aikido instead of dancing and then the relative gracefulness appears. For some lucky people this ability to move fluidly is natural but I’m sure it can be cultivated, to some extent, with practice even for those of us who don’t have the “gift”.

The “routine” as I’ve been calling it is actually comprised of about seven or eight songs that each have their own set of steps/movements. Some of them are easier than others but Susan always shows the basic steps before we start as a reminder – then when we get going she shows the different levels – from low impact to high speed – the degree of difficulty and heart rate rising with the level. In one of the songs there’s a matador move (I think that’s what it is) where we take our invisible cape and scamper about the room. Everyone takes off on their own unique and unpredictable path dodging bulls and fellow dancers all the while. This is probably my favorite part of the class edging out the dance where we flap our ‘wings’ and bawk like a chicken – also a hoot.

According to my heart rate monitor I burn up 330 calories in class while maintaining an average heart rate of 101 with a maximum of 117. My guess is that Susan, operating at level 3 the whole time probably has numbers significantly higher than mine. The thing is, Nia can be a really great cardio workout, especially as you gain confidence in the steps. I was a little bit tired coming into class today so that might have kept down my numbers some too.

Susan Garrett (right) with sidekick Robin Hanle

There are about eight sublime dancers in class today (and me). The winner of the $25 gift certificate is Marilyn Weinstein.

Okay, folks, that’s 92 down and a paltry 18 classes to go. Next up, Power Pump Wednesday morning at 10.

Class #91 Yoga Tuesday 5:45 a.m. (Jeanie)

2010-04-21T06:57:00.001-07:00

After attending last evening’s Sculpt class, which ended at 8:15, it was hard to eat dinner and wind down for sleep in time to feel completely rested for a pre-dawn workout today but here I am. I always thought that if I made it this far along in the quest pure adrenaline would kick in for the last little bit. Of course, nineteen more classes may not quite qualify as a “little bit”.

It’s always hard for me to get up so much earlier than I normally do but it makes it somewhat easier when the class to be taken is Yoga. Since I fired all my Yoga bullets earlier in the quest, I want to savor this one because it’s the last one on my schedule.

Jeanie Pierson, today’s teacher always brings with her a focus for class. Today she mentions a book she’s reading called The Mature Mind. The book cites research indicating that some aspects of human brain functioning may actually improve even late in life. One of those aspects is our capacity to simultaneously hold opposing viewpoints in mind without judgment. If that’s true, Jeanie reasons, we should seek out viewpoints different from ours to see what validity may lie in them and see what growth occurs when we undertake this practice.

The focus of the class then is “opposition”. In Yoga there are all sorts of potential oppositions to consider such as the balance between strength and flexibility embodied in each pose. Then there are the poles of too much effort vs. not enough effort that must be continually reconciled. Yoga teacher Matt Krepps says that whenever we are stretching a particular muscle, we should simultaneously maintain some internal focus on contracting that muscle (i.e. doing the opposite of the stretch). That opposition creates a subtle tension, which keeps our joints safe while stretching and strengthening the muscles more effectively.

Jeanie Pierson (note the opposition in this posture)

Throughout class, Jeanie brings up these various oppositions and others as we run through a wide range of asanas. It’s a good strong posture practice with plenty of strength, balance and flexibility mixed in.

At the end of class, we settle in to Shavasana, our resting pose and Jeanie goes around to each person and applies some China Gel and a brief neck massage. Even in this posture there is an opposition happening – that is, a completely relaxed body along with a quiet but alert mind. It’s in this unusual state where inspiration or wonder can arise. Plus, it feels really good.

At the end of class it’s only 6:45 a.m. and time for breakfast. As usual, once I survive the shock of waking up early I rather enjoy these morning workouts and their aftermath.

There are about 12 in class this morning. The $25 gift certificate goes to Susan Blair.

Next up for me, a Nia class at 10:00 a.m.

Class #90 Sculpt Monday 7:15 p.m. (Beth)

2010-04-20T14:12:00.000-07:00

I only have twenty classes left on the quest and two of them are the late starting Sculpt classes on Monday/Wednesday. Actually, the 7:15 start time doesn’t sound too bad but ending at 8:15 and getting home at 8:45 seems late especially since I’ll be eating dinner afterwards. I wonder if the regulars who come to this class eat before they come. I also wonder if many people will come to a class starting after 7:00 p.m.

As I walk up to the room about 7:12 I get a resounding answer to my previous question. The room is so full of women that now what I wonder is if there’s any room for me in there. I’m guessing there are about 25 folks in class and every one of them is female. As I walk in I wonder aloud why there aren’t any men here but this query only elicits some nervous laughter. “Don’t tell me there’s dancing in this class?”

A few of the women sidle up to me and say - “Beth’s the greatest, you’re going to love her but this class is kinda hard”. I’ve taken one of Beth’s classes already and it was indeed challenging so I expect nothing less than that tonight.

Sure enough, at 7:15 on the dot, the aerobics music starts up its relentless double time beat and we’re on the move. Beth will keep the throttle opened wide until 8:10 when we mercifully begin the five-minute stretch and cool down phase.

In between we do countless squats, lunges, plies, hamstring curls, leg lifts, chest presses, flys, shoulder raises, bicep curls, tricep extensions and on and on. Our arsenal is two sets of hand weights, a heavy bar, a mat and a step with four risers. We use everything but the lighter hand weights multiple times. At the end of each set I’m thinking about how nice it’ll be when this set ends cause surely the next set will be easier. Easier never happens.

Beth Cirwinski (she looks so harmless....)

One of the last things we do is a seemingly never ending sequence of forearm planks, side planks, straight arm planks, one-legged planks and so ever on. We hold some version of plank for about seven minutes without rest. At least I think it was seven minutes. It could have been three but it felt like twenty. At some point, LONG after I thought we would be resting and near utter despair, I touch my knees to the ground for about five seconds before soldiering on. Oh the shame.

At some point in class it occurs to me that these twenty-five women probably didn’t all show up tonight for the first time. That means they’ve done this BEFORE and KEEP COMING BACK! This is why, I now understand, God chose women to bear children instead of us wimpy men. If men were having babies each family would have exactly one child.

The scary part is that I still have to do the Sculpt class on Wednesday night at 7:15 along with Beth’s Tuesday morning Sculpt class. Woe is me.

The winner of the $25 gift certificate is Clare Buckman.

Class #89 Cycling Monday 6 p.m. (Martha)

2010-04-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

Today begins the penultimate week of the quest and classes are lined up before me like aircraft on the runway at DFW. Starting with Martha’s class tonight I’m entering a difficult stretch both for my body and for blogging. After this class I’ll scamper down to the studio for a Sculpt class with Beth that ends at 8:15. Then I’ll race home, have dinner and get to bed so I can get up in time for a 5:45 a.m. Yoga class. After that I’ll go to a 10 a.m. Nia class. Yikes.

Martha’s 6 p.m. class is competing with primo weather outside and that’s hurting the numbers no doubt. There are only five of us in class but that won’t stop us from having a great ride.

Martha has lined up an inner tour of the Gaelic countryside accompanied by a mostly Irish soundtrack (see play list below). It’s a pleasant place to imagine riding a bike and a fairly easy visualization for me.

I’ve been to Ireland a couple of times and I loved its green rolling countryside. The first time I went it didn’t take long before curiosity led me to a phone book to see how many Riley’s there were in Dublin. Well, that number turned out to be zero, however, there were plenty of O’Reilly’s.

Reilly evolved from the Gaelic name Raghailligh, which came from some historical figure named Raghallach. In Gaelic, Raghallach is the combination of two words meaning race and gregarious. This is related, I suppose, to the Irish penchant for talking a lot or the “gift of gab”, something my father inherited but didn’t pass on in tact to me.

Riley Family Crest

I’m actually thinking about all this as we ride along because I’ve read some about the Riley/Reilly derivation before and wonder what it all means for me. Some of the Irish stereotypes fit for me – for instance, I never met a potato that I didn’t like and I have a warm place in my heart for the Irish landscape and enjoy the music, however, I’ve got no taste whatsoever for room temperature beer.

Martha has a soothing voice and keeps us moving along at a steady clip pointing out the “sights” as we tool along. At one point she draws our attention to a sheepherder about to take his flock across the road ahead and urges us to hurry up to get past this looming traffic jam.

