Gym Paralysis

Before I left for Baltimore the weekend before last, I downloaded a Tabata timer* to my iPad.  I figured that, worse comes to worst, I would be able to get a good workout in my hotel room. 

When I got to the hotel, though, I learned that it had a pretty sizable gym.  In addition to tennis courts and a pool, the gym had plenty of treadmills, ellipticals and stair climbers and lots of weight equipment.  I bounded out of bed on Sunday morning eager to check it out.

And then I got there.  And I didn't know what to do. 

As much as I workout, it's rare for me to just "go to the gym" without a specific class or plan in mind.  I lost a good few minutes gaping at the possibilities.  I bypassed the cardio machines thinking that if I really wanted to run, I'd brave the heat wave outside before hopping a treadmill.  I considered the weight machines, but they seemed so foreign.  I haven't used machines in ages.

Then this beauty caught my eye:

I had never seen a pink kettlebell before.  So cute!  Only, it was 5 lbs.  What do you do with one 5 lb kettlebell?  I moved on.

I ended up getting in a decent workout playing with the bodybars (to the right of the pretty pink kettlebell).  At CrossFit, we learn and practice lifts with hollow PVC pipes that don't weigh anything.  It can be a big jump from a PVC pipe to a barbell sometimes, so messing around with 10 and 12 lb body bars was kind of fun.  I practiced overhead squats and snatches.  Next, I used free weights to improv the Physique 57 arm sequence.  I finished off with some body weight exercises and, for good measure, ran a fast mile on the treadmill before calling it quits.

All in all, it was a pretty good workout once I just got going.

-Gym Belle-

*Tabata is a form of super intense interval training.  For four minutes, you go all out on an exercise (think squats or push-ups) for twenty seconds and then rest for ten seconds.  It's way harder than it sounds.  Learn more here.