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I'm Totally Faking It

~ Pretending to be a functioning wife, mother, friend and adult.

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Tag Archives: gym

WTF Wednesday: Swearing and Screaming Typically Means Something Is Wrong

25 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by ericakatherine in WTF Wednesday

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

#giveadamnabouteachother, dislocation, gym, help, humanity, kneecap, lunge, strangers, stretching, toddlers

Today is a day I would either like to forget happened, or get a re-do on. Typically, the morning routine includes making breakfast, getting dressed and going to the gym. It also always includes the toddler. Recently, the toddler has found the process of diaper changes and clothing changes completely unacceptable and does everything within his power to keep either from happening.

Most times I’m able to negotiate a trade of some sort; I put on your shirt, you can play with my cell phone. Or, offering up a sticker can work. Today, nothing worked. There were no negotiations, it was only tears- both his and mine. It took me two hours, but eventually I had a fully dressed toddler. At this point I knew better than to attempt to get him into a car seat and go anywhere. I was drained, defeated and completely done.

Now that the entire schedule of my day has been thrown, I did some work and finally headed off to the gym. This was a spectacle. It appears that the crowd at the gym at 2p is quite different than the crowd at 9a. It is my theory the 2pm-ers are dudes (because they were almost all dudes) that work at bars, and they’ve just rolled out of bed and are doing their due diligence to be the best looking bartenders/doormen they can be.

hip-openers2

Deep Lunge Stretch

I did my thing, then went over to the mats to stretch. My hips have been super tight lately so one of my go-to stretches is a deep lunge. As I extended my left leg behind me, my kneecap wasn’t properly aligned and dislocated. Sadly, my kneecap dislocating is something that happens on a regular basis and is extremely painful. Typically it pops right back in, but of course today while I’m on the floor of the gym amongst all these strangers, it did not.

I’m writhing in pain, screaming “fuuuuuck” over and over again. You would think this would be a clear sign that something is wrong and I need help, right? Well I had two people basically 3 feet away from me stop, look at me and contemplate if they had to help me or if they could go back to their workout. One did go back to his workout, the other I had to ask to go get a trainer.  Do I expect too much of people that if someone is laying on the floor clutching their knee for dear life and screaming profanities that they might come ask if they need any help?

While the girl I had given the orders to went off to find a trainer, I managed to collect myself enough to pop my knee back in place. They brought me an ice pack and I sat there for a few minutes fighting the urge to ball my eyes out. Not only was I in an immense amount of pain, but I was so extremely disappointed with the people around me that just looked at me, but never offered to help.

Who are we? Why can’t we stop from what we’re doing for just a few seconds to make sure someone else is okay? Is it the time it may take away from your day if you get roped into a situation? Is it that inconvenient to just ask someone if they need help? Do we really care that little about one another?

WTF Wednesday: WTF is Happening to Washington Sports Club?

10 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by ericakatherine in WTF Wednesday

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

cardio, childcare, cycle, facilities, Gold's Gym, group classes, gym, LA Fitness, Lifetime Fitness, memberships, my sports club, pool, sauna, Washington Sports Club, weights, working out, WSC

I have been going to gyms since college; I’ve been a member of Buffalo Athletic Club, several Gold’s Gym locations, LA Fitness and currently Washington Sports Club. I switched to WSC almost 5 years ago after about a year with LA Fitness because even though WSC was more money, they offered a better atmosphere.

What makes a good gym atmosphere? People (members and employees), class offerings, equipment quality and availability, and amenities.  I’ve always enjoyed WSC and have gladly paid a monthly fee twice as much as LAF because they were successful in each of those areas.  The people that work there are great. They have lots of free class offerings. It’s not so crowded that you can’t get the cardio machine of your choice. The weight room was always organized. There is a pool and sauna. The locker rooms are clean and never smell. They have a playroom for me to bring the toddler while I workout.

Lately, I’ve noticed things changing. The person in the childcare room is never on time, so my hour of time to workout is cutdown by however late she is getting in. The weight room has been dismantled with equipment laying everywhere and no one is removing their heavy weights from the barbells. Today a cycle instructor didn’t show and no one that worked there had any idea what was going on. Also today I noticed signs for $19.99 a month memberships, and they were handing out the towels from behind the front desk instead of being open to anyone in the locker room area.  I asked around and it seems the club is changing its membership options so there are basic and premium memberships.