Martha Plaster in Dublin

Since we’re in Ireland there aren’t any steep hills to negotiate only those of the rolling variety. So, mostly we move along at a fairly fast pace but never get into the highest, most exhausting gears. The overall experience is a pleasant one – where my heart rate stays elevated but never climbs into the OMG zone. According to my watch, my heart rate averages 128 and maxes out at 142. I burn 450 calories in the 45-minute ride.

Four of the five taking class tonight are guys. One of the guys, Jim Miles, is the winner of the gift certificate.

Next up is class #90, Sculpt with Beth.

Play list below:

Gypsy Michael Flatley's Lord Of The Dance

Breakout Michael Flatley's Lord Of The Dance

Siamsa Michael Flatley's Lord Of The Dance

The Acoustic Motorbike Luka Bloom

Warriors Michael Flatley's Lord Of The Dance

Discothèque (New Mix) U2

The Countess Cathleen/Woman Of The Sidhe Riverdance: Music From The Show

American Wake (The Nova Scotia Set) Riverdance: Music From The Show

Vertigo U2

The Lord Of The Dance Michael Flatley's Lord Of The Dance

Reel Around The Sun Riverdance: Music From The Show Lift The Wings (cool down) Riverdance: Music From The Show

General Celtic

Class #88 Nia Saturday 9:15 a.m. (Susan)

2010-04-18T12:40:00.000-07:00

After Barbara’s cycle class I run to my office, shed my sopping bike shorts and put on my yoga pants for Nia. There’s something about dancing in shorts that just isn’t right and I’m not going to compound the distraction of my rhythm impairment by displaying my overly skinny legs. There’s not much juice left in these legs either but as Scotty on Star Trek might say “I’ll give it all I’ve got Cap’n.”

One of the unique aspects of Nia is that it’s designed to be done barefoot. I’m not sure what the original intent of that stipulation was but it turns out that barefootedness is beginning to make a name for itself in running circles

There’s a movement afoot (still on the fringes no doubt) to discard overly cushioned shoes and run barefoot or with minimalist foot covering like the Vibram Five Fingers, a sort of glove for the foot. It seems that heavily cushioned, high tech running shoes encourage a heel strike first running style that some believe causes foot and leg injuries in runners. The barefoot aficionados counter that our bodies evolved to run without shoes, which requires a completely different, midfoot strike, running style. The jury is still out on all this but if you’re interested (or bored) check out this article about the benefits of barefoot running: www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/07/barefoot/

Vibram Five Fingers

But I digress. Nia, as I was saying is intended to be done barefoot, however there’s no rule against covering the feet and in today’s class I notice, almost half the participants are wearing shoes. I’m a purist though – no shoes for me. It’s sort of freeing to feel your feet in contact with the ground, I’ll just have to see if it makes anything sore tomorrow.

Susan likes to use the same routine for about eight weeks so that regulars can learn it really well. Once you know the basic steps it’s easier to embellish things and “make it your own”. As it turns out, the first Nia class I had with Susan on Feb 23, was the first time she unveiled this routine that is now nearing the end of it’s run. Having only seen it once, it is surprisingly familiar and much easier for me to pick up than I would have imagined.

For almost every movement, Susan shows a level one (easiest), two, or three (hardest) version so that everyone can practice at their own pace. Level one moves are always low impact (i.e. no jumping), whereas the more advanced levels move faster and often involve joyous leaps and bounds. I usually stick in the middle range of difficulty but admire the flourish of the level three folks.

At the end of the day, Nia is dancing and for that reason I appreciate the fact that it’s done with the lights down low. There’s sort of a tribal feeling to a Nia class and since we can’t dance to the flickering light of a bonfire at least we can avoid the glare of fluorescent lights.

Both before and after class, several regulars come over to tell me how much they enjoy Susan as a teacher. They all say that she invests a lot of herself in the class and they appreciate it. It’s pretty clear to me that Susan loves teaching Nia and she’s good at it too.

Susan Garrett (once a Red Raider.....)

I’m happy to report that there are two other men in class today – both regulars. I actually think that most men could master a Nia routine after doing it a few times. C'mon guys - give it a try!

All together there are about twenty in class today. The winner of the $25 gift certificate is Lee Cress.

Class #87 Cycling Saturday 8:15 a.m. (Barbara)

2010-04-17T13:21:00.000-07:00

As I roll out of bed at 6:15 this fine Saturday morning, my legs are still a bit heavy from yesterday’s abuse – with TBC being the likely culprit. Shaking off the cobwebs of sleep, it dawns on me that I’ve got two leg-oriented classes to go to this morning. Oh boy!

First up is Barbara’s Group Cycling class. My first wonderment as I enter the studio is about the temperature. Yesterday, the unit that serves this room had a compressor fail. No compressor – no cool air. The Friday classes had to contend with doing their rides in a sauna-like environment. Sorry about that. We’ve been working with a mechanical engineer and an expert on system controls to evaluate whether the room needs a new unit altogether or it’s just a matter of making the unit we have work properly. We’ll have an answer soon I hope. Anyway, our service company (Gibbs) apparently got the compressor replaced last night because the room is cool this morning.

The beautiful spring weather has kept down the usual crowd that comes to Barbara’s classes. This morning there are only seven of us but that’s fine with me. Everyone in the room is an experienced group cyclist and I’m sure they’re ready for a tough workout.

Barbara is renowned for having really great music and offering a hard class. She’s on her game today and moving us from one hard exercise to the next with a minimum of rest in between. There’s plenty of variety too – a sprint here, a climb there, an interval and so on.

Barbara Sarnataro

Barbara isn’t a loud motivator, her style is to quietly implore us to dig a little deeper. She challenges us to challenge ourselves and do the work “because we can”. It’s an effective technique for me and I push on ever harder.

One of the things that Barbara does that I really like is a quick check-in every fifteen minutes to see what our average watts and heart rate is (we have to stop our peddles for a few seconds to get our averages and that’s a side benefit). After the second check, I see that if I really push through to the end, I’m going to set an all-time high for average watts. I know what you’re thinking but I’m not on a “magic” bike, I’ve come to the point where I avoid those if possible because I can’t compare my progress when I’m on one. Instead, I’m on a regular ‘ol bike and even with tired legs I’m nearing my best watt’s score.

On the last song, Barbara plays one of those songs that make you feel like you’re in the middle of an epic film or battle and that your personal effort is needed to win the day. The song is very familiar but I don’t know where or when I’ve heard it before. Anyway, I’m pushing and pushing and as we near the end, the effort is actually bringing tears. It’s an odd but not unpleasant experience – perhaps it’s the stirring music or maybe I’m just so worn out that I’m an emotional mess.

Soon enough the song ends and we begin our cool down but not before stopping to check our numbers. My average watts are 148 - a record number for me – my average heart rate is 136, which ties my previous high. I realize, by the way, that for a real cyclist, my watts numbers are a joke but the great thing about these classes and exercise in general is that it’s all about competing (if that’s what you want to call it) against oneself and no one else. The purpose of keeping track of our numbers it simply to notice when/if we’ve gotten stronger and/or more fit. It definitely will happen if we stick with it.

Well, no rest for the weary. During stretching I have to excuse myself to run down the hall to change clothes for the Nia class, which starts in a few minutes. I ask Barbara to handle the drawing for the $25 gift certificate. The winner is Annette Prieur.

Class #86 Sr. Weights Friday 12:10 p.m. (Beverly)

2010-04-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

Senior Weights is on the schedule three times a week (MWF) with Friday being the only class taught by Beverly (the other two are by Jeff). Several of the women from the MW class tell me that Friday’s class is pretty tough and I should bring my “A” game. Since I’m worn to a frazzle and have already done TBC this morning – that’s not exactly what I want to hear.

My big news for this class is that I have invited our Day Care Team Leader, Christine Harris to take the class with me. Christine has worked at the Club for more than 30 years (that's about five years longer than I’ve been here). Other than tennis pro Phil Mehlin, Christine has the longest tenure of any staff member. In all that time, she’s never stepped foot in the Group Exercise class until today.

Christine Harris

Christine and I set up in the back corner of the room and follow along. I had told Beverly that Chris would be coming to class today and that it’s new to her so Beverly stays attentive to her and checks on her throughout class.

