A Little Friendly Advice?

Yesterday's New York Times article, No, The Treadmill Isn't Also a Shoe Buffer has generated a fair amount of buzz on the question of what gym personnel do when they see people who aren't quite getting it right. 

I have mixed feelings on feedback.  In a class setting, I like attention.  I gravitate towards the front row, I make eye contact with the instructors to encourage their correction and I try my best to take whatever advice is offered.  From what I've seen, many instructors triage their feedback.  In my mind, when a Physique 57 instructor passes me by without correcting my water ski form, it either means I've got it or I'm hopeless.  When someone takes the time to correct my form, it makes me feel like they believe I can get it right.  And, if I do something, I want to do it right.  So it's a good thing.

On the gym floor, however, I'm way more skeptical.  If a trainer approaches me to correct my form or talk about my workout, I tend to assume that a) they're trying to sell me sessions, b) they're hitting on me or c) all of the above.  The idea of a gym where trainers roam around helping people out a bit is really appealing in theory.  I should want to be corrected.  For free, no less.  In practice, however, unsolicited advice skeeves me out and I'm not really sure I'm open to it. 

What do you think?

Get Your Ommm On

Bent out of shape about the whole summer ending thing?  Don't be.  September is Yoga Month and there are lots of fun ways to celebrate.

Head to yogamonth.org to get a pass for a free week at a yoga studio you've never been to before.  There are lots of participating.

There are also tons of special events around the city.  Pure Yoga is hosting a day of free classes on the 12th.  On the 20th, Boomerang Yoga is having a Sun Salute-a-Thon at the Equinox in Soho to raise money for charity.

Now, as many of you know, yoga's not my thing.  Even savasana hurts me.  In honor of Yoga Month, however, I will be making a concerted effort to work more asanas into my routine.  I've already got my free pass printed out and I'm making my schedule.  Will I really stick to it this time?  I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-

Run Club

Lululemon's Run Club started up a few weeks ago, but yesterday was the first day I got to check it out. 

The Run Club meets every Wednesday night and is free and open to anyone who wants to run.  No commitment necessary.  The East Side and West Side groups meet up at their respective Lululemon stores (where you can change and store your stuff) at 6:30, and then they meet at 7pm in Central Park on the transverse on 72nd Steet.  I was running late from work, so I went straight to the transverse. 

Each week's workout is different.  The plan gets emailed out, so if you miss one and want to make it up on your own, it's easy to do.  Yesterday's workout was time trials.  The plan is to do trials every once in a while so that we can mark our improvement.  We ran the lower loop, which is 1.7 miles.  The first time around was a warm-up, and then we did the trials to see how fast we could do it.  We split into two groups based on whether you were going to do one lap for the trial or two.  I joined the two lap group for the warm up, but when my right calf started spasming, I decided to just do one lap on the trial.

It was a pretty big group, more people than I expected.  I'm guessing most were in their twenties or thirties, a few more women than men.  There was a huge range in terms of ability and experience.  Some people were really just getting started and others were regular marathoners.  I spoke to some people who were in training for upcoming races, but it seemed like a good number of people were just there to run.  I felt totally comfortable and was very excited to say that, while I'm not in training yet, I've signed up for my first half!  The coaches were energetic and friendly, and people were really supportive of each other.

So far, I'm giving the Run Club two thumbs up.  I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-