30 day challenge update

Well, the challenge is going, not as smoothly as I had hoped but is still going!
I seemed to have swapped a couple of the rest days around to fit in more with my life, I hope that's allowed!

Press-ups - these are going well and feel a big improvement. Up to 10 at a time now.

Squats - Have reached 90 in a session, I find them useful as a warm up.

Core workout - found the planks very difficult to do but am now up to 58 seconds on each one. The scissors are difficult, I find them hard on my back, as for the others, they are getting easier so I am actually adding more reps in each exercise.

The bikini still remains a motivating force!

Did anyone else try any of these? How are you finding them?

The 30 day core challenge

A girl at work mentioned that she was going to start the 30 day squat challenge and I was intrigued, so googled it as soon as I got home and found this -

I thought about it and as I do squats in body pump with 17 kg on my shoulders, it seems easy. Though to be fair, to someone who doesn't do squats, I can see this is a challenge.
Today during the class I counted how many squats we did and throughout the whole class (including the warm-up, squat & lunge tracks) it came to 178 'normal squats' and 32 'jumping onto a step' squats (which I hate doing). I do have to say that squats do work and I have seen great improvements in my bum since restarting body pump and am very happy with the results, but felt I wanted to do more than just the squat challenge.

The thing I do want to work on more are my abs and core muscles, as mentioned in previous posts, so out of interest I googled that and found (among others) this

So I'm going to give it a go!

I have taken my hip and waist measurements and did my first session today. I found the planks hard (could only mange 45 seconds on each) and was feeling it in some of the other moves - it was difficult to move after the Russian twists, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. 

As my motivation is a bikini in July, I decided to add the squats as well, as I would like to get back up to 20 kg on the bar for those, - and just for fun, there is a press up challenge too! My press ups are not my strong point, I am quite good when doing 3/4 length ones but am reluctant to get up on my toes, so this will help with that!  The idea seems to be to do the exercises for 3 days then have a rest day. I will also be doing my usual gym stuff and think this will be a good way of upping things a bit. 

If anyone wants to join me on any of the challenges, then please let me know and we can help motivate each other to continue and celebrate our achievements! 

Bon courage! 

The Cougars

Time to introduce to more people from the gym.

This group of women I call the Cougars, I encounter them on a Friday lunchtime and occasional weekends, you'll see why it's occasional in a moment.

They are middle aged and have a great time gossiping in the changing rooms, however they do differ from the Coven in several ways. This lot are quite friendly and more inclusive and do seem to meet up outside of the gym occasionally. They will also arrange impromptu birthday apero's and the like, having drinks and snacks after a workout - always a good idea.

Like the Coven they do seem to subscribe to the fact that women don't sweat when they exercise, they do use more than the minimum weights in body pump but never seem to increase the and push themselves harder. They get together at the beginning of class and have a chat and need to be told to stop, though often they are flirting with the instructors. At times the flirting is embarrassing to watch.
Unlike the Coven, the Cougars do appear to work and we seem to have lost the company of one of them on a Friday lunchtime since she got a new job.  They also rarely go swimming and don't hog the sauna for drying themselves off after a shower...

The reason they got their name (well I started calling them that in my head) is because they only ever go to Hot Guy's and the Cute One's classes. These are the younger and somewhat better looking instructors and the Cougars follow them around like a harem. At times is a little irritating but on the whole harmless. I also have to say that the two instructors concerned are better than the others in explaining the classes, correcting bad posture, looking after newcomers etc, so who can blame the Cougars for following them around?
I now only come across them on Friday lunchtimes and Monday evenings but spotted them following the instructors around when I first joined the gym and tried a few classes before settling on the ones that best fitted my work schedule.

I mentioned before that the instructors take turns at the weekends and they will suddenly turn up on a Sunday morning when Hot Guy is leading the class and occasionally when the Cute One is leading, but never on the other weekends! They then take over the front row, displacing the Sunday Morning Regulars and making a busy class even more crowded. Fortunately (probably because they are too busy arranging bar-b-q's or aperos) they never come to the steam room or pool, so the Regulars get to have some space to themselves.

Crow poses, backbends and other stuff!

The latest body balance has been introduced at the gym and I've done it a couple of times now and am enjoying it, a new set of challenges and poses that I have 3 months to learn and get used to.

I always find the first couple of weeks quite hard and then it gets easier as my body adapts to the positions. The balance track is fun and has a real challenge towards the end, which I could do on my right side but not the left (3 months...) I always find the balance track amusing as the trick is to stare at one spot and also to use your stomach muscles, but if the class is quite full and we're all squashed in it can be hard to focus on one fixed spot and not be distracted by the people around you wobbling. If one person topples then a few will follow!