Sure enough, Beverly’s class is plenty challenging. This is basically a Sculpt class where we use hand weights, a squishy ball, a Pilates ring and a Swiss ball to do the exercises. Beverly counts out sets of twenty for most exercises and on several of them my muscles are screaming at about seventeen.

In these Sculpt classes, the degree of difficulty is regulated by the size of hand weight you get. If you choose one that’s too heavy for a particular exercise it’s going to be painful. That’s the case for me on a tricep extension where I’m worn out long before we get to the finish line. At the end of the set, I loudly say “ouch” and everyone laughs that I would be the one having trouble.

At one point Beverly has us put our Swiss ball against the wall and do standing push ups. It’s the first time I’ve seen this variation but it’s an effective way to do a push up, especially for this age group. It’s easier to do because there’s less body weight but the instability of the ball also makes it an effective core exercise – two for the price of one.

Slowly but surely we make it through all the major muscle groups of the body. For instance, she has us do hamstring curls by putting our legs on the Swiss ball, doing a ‘bridge’ and while moving the ball to and fro staying in bridge (see pic). This exercise is a favorite Sculpt technique to isolate the hamstrings and boy does it.

Hamstring curls on a Swiss ball

As we move through class I keep one eye on Chris to see how she’s doing. I figure she’s plenty strong, after all she’s been lifting babies for all these years plus she stays on the move in the Day Care room. Still, she hasn’t done formal exercise like this so I’m curious how it is for her. From what I can tell she’s able to do most everything without trouble but she’s pretty stoic so it’s hard to know what’s going on inside. No matter what, I’m glad she’s gotten this member's eye look at the Club. Who knows she may love it and come back every week – we’ll see.

After class Beverly tells me how much she loves working with these women and how strong they are. She says this is perhaps her favorite class to teach and she’s glad that I got to experience it and also for bringing Christine.

Beverly Lindberg practicing what she preaches

There are about 12 in class today. The $25 gift certificate goes to Sr. Weight's regular Janice Elkins.

Class #85 TBC (Total Body Conditioning) Friday 8:30 a.m. (Carla)

2010-04-16T13:59:00.000-07:00

OMG. This is hard a hard class. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have gotten through this workout at the beginning of the ‘quest’. Even now, I couldn’t push every exercise to the absolute max without risking vomitous interruptus but at least I didn’t completely embarrass myself. It will be interesting to see, however, what the after effects are tomorrow.

This class is definitely designed for a very fit subset of our membership – and there are plenty of those folks in the Club. The gym floor is chock full of them this morning, mostly women (only one other guy today) and they take the punishment that Carla dishes out and keep on smiling.

The ‘warm up’ is three laps running around the building with one stretch of lunges up Peckerwood Rd. on the third lap. I happen to go outside at the same time as Stephanie Smith and Carla says, “Why don’t you two can run together”. My initial (presumptuous) thought is that I’ll need to slow down for her. Man, when will I learn? She’s a beautiful runner and I have to expend more effort than I intended just to keep up. I’m surprised when she tells me that she’s never run a race. I suggest to her that she try a 5K sometime – just for fun.

Back inside, Carla has set up a special torture chamber just for us. There are four rows running east to west across the gym floor and the program is to move forward one row after completing each station. We divide up into twosomes and I work with a young woman named Nicole Kimmerling. She promises that she isn’t “hard core” but she looks dangerously fit to me.

Each station is two minutes long. Our first exercise is doing pushups with one arm raised up on a step (with 6 risers) and the other on the floor. After the first minute we change directions so that our other arm is on top. I set a torrid pace at the beginning, which I realize too late is over zealous. About 50 seconds in I know I’m in trouble. Turning around (after 60 seconds) so that my left arm is higher doesn’t help – I can’t recover from the first set - and have to drop down and do the pushups on my knees. Even that is hard.

The other three stations are all cardio. In each station, one partner jumps rope while the other does some other strenuous exercise – usually involving jumping – with a raised step (6 risers again), a bosu ball or a “ski” course. Partners alternate exercises each 30 seconds – resting only for the 2-3 seconds it takes to grab the rope and start jumping. After the four stations on the floor are completed we run several laps around the track upstairs before coming back to four new stations. The only “rest” time is while Carla explains what the protocol is for the next four stations and she’s careful not to talk slowly.

And so it goes for the next hour. After about the third station I have to jettison my glasses because they keep sliding off my heavily perspiring face. I keep glancing down at my watch to check my heart rate because it feels pretty high. It maxes out at 157 on a station where Nicole stands with both feet on a stretch band while I grab the handles and jump as high and as quickly as I can for 30 seconds (you might be surprised how long 30 seconds can seem under these conditions). This station is deeply anaerobic so we get to “rest” while our partner works. I’m sucking wind so hard on this one however that I know I won’t recover in time for whatever comes next.

For the last ten minutes of class we do ab work with our partner. In one exercise we grab our partner’s ankles and swing our legs up – the partner catches the legs and pushes them back toward the floor. Fun fun fun. In the other exercise we lie on back and do a traditional full sit up with our partner holding down our feet. I haven’t done these since college and they seem WAY more difficult then they were back then.

Like I said, this class is really tough but I love the “station “ format and it’s fun working with a partner. It’s also nice to do this in a big group where everyone is working really hard together. There’s a feeling of camaraderie that arises and a sense of accomplishment to survive Sergeant Branch's gauntlet.

TBC (Torture By Carla)

Checking my numbers at the end I see that I’ve burned almost 800 calories. My average heart rate is 128, which is pretty high considering the “resistance training” station and the ab work where heart rates drop below one hundred. On most of the cardio stations, when I remember to look, I’m averaging in the 140’s.

There are about 24 or so in class – a bit small they tell me for Friday morning TBC. The $25 gift card goes to Dina Rabata.

Class #84 Water Aerobics Thursday 9 a.m. (Anna)

2010-04-15T14:36:00.001-07:00

There’s a legend (perhaps true) that Jim Thorpe (who was considered the greatest athlete on earth at the time) took on as a dare (or bet) the challenge of mimicking every move of a two year old for a day. The story goes that in an hour or so, Thorpe became too exhausted to continue and gave up.

What’s this got to do with a water aerobics class you ask? Well, nothing maybe except that it strikes me once again, how difficult it is to do EVERYTHING that an instructor (today it’s Anna) asks us to do in these classes. I really went for it today and writing this, six hours after class, I still feel the effect of the workout.

I’ve written in earlier blogs that water aerobics is a better and harder workout than I gave it credit for – before I took a class. It’s true that one can modify the movements to make it as gentle as one likes and that’s a great attraction for some but that doesn’t preclude another from getting a workout that is plenty challenging.

W.A. is fun too. I always enjoyed playing around in the water as a kid and these classes are purposeful playing. The purpose is to move/work every muscle in the body. The medium of the water provides relatively light but ever-present resistance. It also allows for a greater range of motion than on land and, of course, it’s all low impact so it’s easy on the joints.

In today’s class, Anna introduces a kickboxing sequence, which I hadn’t done before and which I enjoyed. We do side kicks, front kicks and back kicks – all of which would give me back trouble on land but in the water - no problem. She also has us do punching both straight ahead and upper cuts. It’s fun to hear the water roil as my manly fists of steel rip through the water at lightening speed – reminding me of a famed pugilist of yore who claimed (as a joke it turned out) that he trained for fights by running and punching in a pool. A Life photographer took an iconic image of this boxer “training” in a pool:

We do so many other exercises in an hour-long class that it would be pointless to name them all. Anna is a first-rate instructor and uses her wit and personality to keep us entertained while she puts us through the fast paced workout. This is my third class from her and each one has been significantly different from the one before. She tells us this morning that she’s getting ready to go to the International Aquatics Fitness Conference in Orlando, FL next week to learn even more ways to skin this cat. She is truly passionate about teaching water aerobics and it shows.

It’s a smallish group in the water today – members may be confused about the pool closing, which begins tomorrow (we’re having some needed repairs done and have to drain the pool to do them). Anyway, only six show up today. The $25 gift certificate goes to Melba Suskie.

