Summer (Boot) Camp

Saturday mornings are tough.  It would be nice to sleep once in a while, or watch cartoons in bed, but there is always so much that I want to do.  New York Road Runners holds a lot of its races on Saturdays.  Weekend mornings are the only time that I can hit up some of my favorite Equinox classes.  CrossFit Metropolis runs its super intense Kryptonite Hour at 10am on Saturdays.  And, now that its summer, boot camps and outdoor classes abound. 

IntenSati in the ParkThis past weekend, I joined Jess of Fit Chick in the City for her Saturday morning boot camp in Central Park.  Though it was brutally hot, the park was full of activity, as always.  The Pride Race was done by the time I got there, but plenty of runners and bikers were out on the loop.  Not far from where we met for boot camp, another group was doing IntenSati.  I also saw ninjas practicing!  (Ok, maybe they weren't actual ninjas, but they were dressed head to toe in black and whatever they were doing looked intense.)

I was a little late to Jess's class (new cabbie - don't ask), and when I arrived the group was doing supersets.  I jumped in on the third round the first set which consisted of skipping up a hill, lunging across a bridge, running down a path, doing 20 park bench push-ups and running back.  After that, we did two more equally sweaty supersets before heading to a grassy spot for some tricep dips and planks.  Fit Chick Boot Camp tough and very fun.  If you're looking to shake up your summer workouts, check out her new session starting July 10. 

July 10 is also the day of the Splash and Dash 10K.  (Yay, Lasker Pool!)  Will I see you there?

-Gym Belle-

A Foreign Gym

When I was twenty, I spent two months in St. Petersburg. I lived with a 60 year old widow, Galya, and her 25 year old son, Andrei. Galya was an excellent cook. To this day, I have not tasted anything to rival her pizza. Nevertheless, knowledge of her standard ingredients literally gave me nightmares. I had never seen so much oil, cream and butter (often together). I couldn't not eat my host-mother's cooking, but I feared for my waistline.

It took me about a week to come up with a two-fold solution. First, I gave up public transportation. It was a nightmare to navigate anyway, and half the time it didn't run properly, so that wasn't much of a sacrifice. I walked everywhere, including to my internship and back. I probably walked for at least two hours a day.

Second, I decided to join a gym. In the years that followed, Russia would experience a western-style fitness boom, but, in 1999, my options were fairly limited. My host-mother took me to look at two gyms near our apartment. I quickly decided on the swanky new one. It was large and Equinox-esque. There were aerobics classes, saunas and a spa in addition to the weight rooms. I settled in quickly.  I was thrilled to discover that "step" was a universal language. I spent a lot of time on the treadmill. I used the abductor/adductor machines. It was familiar.

My St. Petersburg gym was quite pricey by Russian standards. At a time when the ruble really wasn't worth much (good opera tickets cost me about $3.00), the gym cost me around $60 a month. That was about what my gym back here cost me at the time (NH, not NY). This wasn't a gym for the average joe; it was a gym for the rich. My understanding was that money in St. Petersburg meant mafia. I can't vouch for the accuracy of my perception, but, at the time, I didn't doubt it. I decided that chilling in the sauna with mafia girlfriends was educational. They were very entertaining. Occasionally, I felt guilty for flaunting my relative wealth in front of my host-mother. For the most part, though, I remember feeling as though I didn't have a choice if I wanted to go to the gym.

The gym that I had ruled out right away was a single room with blue mats on the floor an a slight musty odor. There were barbells and free weights. There was a pull-up bar or two and not much else in terms of equipment. I didn't see any women when we visited. I don't think I even considered working out there. Had that been the only option, I probably would have scrapped the gym idea entirely. That place wasn't what I meant by a "gym."

All this came back to me on Saturday as I walked home from Crossfit Metropolis. Crossfit Metropolis is located two flights up above an auto mechanic shop. There are black rubber mats on the floor. It has barbells, kettle bells and medicine balls. There are pull-up bars. Saturday's workout involved shoulder presses, burpees and box jumps. There is a fan, but no AC. I wore shorts, and when we were done my legs were blackened from hitting the floor for the burpees. I was drenched from the exertion and the heat. I got some interesting looks as I walked home, past NYSC, past Equinox.

I made the right decision in St. Petersburg. I would have been out of place at the other gym, and I wouldn't have known what to do. Everything else was foreign during my time in Russia; I was entitled to take comfort in the familiarity of my American gym routine. Still, it's interesting that while I thought nothing of traveling to Russia alone to live with strangers, a grungy gym was too foreign to contemplate.

These days, I don't get to travel like I used to and routine abounds. I wouldn't go so far as to suggest that Crossfit Metropolis is foreign. Despite it's aesthetic and philosophies, it's filled with bankers. And it would be a stretch to say that exploring new gyms truly satisfies my wanderlust. Still, it wouldn't have occurred to my twenty-year-old self to set foot in Crossfit. So, what I can say is that I'm grateful to have local unchartered territory to explore, to recognize those opportunities when I see them, and to be in a place to do it.

-Gym Belle-

Self Magazine's Workout In The Park Day

The night before Self Magazine's Workout In The Park, I didn't have much hope.  I had been really excited for a fun day of trying different Crunch workouts in Central Park, but the weather forecast was terrible.  So, when my friend who was visiting from London insisted on one more glass of champagne, I figured I might as well; I'd be sleeping in anyway. 

Saturday morning, it really did pour.  Just as I was settling in to watch some rainy day cartoons, though, the sun came out.  It quickly turned into a hot, sunny day.  So, off to the park I went.

By the time I got there, the event was well underway and it was packed.  I had missed all the sign-ups for the Urban Rebounding classes, and the only yoga class left was a Breathwork Meditation class.  I signed up for that and then joined the crowd at the main stage area, which didn't require sign-ups. 

When I got there, a Masala Bhangra class was wrapping up.  Masala Bhangra combines a traditional form of Indian dance with Bollywood moves.  It looked really fun, and I was sorry I'd missed it.

I jumped in for Ab Attack, Cardio Tai Box and Retro-Robics.   It was crazy working out with that many other women.  Ab Attack was a good class, but I have to admit that I really didn't feel much in my abs.  Cardio Tai Box was awesome.  I love kickboxing classes, and the class made me very nostalgic for my Powerstrike days.  My favorite class, though, was Retro-Robics.

Retro-Robics was sheer cheese in the best possible way - like a Bat Mitzvah crammed into a twenty minute workout.  We did the running man, the cabbage patch, the electric slide, YMCA and a bunch of other old-school dances and steps.  The music was awesome.  (Get into the Groove, Maniac etc.)  Everyone got really into it.

After all the dancing, I was ready for Breathwork Meditation in the Quiet Zone.  During that class, we lay down on our backs on yoga mats, closed our eyes and breathed.  You were supposed to inhale deeply in your stomach, then in your chest and then exhale, and all of the breathing was supposed to be done through the mouth.  It sounds simple, but it actually took a decent amount of concentration, and at the end of it, I was pretty mellow.

Before I called it a day, I took a quick look at some of the sponsors' booths.  Asics had a tent where they had set up treadmills to evaluate people's gaits and recommend shoes.  Soy Joy and Silk were there providing snacks and drinks, and Maybelline was doing mini makeovers in its tent.  There were pretty long lines at a lot of the booths, but I did snag some Garnier samples and Livestrong bracelets on my way out. 

I wished I could have stayed longer, but it was time to head to midtown to pick up my number for Sunday's Mother's Day race.  There's always next year, though!

-Gym Belle-