New Layout!

Hi Everyone - sorry for being MIA lately.  I have so much to catch you up on.  I've just recently returned from a playcation in Switzerland full of hiking, kayaking, horseback riding, ice skating and so much more.  This past weekend, I got to check out Summer Streets and the pool in Central Park.  And just this afternoon I signed up for my first half marathon - the Disney Princess one in March!

I promise to fill you in on all of that soon.  In the meantime, I've been working on a new layout for the site to incorporate all of your fabulous feedback.  I'll be rolling out some new sections in the coming months.  Check out Gym Belle's Playground to check out some of the places I frequent around the city.  Let me know what you think!

-Gym Belle-

A Switzerland pic to tide you over

Remember Cat's Cradle?

If you enjoyed cat's cradle as a kid so much that you wished you could play a life sized game, you may want to check out New York Trapeze School. The trapeze school, perhaps most famous for its flying trapeze classes, offers a variety of aerial arts classes at its two Manhattan locations. For my first time, I opted for a static trapeze class.

The static trapeze is basically a single monkey bar suspended from two ropes. Truth be told, if I didn't have brunch plans that day, I might have tried the silk ropes class that's offered a bit later instead, but I've had trapeze on the brain lately and was itching to try something - and not flying. (One day, yes. Not this time, though.) Static trapeze sounded cool.

When I arrived, there was a flying trapeze class getting started. As I watched that, I signed easily one of the most intense waivers I've encountered. No surprise there.

The static class had four participants: one very talented woman, two too young kids (like 4 and 6 or something rediculous) and me. There was one trapeze, so we all took turns. Our instructor had us each warm up by doing pull ups and then hanging from the bar to do sit ups. Then she taught us how to get into various positions according to our ability.

As wierd as my cats' cradle metaphor may strike you, that's really what it felt like. Other than the first pose I tried, the gazelle, I've forgotten the names of the moves, but they each involved tangling myself in the ropes. If this sounds painful, it's because it kind of is. Holding the ropes where I wanted them took a lot of strength. Also, rope burn is the name of the game. At one point, I got into a position that involved hanging upside-down, wrapping my legs around the ropes so they were around my feet and then straightening so I was hanging from my feet. I yelped (the damage done by the previous night's stilettos exacerbated the burn), but I did it.

The class was more intense than I had expected. The instructor spotted us as much as we needed, but she didn't go easy on us. And, because we were sharing the apparatus, when it was your turn, you just had to go for it. I liked that. I enjoyed the class in general, pain aside. I spend a of time building strength largely for strength's sake. In trapeze class, I got to use that strength and really put it to the test. I tried way more than I thought I would the first time around and I'm curious to try it again.

I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-

I Like to Move It Move It

Cue the dancing lemurs!

Would I work out almost every day if it made me fat? Um, no. But this week's New York Times article this week about why New Yorkers are skinny has had me itching to comment. The author makes several valid points, but lest anyone think that the only reason we New Yorkers exercise is to look hot in our designer duds, I submit the following:

Like some of the interviewees, whose honesty I applaud, of course I work out to keep away unwanted pounds. And of course I work out so that I can eat without agonizing over every calorie. But there's so much more to it than that.

I work out because it makes me feel good. I have more energy and more happy endorphins flowing on the days I work out.

I work out because I enjoy challenging myself and seeing what my body is capable of. Strength training in particular is incredibly gratifying. The more you do it, the more you can do. That's just cool.

I work out because awesome people work out. I am regularly impressed and inspired by those sweating alongside me in classes around the city, and I've made great friends (particularly in kickboxing classes for whatever reason).

Adult life does not come with recess, so working out gives me an excuse to put some play in my day. Yesterday, for example, I took a surf lesson with the Adventure Society (more on that later). This morning, I'll be taking a static trapeze class at the Trapeze School. Wednesday, work permitting, I'll be checking out Lululemon's new running club which is open to anyone who wants to go run in Central Park. These things are fun.

The author sees people of various physiques working out in Central Park and comments on New Yorkers' "willingness to exercise in public" as though exercise were some kind necessary evil that we endure because we prize physical appearance and skinniness above all else. Maybe I'm crazy, but it looks to me like those people are having fun, even those who, as the author puts it, "jiggle."

Whatever your primary motivation is for working out, I sincerely hope you're enjoying it, too. And if you haven't yet found your niche or the activity or class that gets you psyched, don't stop looking. Life's too short to spend on a treadmill (unless, of course, that floats your boat). I'll be out there experimenting, and I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-