Class #83 "Stretch" Thursday 8 a.m. (Victoria)

2010-04-15T12:32:00.001-07:00

Victoria’s pre-Pilates class on Tuesday and Thursday is perhaps the most relaxing offering on our entire schedule (it competes only with Beverly’s Yoga/Stretch for that distinction). Ms.V has devised a 40-minute routine that celebrates an economy of movement. Everything has been pared down – even the class name – to just the essentials.

In today’s class, Victoria starts us out lying on our backs with our feet up the mirrored walls. In yoga, “legs up the wall” pose (see below) is considered to be the simplest form of inversion and is said to offer benefits such as: relieving tired legs, gently stretching the hamstrings, torso and neck, reducing strain on the low back and calming the mind. I don’t know about all that but it sure does feel good. This is also a pose that can easily be practiced at home or almost anywhere (I don’t recommend a crowded subway, however).

Legs Up The Wall Pose

My mind was so relaxed after this first pose that I scarcely remember what we did after that. I’m pretty sure we stretched some more. There was a strap involved, it was around my foot and I was using it to gently pull my leg toward me, yeah that was nice too. I think we did some side bending and maybe even brought our feet together in a cobbler’s pose. The lights were low you see, her voice so soft and soothing – next thing you know she’s telling us it’s time to go. Waah! Can’t I stay and s-t-r-e-t-c-h all day?

Victoria High

The room was full of fellow stretchers – though empty in the middle - cause we were all against the wall. I’ll guess that there were 18 but the whole thing is kinda hazy – maybe I only dreamed that I went to this class, hmmmm.

The thing is, I have some filled out entry forms and someone, Victoria, in my dream, picked a winner – Shirly Smith it was. If this class didn’t already make her day perhaps the $25 gift certificate will.

Class #82 Water Aerobics 9:00 a.m. (Mary W.)

2010-04-14T15:58:00.001-07:00

After the early morning sweat-fest with Kris Mougeot, I head to the pool for a refreshing class of water aerobics. Since I’ve got a few actively aching muscles, I’m hoping that the workout in water will be somewhat restorative.

I’m coming to be an old hand at water aerobics now and I recognize a lot of the regulars and they recognize me. It is an inveterately social and friendly group and all it takes to fit in is a bathing suit and a willingness to get wet. As I slide into the water I immediately complain about how cold it is and that cements the bond between us. (There is an ongoing debate between group water exercisers and lap swimmers that has gone on since the Neanderthals first built swimming pools. Lap swimmers prefer the water to be cooler – say 80-81º, whereas the aerobics crowd would like it to be warmer – more like 85-86º. The Club has compromised at exactly 83.5º. for about the past five years. Today, I score points by declaring Kennedy-like “Ich bin ein aerobicizer”. Still, there’s no way we’re changing that %$*# temperature.)

The class is larger than usual today because the kindred spirits from the Racquet Club’s group ex program have joined us. (The pool heater at the LRRC is on the blink and so we are “pooling” our resources. The favor will be returned starting Friday because the LRAC pool is going to be closed for about five days to make some needed repairs.) Everyone knows the teacher, Mary Wholleb, because she teaches classes at each club.

Mary Wohlleb

I’ve been to six of the eight water aerobics classes now and it’s amazing to me how the teachers can keep finding variations on the theme. Mary has her own style and a seemingly bottomless pit of exercises to work the body by using the resistance of the water. The hardest one for me is probably also the most basic – treading in place with my hands out of the water. We used to do that for entire games of water polo back in the day but now I see how hard it is if one isn’t acclimated to it. Each time, Mary calls ‘time’ I am relieved to rest my feet on the bottom.

At one point during class someone steps on a pebble that’s found it’s way into the pool. Sharp objects on the pool bottom are about as welcome as a jellyfish. Mary and I head over to find the offending stone but it’s smallish and can’t quite be grabbed with the toes. Eventually, I have to go all Lloyd Bridges to find the little feller. It takes me four or five dives to snare it but finally I do. The appreciative class gives me a floating ovation for the effort. Ah, it’s nice to be needed.

We end up class by using the infamous aqua “noodle”. Mary has a lot of inventive ways to incorporate this device into the practice and it’s fun to see the creativity. I keep waiting for her to let us play ‘whack a mole’ with the noodles but it never happens. Next time.

Aqua Noodles

There are about 16 in class today and one of the Racquet Club members, Ileene Watkins wins the $25 gift certificate.

Class #81 CardioSculpt Wednesday 5:45 a.m. (Kris)

2010-04-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

This class is my penultimate stop on the Kris Mougeot hit parade (5 down, 1 to go). I know that any class with the words Cardio and Sculpt in the title is going to be hard and, any class Kris Mougeot teaches is guaranteed to be challenging so – uh oh.

Sure enough when the clock ticks over to five four five we start doing squats to a pulsating aerobics beat – at six four five we begin our 4-minute cool down. In between, as Kris put it – “if we’re not doing cardio, we’ll be sculpting”. Often we’re doing both.

It takes about ten minutes for my knees and low back to adjust to this early morning work. I completed most of the pre-dawn schedule in the first two weeks of the quest and have been happily sleeping past 6 a.m. since then. Today the body is protesting this change of routine by refusing to loosen up until it’s good and ready. In the meantime – the beat goes on.

After about ten minutes of cardio work to get things started, Kris switches us over to a weighted bar for sculpting the upper arms and back. The trouble is, my rear deltoids are still sore (see pic below) from baby Mougeot’s (Jessica) kickboxing workout on Monday night. In that class, we used hand-weights to punch with for a while and I chose some a bit too heavy – now I’m paying for it. Even with ‘wimp’ level weights this morning I can barely do the shoulder raises.

Rear delts (in blue)

The good news in this class is that if you really hate one part – wait a minute cause we’ll soon move on to something different. Back and forth we go between hard cardio – mostly using a step with four risers (higher than usual for me) and sculpting with hand-weights and a weighted bar. Not to mention the pushups and ab work that Kris loves to heap on toward the end of class.

Kris has this interesting way of counting, I notice, when we’re doing our pushups. “Eight more she’ll say” and like good soldiers we do eight pushups – “four more” she’ll say (mind you, we didn’t rest after completing the first eight). Wait a minute, I’m thinking, that’s twelve – dude! By the time, I’ve had that thought though we’re half way through the next fake set of “eight” and so it goes at Camp Mougeot.

Kris sculpting some (lazy) carrots

The truth is I like these classes that combine cardio and sculpt because of all the variety. It’s sort of a sneaky way to get in the weight workout because of the distraction of changing exercises every few minutes.

There’s another distraction too – that of coordinating the foot and arm movements while using the steps. I have that problem in every step class but this isn’t a step class. We aren’t doing particularly complicated moves – just lots of quick ones. In this class, the arms are an integral part of the overall exercise and need to be done (or at least attempted). As I stumble and bumble around I can only laugh at my klutziness – gee whiz, I think, I’m supposed to be ‘athletic’.

I’m impressed at the size of the crowd that shows up so early in the morning for this kind of punishment. It’s busy enough that twice near the beginning of class, Kris has us scootch closer together to make room for latecomers. At 6:30 about seven class members peal off so they can get to work on time and Kris says “bye six thirty people”. I’m tempted to leave with them but I can’t think of any good excuse that would justify my early departure.

According to my FT 40 Polar heart rate gizmo I burn 426 calories in class this morning. My average heart rate is 107 and my max rate is 130. It also tells me that I’m in the “fat burning” zone for 43 of the 59-minute class…what this means I really couldn’t tell you but it sounds pretty good!

At the beginning of class there are around 22 people in the room – all women except for me and one other guy (Bynum Matthews). The lucky $25 gift certificate winner is Penny Olinghouse.

Okay, I’m off to grab breakfast so I can refuel before Mary Wohlleb’s 9 a.m. water aerobics class.

Class #79/80 Step/Core Crunch Tuesday 8:30 a.m. (Lisa C.)

2010-04-13T16:27:00.001-07:00

This is my second run-through of the wonderful anomaly on our schedule where we offer two classes for the “price” of one (see blogs 18/19 for the first go-round). On Tuesday/Thursday mornings we have an hour-long Step class followed by a 15-minute class called Core Crunch. Some people use the Core Crunch as a warm up for the Sculpt class that follows and some as an add-on to the Step class, which precedes it. The point is that in an hour and 15 minutes I get to count two classes toward my goal of 110 and this is good news for me.