After speaking with someone about the membership changes, it is apparent that the WSC and other My Sports Club locations are attempting to get more traffic in their gyms. The issue I have is my premium membership perks aren’t really worth the $40 price difference.  I’ve been told the premium members will receive free towel service, the ability to freeze their membership, free guest pass anytime and the ability to reserve a spot in the group classes. The only real value to me in that list is the class reservation, but as a long time member I am painfully aware that no one is enforcing it and people that register for a class often don’t get in because its full.

I may switch to the $19.99 membership, but I’m still frustrated. I don’t mind paying more to belong to a gym with members that see the value in their monthly payments and treat the facilities and equipment accordingly. I like that when I go in I can always get on an elliptical or have a barbell and bench available to use. In doing a quick search it appears there aren’t a lot of higher quality gym options available in my area. I can do a 20 minute drive and be a member of Lifetime Fitness, which I have heard amazing things about. I just need to be realistic in the difference of a 5 minute drive vs a 20 minute drive and the effect it will have on my attendance.

For now I’ll remain a member and see how this change effects the club. I am already preparing myself for the influx of resolution gym goers that happens every January (who all disappear by the end of the month), so this should be interesting.

The Scary Place aka The Weight Room at the Gym

23 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by ericakatherine in Health, Me

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Tags

body pump, bulky, calories, cardio, elliptical, exercise, fitness, gym, meathead, mirror, muscles, New Rules of Lifting for Women, spinning, weight machines, weight room, weightloss, weights, yoga

You may not know it to look at me, but I’m a regular gym go-er. I love spin class, yoga and when I need to catch up on my magazine reading I like to hit up the elliptical machine. Every once in a while I might even stop over to the weight machines for a round of leg presses.

The area of the gym that I’ve always shied away from is the free weights space. That’s where the big scary men making grunting noises and dropping weights thru the floor are. There are no machines to guide you thru the correct form, or little cartoon people with different muscles highlighted so you know what you’re working. It’s nothing but you, a bench, and a whole lot of iron…. oh, and of course your best friend, the mirror.

My entire life I’ve been told cardio is the way to go. You burn more calories doing cardio, and the old “you don’t want to get big and bulky” always comes up. Looking back on several of my weight loss journey’s (yes, several. I struggle.) I realize that I had the best results when I had been incorporating weights (a la Body Pump) into my routine.

Recently, I’ve also been super inspired by a good friend from college. I follow her fitness Instagram (check it out here!) and love seeing how fabulous she looks from eating right and lifting weights (and of course Advocare!).  I went into the basement and pulled out a book I purchased before I got married (over 5 years now) in the hopes of getting nice and sculpted before my walk down the aisle. I never opened it…

The New Rules of Lifting for Women

The New Rules of Lifting for Women

I’m only starting The New Rules of Lifting for Women, but I like what it has to say. Basically there is no reason that women shouldn’t lift weights like men. It’s time to move past the myth that low weights and high reps are what women should do.  We won’t get “bulky” unless we really, really try. We may not burn as many calories lifting as we do running, but we can reap higher metabolic benefits long after our workout is over.

Now I’m in a place where I know I need to do something different if I want to look different. A big part of that has to be my eating/drinking habits; another part is going to be how I exercise. Instead of going back to Body Pump classes, I’m going to learn to challenge myself outside the context of a class. I’m going to read the book and give their plan a go. This means I’m going to have to go into that scary place in the gym, the weight room.  I’ll have to practice my grunting and weight dropping so I fit in.

Side Note: Have you ever done a Google image search for Meat Head (or Meathead)? There is some weird shit out there.

Finally, it happened!

03 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by ericakatherine in Me, Nothing

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

ball pit, fire truck, gym, health, sanity, toddler, Washington Sports Club, workout

Happy Tuesday all! After a very nice 3 day weekend it’s back to selling furniture and trying to balance the time available to take care of the toddler, the husband and myself.

For a while I’ve struggled to find time to exercise, unless it’s coming at the sacrifice of work or family.  Today however, I took a chance and decided to bring the toddler to the gym with me. Continue reading →

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