The Step class is actually listed as “Step Basic”, which means that the choreography is easier to grasp than, say, Ronnie Stone’s class. The thing is most of the students here today are veteran steppers so the teacher, Lisa Cooper can challenge them with more difficult steps. By the way, I’m not including myself as a veteran – with six Step classes under my belt, I’m still a stone cold rookie. Still, I can follow along with about 80% of what Lisa’s doing.

Lisa Cooper

I should correct my 80% number by admitting that’s only for the leg portion of the show. There are accompanying arm movements for all Step routines and I only get maybe 40% of those. On many occasions I don’t even attempt the arms because they only make me lose track of what my feet are supposed to be doing. As far as I’m concerned, mastering the arm pattern while doing, say, an “L” step is akin to rubbing the belly while patting the head – it probably can be done – just not necessarily by me.

Step is a good hard workout and it’s wearing me out today. There are quite a few moves that are semi-high impact – where we jump hard but land relatively softly on the raised platform. In that way, it’s a good way to get in jump training without the pounding on the joints that normally would occur. In the 50 minutes between start and stretching I burn 400 calories with an average heart rate of 113 and a max rate of 135.

In Core Crunch we use the Swiss Balls to do crunches, criss-crosses (obliques) and lower abs by doing a jackknife. (See pic below). Lisa also has us do a long hard series of plank, elbow plank and side plank with no rest between any of it. At the end, my core has indeed been crunched and I’m ready for some R & R.

Lower Ab work (jackknife)

There are about 20 in the Step class and with some turnover around 18 for the Core Crunch. It’s mostly women in each class but there are at least 3 guys. The $25 gift certificate goes to Tory Young.

That’s 80 down and 30 to go. If you’re bored or can’t sleep tomorrow come join me at 5:45 a.m. to do CardioSculpt with Kris Mougeot and friends.

Class #78 Kickboxing Monday 6:35 (Jessica)

2010-04-13T10:31:00.000-07:00

Tonight’s kickboxing class with Jessica is one I’ve put off for awhile, waiting until my back was up to the challenge. By resting yesterday and having a long, good session with Robynn Zinser (my chiropractor) this morning – I’m ready to have a go at it.

Before class begins we put on our boxing glove wraps – a new experience for me. Jessica shows me how to do it so that each knuckle is protected – while I idly wonder just what we plan to be hitting with these gloves. It’s fun to pretend to be a boxer for a moment – especially since I’m pretty sure no one’s going to be hitting back.

The class is non-stop activity – mostly boxing moves but also some kicking. The entire time we’re supposed to be up on our toes bouncing back and forth while we load up for jabs, crosses, hooks and uppercuts.

There’s a definite coordination that’s required for throwing a punch with any force or timing, which becomes apparent within seconds of my first jab. The combination punches are even more complicated and most of the times it feels like I’m just flailing my arms out there. It’s beautiful to watch the coordination of a real boxer – their balance and transfer of weight so that the power is delivered with the whole body rather than just the arms. It’s all much harder to do than it looks.

In part of the class we grab hand weights and use those to punch with. I have mistakenly gotten six pound weights, which are too heavy for this exercise and I realize I’m going to feel this tomorrow. Still, I feel pretty good tonight and do my best to keep up.

After the weights, we don our big red boxing gloves and go back to throwing combinations with a few kicks sprinkled in the mix. Jessica then comes around to class members one by one and has us punch the boxing pads that she wears on each hand. This exercise requires coordination too but it’s pretty fun to do and also exhausting.

After about 40 minutes of floating like a butterball and stinging like a beet, we lose the gloves and go to calisthenics. Jessica has set up benches for us to do dips on until our triceps are screaming. Then we do pushups galore before ending with a killer ab series.

The entire workout is tough and especially taxing on the arms. In class I burn 420 calories, maintain an average heart rate of 110 (it goes down a lot during calisthenics) with a max of 131. In general it’s harder to get the heart rate as high using mostly arm movements but all of the bouncing around keeps the pulse at a nice steady plateau in the 120’s.

Our coordinated and super fit teacher is Jessica Mougeot. She is the stepdaughter of the queen of early morning group ex – Kris Mougeot. As Kris proudly pointed out to me one day – on Monday’s you can start your day getting your rear end kicked by one Mougeot (Kris teaches kickboxing at 5:45 a.m.) and end your day getting it kicked by another Mougeot. Fun, fun, fun!

The kicking Mougeots (Jessica/Kris)

Jessica, encouraged by Kris and others got certified to teach kickboxing through the International Sports Conditioning Association (ISCA) several years ago and has been teaching at the LRAC for about 15 months. In her day job, Jessica works at the Cancer Institute at UAMS helping run cancer clinical trials. Her hobbies include hiking, traveling, kickboxing, laughing, hanging out with friends and listening to live music.

Jessica Mougeot

Jessica’s classes (Mon./Wed.) have been building an audience and continue to grow and it's easy for me to see why - the class is both fun and a tough workout. Tonight in class there are about 20 – mostly women along with me and one other fellow.

The $25 gift certificate goes to Whitney Turk.

I’m going to go rest up tonight and hit Step and Core Crunch in the morning…see you then.

Class #77 Cycling Monday Noon (Carla)

2010-04-12T15:59:00.001-07:00

Ironically, one of the things I’ve had to give up during the ‘quest’ is attendance at my “regular” group exercise classes – like this one. I’ve been a regular in Carla’s Monday/Wednesday noon class for about 5 years and I’ve missed seeing everyone for the past 7 weeks. So, today is something of a homecoming for me and it’s nice to see all the friendly faces. They like seeing me too – especially since I’m giving away a $25 gift certificate at the end.

Seriously, this feeling of coming home is one of my favorite aspects of group exercise. Since there are regulars in every class – they become acquainted with each other over time and inevitably friendships are formed. Some classes are more social than others. For me, bike classes are high on the social scale because everyone can easily see and interact with each other. Of course there are limitations to these interactions.

Not the least of which is Carla, who only tolerates a smattering of chatter before she gives us ‘the look’. As I’ve mentioned before, Carla attracts a big following and one reason for that is her, ahem, enthusiastic encouragement. Carla is not averse to yelling at us (lovingly of course) if/when she thinks we’re loafing. She might say something like – “I can SEE you’re legs pedaling and I KNOW you aren’t going fast enough” – the tone in her voice somewhere between disgust and exasperation. The thing is Carla would never cut corners and she finds it hard to stomach when we (I’m speaking mostly of the long-time regulars here) give less than our best effort. So, yes, you can socialize (a little) in Carla’s class but do so at your own risk.

Another reason I like Carla’s class is she tends to prefer “mashing” (I think that’s the term) where we use a bigger gear and lower pace (RPM’s) – basically this simulates hill climbs. For some reason, this seems to fit my body or temperament more than sprinting. We always do some sprinting but usually there’s a long climb out of the saddle and a long climb in the saddle and that’s what we do today.

Carla training a client

I’ve got my heart rate monitor and watch on today and I’m curious to see how the bike and watch will compare with each other. The bike I’m on today is not my ‘usual’ one and its gearing seems a little harder – I feel like I’m working quite hard but my average watts are only 133, a tad low for me. The measure that doesn’t lie though is the average heart rate – on the bike’s monitor it reads 136 while my watch says 135. Either way it’s around 82% of my “max” heart rate and that’s not bad as an average (my high heart rate in class is 150). On total calories burned, the bike tells me 367 while the watch reads 470. I think the difference is that the watch includes “basal metabolism” (the calories I burn at rest) and the bike is counts only “extra” calories – those burned up by the work in the training session. Does that make sense?

As usual, it’s a big class with about 20 in the peleton today. There are more women than men but not much. In a feat worthy of Ripley’s – Kathy Bauman called her shot today. She was the last person to turn in her entry slip and when she did she said with surprising conviction “I know I’m going to win”. Sure enough, Carla drew a name and it was indeed Kathy Bauman. Premonition, psychic powers, blind luck?? Who knows but she's the $25 gift card winner!

Class #76 Yoga Stretch Sunday 2 p.m. (Beverly)

2010-04-12T09:20:00.000-07:00

I’ve taken a lot of hard classes over the past week and frankly I’m pretty tired. It’s important, I think, to slip in a quasi-rest day whenever possible. Looking at the schedule of remaining classes (34) and days in which to complete them (19) – I won’t be getting much rest from here on out (the quest ends on April 30). So, for today, I’m doing Beverly’s luscious Yoga Stretch class.

Beverly teaches this same class three times a week and today completes the set for me. As I’ve mentioned in earlier blogs – this is ‘restorative’ yoga, which emphasizes stretching and relaxation over power and balance (all aspects of a yoga practice). It’s designed to be a pleasant experience and that’s just what I need/want.

Beverly Lindberg

Apparently, I’m not alone because there are nearly 20 in class, which is even more impressive given the fact that it’s an absolutely gorgeous day outside. I’m glad to see this kind of offering find its place because I believe that a well-rounded fitness regimen needs both strenuous effort and purposeful relaxation.

The class does include some powerful asanas in it such as; downward dog, plank, warrior I and II, triangle and gate pose but we don’t hold any of them for extended amounts of time. The work that is done just makes the ultimate pose of shavasana that much sweeter.

Beverly lets us luxuriate a little longer than usual in corpse pose (shavasana) and her soft voice coaxes us to relax, relax, relax. I’m getting sleepy just typing this.

The $25 gift certificate winner for this class goes to Becky Webb.

Class #75 Zumba Saturday 10:30 a.m. (Bonnie)

2010-04-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

I’ve got thirty minutes after the end of Water Aerobics to make my way down to the Zumba class. With the extra time I decide to hang out in the whirlpool for a few minutes to warm up my body and relax my muscles. It feels great but I wonder what all this time in the pool/whirlpool will do to my coordination once I hit the dance floor.

My budding junior tennis career ended many years ago, at age 14, after being unable to make the adjustment from pool to tennis court one day. I was entered in a tournament at Walker Tennis Center and for some reason decided it would be okay if I attended swim practice before my first round match. I arrogantly assumed I would win my match since I was playing a kid who was 2 years younger than I. Not surprisingly, the swim workout left my legs rubbery and uncooperative. My opponent took advantage of my wobbly play and easily beat me. After that match I decided I couldn’t both swim and play tennis competitively so I gave up tennis (for about 15 years anyway) to concentrate on swimming.

There’s less at stake this morning – since even under the best of circumstances my dancing is wobbly. It’s even possible that rubbery legs will help overcome my customary Al Gore stiffness and turn me in to a loose limbed Bo Jangles - but I wouldn't bet on it.

Bonnie’s class is really a lot of fun for me. Her steps aren’t too complicated and she likes to focus on the fitness aspect of the movements. In fact, for any guys out there who are interested in trying Zumba but maybe a little nervous about the whole thing – this is the class to take the plunge.

Bonnie attracts a large and enthusiastic crowd this morning. I would guess there are about 30 in the room – all women but for me – ranging in age from 8 to about 70. This multi-generational aspect makes me happy and the class itself is joyful. At one point, Bonnie invites the 8 year old to come up front and dance with her and she happily complies. The 8 year old, I notice with some chagrin, learns the steps with ease.

Bonnie and Zumba whiz Marissa Williamson

I’m wearing my heart monitor today for the first time in a Zumba class. I keep glancing down at my watch to check my pulse and a neighbor in class assumes out loud that I must be counting the minutes till class ends. "Not guilty", I protest - at least not this time.

At the end of class I've burned almost 400 calories. My average pulse rate is 118 with a max heart rate of 144. Not quite as high as a typical bike class but still pretty good, I think.

This makes my 11th class of the week so far and I'm pretty tired. I plan to take Beverly's Yoga Stretch on Sunday to restore my energy as I head into the home stretch of this marathon.

Today's $25 gift certificate winner is Christina Peace.

Class #74 Water Aerobics Saturday 9 a.m. (Anna)

2010-04-10T15:20:00.001-07:00

It’s a beautiful spring Saturday in the ‘Rock’ and I’ve had a full day. I started off this morning with a water aerobics class then went to a Zumba class then dashed over to the St. Vincent’s Professional Tennis tournament at PVCC to watch the semi-finals singles matches.

The tournament is really cool and this year marks its 28^th anniversary in Little Rock. That makes it the longest running satellite professional tennis tournament in the country. To celebrate that fact, the president of the USTA (Lucy Garvin) is in town – it’s a big deal to have her come here. The tournament is also great because it raises money for New Outlook a women’s cancer recovery program under the auspices of St. Vincent's Health System.

In the semi’s two Australian guys are playing two Americans. The Aussies end up winning both matches. Apparently the two ‘mates’ left standing are best friends and doubles partners – they are in the finals of the doubles too. I especially liked John Millman, the young man from Brisbane who ousted the number one seed (Lester Cook) today. Millman and Cook have world rankings in the 200’s, which means they are right on the verge of breaking through to the big time. The finals start at 1 p.m. tomorrow Sunday April 11) at Pleasant Valley Country Club – the admission is free, it’s great tennis, check it out (I’ll have to miss the finals because I’ll be taking a class – I know that's a shocker).

Sorry, I got off the subject a bit. My first class this morning was in the pool doing water aerobics. As soon as I walked in the bubble, Anna told me we’d be doing a water Zumba class. Since I plan to go from water aerobics to (land) Zumba, I guess this news is apropos.

Anna Swallow, our instructor, is a complete kick in the pants. She is super high energy and loads of fun. She likes to teach mostly from the pool deck where we can easily see her. Since this class is water zumba she’s doing salsa dancing the whole time and she’s a good at it too. Fortunately most of my ‘moves’ are safely hidden beneath the water.

Anna banana from Montana

The only difficulty with teaching from the deck is when Anna wants us to do something where our feet aren’t supposed to touch the bottom. “I can’t levitate”, she explains when we ask why she’s not showing us the EXACT move she wants us to make. Actually I think she CAN levitate and is holding out on us.

As in previous water aerobics classes I get a challenging workout and I suspect I’ll be a little weary for my next class. There are about 12 in class today – all women except for me. I should explain too, that in water aerobics for some reason (I haven’t asked) there’s often a pod of regulars who drift off to the deep end and do their own thing. They are still part of the class in the same way that Hawaii is part of the United States (only easier to get to).

The $25 gift certificate winner is Nancy Greer-Williams.

Class #73 Cycling Friday 8:45 a.m. (Lisa D.)

2010-04-09T14:14:00.001-07:00

This is my 19^th bike class so far on the quest but still there were several ‘firsts’ today. For instance, it was the first bike class that went longer than an hour (75 minutes), it was the first with no lights on at all in the room (apparently what the class likes) and it was the first to have three gift certificate winners – I’ll explain in a moment.

All of these firsts are courtesy of this morning’s teacher, Lisa Duke. Lisa has a smallish frame enveloped by a sheath of sinewy muscles, the whole package powered by a Porsche engine and jet fuel. To complete the perfect storm, Lisa hasn’t worked out in a week and she is ready to GO!

Fortunately for me, regular blog follower, Bryan Davis, who often takes this class has warned me that sometimes Lisa extends class on Friday mornings (there’s no class in the studio immediately following her class). For that reason, I’m mentally prepared when she asks the class if they “want to go longer” today. Naturally I don’t vote and since the only feedback is “sure” or “why not” she tells us we’ll be finished by 10 a.m. while giving her blessing to any in class who needs to leave early.

Since I know this is going to be my only class of the day – I’m fine with the extended session and look forward to seeing how my energy holds up. I’ve also got my new Polar watch to provide feedback and keep me company.

Lisa gives a fun class with plenty of work and lots of variety. For instance, we do sprints with a partner (a neighboring rider who’s name we learn and use) - where we alternate riding all out while our partner cheers and recovers. On another drill, Lisa plays the song Beat It by Michael Jackson and instructs us to raise our gear each time he says the words ‘beat it’, which is a LOT (fortunately she also lets us take some gears off at times – thank goodness) anyway it’s another fun wrinkle. Along the way we do plenty of climbs, sprints, jumps and interval training – no worries, there’s plenty of time to get it all in.

Lisa Duke with family

For the last 15 minutes (all overtime compared to a normal bike class) we do an “endurance” ride. This is in a way an extended cool down where our heart rate is a little bit lower but still elevated – for me it stays in the 120’s.

The class begins with about 12 riders but one by one folks have to leave and at the end there are just four of us left. Lisa wants everyone remaining to achieve the marathon distance of 26.2 miles on our Keiser bike readout. At about 9:54 a.m. the final rider crosses that threshold as the rest of us cheer her on. I typically go about 17 miles in a class and today I’m it’s nearly 28. I also note that I’ve burned 673 calories and have maintained an average heart rate of 129 for an hour and nine minutes. It’s been a good workout.

It seems only fair to me that the three riders who stayed all the way to the end should each get a gift certificate – they’ve earned it. Those three are: Marilyn Meyer, Mary Shenker and Mitzi Miller. Good job everyone!

Class #72 Power Pump Thursday 5:30 p.m. (Bonnie)

2010-04-09T13:55:00.000-07:00

I’ve never been much of a weight lifter, which probably isn’t exactly a news flash for anyone checking out my slight physique. The most muscled I ever got was during my days as a competitive swimmer back in high school and college. Even then I was mostly skin and bones but you couldn’t help but have broad shoulders and a well-defined back from churning out all those laps.

Since my college days, there have been a few periods where I included a weight lifting regimen in my workouts but eventually I’d always move on to something more to my liking. I figure life was too short to do something that I just don’t care for – especially when there are so many great ways to exercise and stay (reasonably) strong.

This aversion to lifting weights explains why a class named Power Pump might not get me too excited. Unfortunately (for me) we’ve got seven on the weekly schedule and today’s class makes number five on the quest. I can say that IF I were going to get into weight lifting this is most likely the way I’d do it. This sort of misery is just so much more fun when shared with others.

Every teacher has a little different take on Power Pump. Bonnie’s version is a combination of using a bar loaded with weights, hand weights and exercises using one’s own body weight (i.e. push ups, planks, etc.). Where weight lifitng is concerned, variety is the spice of life for me.

Most of my other Power Pump classes have been with Kris Mougeot who has us do lots and lots of reps with relatively light weights. Bonnie on the other hand prefers to do fewer repetitions using heavier weight. Either way is fine as long as you know what’s coming. During set up for class one of the regulars clued me in on how much weight to use so I was prepared.

Bonnie, from what I’ve seen, has a strong following for all of her classes. She and the regulars engage in a playful banter throughout class that smacks of an easy familiarity. Like most teachers at the Club, Bonnie likes to challenge her class to push a little harder than they would on their own, which gives the regulars a chance to “complain” about class being hard. In reality it’s why they come but it’s fun to give the instructor a little grief along the way – Bonnie’s style, I notice, is to give that grief right back.

Bonnie in a serious moment

There are about 15 in class today – mostly women but a handful of guys too. The $25 gift certificate goes to Marti Rouby.

Class #71 Step Thursday 8:30 a.m. (Betsy)

2010-04-08T14:45:00.000-07:00

Now that I’ve completed 5 or 6 Step classes – they don’t worry as much as they did in the beginning. Even one out on the gym floor – like this class – isn’t too frightening. I know that Betsy will be tough but I can at least fake my way through a Step class now.

Betsy starts off the class with a nice gentle warm up and slowly builds the routine piece by piece. We do all of the moves separately before putting them together in ever growing chains of complexity. The way she methodically constructs the choreography gives me a much better shot at completing the final masterpiece. Not that I ever quite get it but I can’t blame it on Betsy’s teaching or cueing, which are excellent.

Actually, it’s pretty cool how the whole thing fits together at the end of class. I’m a little envious of my classmates – most of whom have got the whole thing nailed. I can sometimes go for ten or twelve moves before blowing up on some twirling leaping traverse of the step. Once I lose my place then it takes only a few deep breaths and a re-orientation before diving back in. No big deal, just not nearly as smooth as the dedicated stepophiles.

Along with the intricate choreography, Betsy also throws in some repetitive moves that aren’t hard to learn but which are designed to intensify the workout and jump the heart rate way up. These are usually some kind of quick paced squat or lunge followed by a strong jump from one side of the step to the other, over and over for a 60 second push. I hit my highest heart rate of the class in these pushes – about 143 bpm. (By the way, in an exciting development, I found a old Polar watch in my office this morning to go with my recently acquired (new and improved) heart rate monitor so now I can measure my heart rate in any class – yea!)

Steppin' with Betsy

At the end of class I check my numbers to see that my average heart rate is “only” 109 (this is a little low compared to my average of 133 in bike classes). I asked Betsy after class what hers was and she said about 130. The difference, I believe, has to do with Step class aptitude. There are plenty of times I have to slow down because I’m off the beat or completely lost. Once a comfort level has been achieved with the known universe of Step moves then the heart rate can be kept elevated the whole time – I imagine that’s the case for most of my classmates.

Classes like Step or Zumba give the brain a workout at the same time they exercise the body. Paying close attention to the movements and their sequencing requires an acute mental participation. It’s also the “fun” of these classes; in fact I’m sure that veteran students love the challenge of a new, never before seen move. Meanwhile, we rookies, just need to accept that there’s a learning curve to be scaled before Step nirvana can be realized.

There are about 20 in class this morning including several other guys – in fact, these fellows actually seem to know what they are doing, unlike me. The $25 gift certificate goes to Charlotte Payne.

Next up a Power Pump this afternoon with Bonnie.

Class #70 Zumba Wednesday 4:15 p.m. (Bonnie)

2010-04-07T18:35:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, about 30 years ago, my father and I were watching my little sister Anne ride a horse around a rink. We were in Germany on a family vacation and Anne was on a skittish horse she’d never ridden who wasn’t used to hearing commands in English. Anne was only 14 at the time but she was an accomplished rider. Nonetheless, the horse managed to throw her and to add insult to injury – kick her right in the face leaving a huge black eye. Naturally she was pretty shaken up and came over to my dad to be held and consoled. After a few minutes, when her tears had dried my father softly asked if she was ready to get back on that beast. Without hesitation Anne said “yes”. He said, that’s the answer he was looking for but no way was he letting her ride that horse again.

What does this have to do with a Zumba class at the Athletic Club? Not much, I admit but metaphorically I got kicked in the head at Zumba yesterday and today – I’m returning to the scene of the crime (mixing metaphors as I go).

Bonnie looks at me sympathetically as I come in the door and says how she might need to change what she was planning for class. In my best John Kerry I refuse the need of any help and tell her to ‘bring it on’. She shrugs and says “okay”.

Sweet Sweet Bonnie

Despite my macho posturing I think she still felt sorry for me and dumbed it down the best she could. She would graciously show the steps before each song, which gave me a fighting chance. Besides, these steps were mostly fairly simple (just faster than my big clod hoppers could handle). Of course, even when I’m doing the steps right I still don’t look anything like the real dancers. I’m just too stiff – I need a shot of cortisone (or tequila).

Anyway, I’m begging the inner brat to show up and ‘get down’ but the little sucker is playing hard to get. So, I stumble along the best I can and while far from perfect, I’m doing better than yesterday and I’m actually having fun.

The inner brat
(now this kid can dance!)

Bonnie incorporates a lot of fitness moves into her dances – we do squats, jumping jacks and lots of quick turns and dipsy doodles. The music is loud and pulsating and the room is full of women who are all whoopin’ and hollerin’ and having a great time. I’m pouring sweat and getting a great workout and the time’s going by quickly.

Lost in the big crowd and nearing the end of class I smile to myself thinking that I’ve “gotten back on that horse” and that Anne would be proud of me. Just then Bonnie signals for me to come see her – I feel certain that she’s got a question about the stereo or maybe she wants me to leave so they can really let loose. But no – she whispers that whenever any men come to her class she always brings them up front to do the last dance. Huh? “Have you ever had a man in this class before”, I ask incredulously. “Not really” she says with a smile.

There’s really no turning back. Ever the silver lining seeker, I think – at least this will make good copy for the blog. The steps are easy enough but the chorus has the words, shimmy, shake and dip – or something like that – where we stand in place and embody those commands. I will my body to somehow shimmy or shake and who knows what actually happens. Mercifully, I’m right in front of the stereo so at least I don’t have to see it. None too soon my dance in the front row ends. The women in the room give an approving roar (bless their hearts) and I slink back off to my corner. Another blackmail tape for God, I think – as if She needs one.

There must have been over 30 in this class. The $25 gift certificate winner is Samiya Razzaq.

Class #69 Cycling Wednesday 8:45 a.m.(Lisa C.)

2010-04-07T17:21:00.001-07:00

It’s been five days since my last group cycling class so I know it must be time for another. This will make bike class number 17 on the quest, with 7 more to go. Lisa Cooper will be our fearless leader today and I expect a tough go from her.

I’ve taken class from Lisa before a few times and my recollection is that she likes to spin fast whether seated or standing. Watching Lisa ride shoots down my favorite excuse for being unable to sustain high RPM’s while standing, which is, because I’m too tall. Hah! Lisa’s at least as tall as I am and with longer legs to boot. So, I guess I have to fall back on preference – I prefer to push higher gears at lower RPM’s – anyone buying that?

Today in class we do some sprinting but the most memorable sets are what are known as interval training. Interval training alternates unsustainably high effort (anaerobic) bursts with just enough rest to recover before repeating again. There are a number of studies that claim this is absolutely the best way to burn calories and increase aerobic capacity. According to these studies, there is a sustained calorie burn even after the exercise session is finished when interval training is done correctly.

I “enjoy” interval training but there is a delicate balance that needs to be maintained to get the most out of it. It’s critical to push really hard during the effort phase and just as important to have sufficient rest after each set to sufficiently recover – in order to push hard again. In class today, Lisa gets it just right so that I’m able to give a near maximum effort at the end of each push.

Lisa Cooper in retro gear

Thanks to the interval training and Lisa’s motivational teaching style, I end up with better than normal numbers. My average watts from beginning to end of class is 138 (usually it’s about 133) and my heart rate average is 134 – also slightly above normal.

Lisa is obviously a really good teacher – she knows all her students by name and they brag about her to me both before and after class. There are around ten in class this morning and I’m the sole cowboy. The gift certificate winner is Melissa Chance.

Next up, a shot at Zumba redemption in the 4:15 class with Bonnie.

Class #68 Pilates Tuesday 5:30 p.m. (Jackie)

2010-04-07T10:25:00.000-07:00

There are eight Pilates classes on our weekly schedule and tonight’s class makes my sixth one on the quest. What makes this class unique and interesting for me though is the teacher. I’ve known Jackie Roberts for about twenty years. I met her through her husband Tom who I’ve known since I was about 8 years old and who also happens to be my dentist. Tom was one of the “big kids” when I got started on the YMCA swim team in the early 60’s – he was also one of the best swimmers in the state. About 15 years ago, he asked me to introduce him when he was inducted into the Arkansas swimming Hall of Fame, which I was honored to do.

I’ve also known Jackie as a (good) tennis player and a tennis mom. She and Tom’s son, Matt, is one of the best tennis players ever from Arkansas. In fact, the past two years Matt was a player in the St. Vincent’s Professional Tennis tournament, which is held annually this time of year at Pleasant Valley Country Club. Matt even made it to the finals one year but decided to quit playing professionally last summer to accept a job coaching the Michigan State tennis team. Anyway, Jackie, who spent countless hours watching, transporting, feeding and cheering on Matt, wrote and got published a book about the trials, travails and rewards of raising a junior tennis star. That’s how Jackie is – when she gets in to something she goes all out.

Matt Roberts (St. Vincent's Pro Tournament - 2009)

Jackie told me that she first became interested in Pilates for it’s injury prevention potential. Jackie said that at the time she was suffering from a lot of nagging aches and pains as a result of playing competitive tennis. She discovered through Pilates that her body, while strong, was not flexible nor was her strength well balanced or integrated.

Therefore, Jackie became an early adopter of Pilates in Little Rock. In fact, she and her daughter were the very first students of Barbara Sarnataro when she began the Pilates program at the LRAC. Jackie fell in love with the practice and with Barbara’s teaching - becoming a regular in her classes for 8 years. Then one day, she was walking down the hall at the LRAC and Lisa Cooper approached her to say that the Club needed another Pilates teacher – would she consider getting certified? Jackie thought it over and decided to take this on as a new challenge and growth opportunity. She got certified in Austin under the Power Pilates system three years ago and has been teaching 3-5 times a week since then.

Tonight though, is my first time to experience ‘Jackie the teacher’. Not surprisingly, she comes across as totally competent and all business. Jackie, while slight of frame, is a strong woman in every sense of the word and she commands the class’s attention quite effortlessly. She is passionate about Pilates and wants her students to achieve the same benefits she has, to do that she knows – it has to be done correctly.

Jackie Roberts (and friends)

In tonight’s class Jackie has us use the elastic bands that I’ve only tried before in the Sculpt classes. The bands work really well for Pilates. By employing the inner actions (holding in the low abs, drawing together the legs, etc.) each exercise with the band becomes a mind/body effort. It also makes many of the exercises more difficult – leave it to Jackie to figure how to make the practice even harder but the truth is I really like the novelty and effect of using the bands.

As usual, the practice of Pilates relieves some stress in my low back and while strengthening my core muscles and hip flexors. The mixture of flexibility and strength work provides the kind of balanced workout that I enjoy.

There are about 15 in class tonight but only one other guy who happens to be Tom Roberts. I love it that he’s a regular in Jackie’s classes – talk about a supportive husband, not to mention, it’s good for him. I play tennis with Tom once a week and I know that the increased flexibility and core strength will help his game and who knows, maybe even his dentistry. I hope so because I have an appointment with him tomorrow.

The $25 gift certificate goes to Madison Derden.

Class #67 Zumba Tuesday noon (Brittney)

2010-04-06T13:41:00.000-07:00

Have you ever found yourself, perhaps in a dream, some place where you simply had no business being? If so, you may relate to my experience in today’s Zumba class. Even though it was my sixth Zumba class – for some reason I suffered an acute case of the dreaded sophomore slump today.

I had the thought about midway through class that God (as soon as She stopped guffawing) was going to file away the video of me doing Zumba today and should I ever exhibit excessive pride over any ‘accomplishment’ – She’d queue up the tape and bring me right back to Earth. I expect that won’t be necessary for a while as the vivid memory should do the trick.

On the bright side, I did find an even better place to stand in the room than the spot where I can’t see my reflection. That is, in the right back corner where it’s possible to mostly disappear behind the stack of bosu balls so that folks outside the room can’t easily see me. I’m afraid it’s a lost cause for those inside the studio – there’s no plausible way to hide from them.

I have learned that Zumba routines are repeated and “learned” by class regulars over time. This gave me momentary comfort until Brittney showed a brand new routine today and I couldn’t help but notice that most of the class picked up on it rather quickly whereas you-know-who was left to writhe like a worm on a hook (unfortunately that wasn’t a move she was showing).

I’m torn here between my goal of encouraging newcomers (especially guys in this context) to try out classes that they might not otherwise visit and the desire to honestly report my experience. There are, I realize, many men who are spectacular dancers (Michael Jackson, Fred Astaire and John Travolta spring to mind) and these fellows would have no trouble. There are perhaps even more male types though whom I suspect might be in the same predicament as I. To all of those guys I say – come on and give it a try you can’t possibly be any worse than I am and you just might have fun!

The weird part is that it is fun (kind of) – especially if you can get in touch with the inner toddler who couldn’t care less how many times he falls down because he’s fascinated with the idea of walking. That brat’s in there somewhere and I’m going to find him next time I take this class.

Brittney is a marvelous dancer and she has created some amazing choreography. I asked her after class how she comes up with the routines and she said that she and a friend (and fellow teacher) collaborate on putting moves together to music that they like. I told her I was impressed with her ability to devise these incredible dances.

Brittney Patty

It’s a sign of Brittney’s great diplomacy and supreme kindness that she actually found something to compliment me on at the end of class – saying I had a good sense of rhythm. This is exactly what anyone would want in a teacher – the ability to see potential where it seemingly doesn’t exist. Since I know that Brittney is an earnest (and very sweet) person I’m going to hold onto this praise and bring it – along with the fearless inner brat – to the next Zumba class.

There are about 12 in class today – all guys (not!). The $25 gift certificate goes to Amy Lazar.

This is my second class to take with Brittney. You can read more about her by going to the blog on class #15.