This time we also seem to have an extra balance track where there is just the crow pose

and the firefly pose.

I have never found these poses easy and in fact today I was attempting the firefly and had my hands on the floor and was thinking to myself 'I must have the balance wrong because there is absolutely no way that I can lift my feet off the floor.' Still it was fun watching everyone else try.

We have some killer hip openers that will be good for me and though I only did the 2nd class today, I could feel them stretching more easily than on Monday

At the moment I'm not finding the stomach track difficult despite the fact at one point we have to do a side plank with the top arm and leg raised and then pull them into a stomach crunch, so either it looks hard and isn't or (as of last week's entry) my abs have returned and are starting to earn their money!

The back track ends with a classic back bend and to my pleasant surprise I was able to lift myself into it really easily. Have not done one of those for many years, so well done my body!

Body balance always saves the most difficult pose till the end and I'm sure you'll all have great sympathy for me when I tell you that for the final track I had to hold this pose for a total of 6 mins and 52 seconds....

Abs

During the Olympics a male friend (who is not known for his sporting feats but is lovely in lots of other ways) updated his facebook status to claim that he was Jessica Ennis's stomach double. I really did 'lol' at that comment. It was one of those comments you wished you'd thought off first.

When I started back at the gym, I thought it would be fairly easy to pick things up again, after all - I had been a gym gerbil years ago and was relatively fit, wasn't I?

Big mistake.

I think the biggest difference was being 10 years older and that does take it's toll. What I have learnt is that perseverance pays off and I am now nearly as fit as I used to be.

However the one thing that seems to lacking is my abs (or abdos as the French call them).
Seriously, for the first few months at the gym I was convinced that I hadn't got any. That they had packed their bags and left when I wasn't looking.

I will admit that even at my skinniest I never had a 6 pack or even a 4 pack . This was despite Pilates and yoga as well as the occasional tums and bums class. However I knew they were there as I did a side plank with upper leg raised raised. I could feel the burn.
This time it really felt that they were not there at all. Not only did I struggle doing any form of ab work but I didn't feel them being worked at all. No pain, no nothing! Whereas I could see and feel improvements in all the other muscles of my body, the abs remained very quiet. I struggled to do mini planks, and if I was silly enough to attempt a plank on my toes - my back would start aching.

Fortunately 18 months later and a few tough stomach tracks later I can feel them kicking in. Despite the fact that my biceps make the occasional appearance and my legs are much more shapely, there is still no sign of a 6 pack emerging in the stomach area BUT they have definitely returned (even if I can't see them) as planks are now a lot easier and can do a full static plank and side rotations. Some of the more difficult moves and my back starts hurting (the strange moves we had in the last body balance for instance) but in the more familiar ones and I'm doing ok.

So although I still have a way to go before I really could be Jessica Ennis's stomach double, there is the chance it could happen one day....

The Geriatrics Update!

When writing about the geriatrics the other day I forgot to write about one of my favourites.

She has died her hair red and when she comes out of the shower and her hair is wet and all messed up, she looks exactly like a baby orangutan. Adorable and cute.

I hope she doesn't get upset by this post. 

The Geriatrics

This is quite a cute group of gym regulars and they always impress me as they show that you are never too old to benefit from exercise.

They tend to be seen in the early afternoons and rarely in the evenings - I guess they like the quieter times at the gym. There are quite a few of them and they all seem to have their own little quirks, so let me introduce you to a few of them.

Walking Stick Man - he shuffles onto the gym floor and tends to use the cardio equipment, though he once appeared at the back of the studio to take a weight, but I never saw what he used it for. He hangs or props his stick up on the machine he's going to use and slowly inches onto it, then off he goes - cycling or walking. Then when he's done, he collects his stick and shuffles off to the next piece of equipment.

Steam Room Woman - she comes in practically every afternoon, does a little bit of cardio then spends the rest of the time in the steam room and pool. She does go very slow in the pool (and unlike the coven) is aware of this and will make space if you want to swim laps. The other day someone called her 'Young', which she adored and she kept on saying 'She called me young! Me! I'm 92 and she called me young.' She's obviously got to that part of life where you stop lying about your age and start bragging.

Mr and Mrs - they arrive in the gym at ten minutes past four every Tuesday. He helps her through the new barriers and then they leave their bags by the door and go around and say hello to all the geri's - and this being France - by giving the double kiss. It doesn't matter what exercise the 'greetee' is doing, they have to stop and be kissed by this couple.

Miss Rambler - who wears an outfit that would be more suited to a cross country hike rather than a gym - long trousers that zip off into shorts, walking trainers and dark glasses. To her credit, she does the classes and has improved in each one.

Mrs Black Hair - who is off the age where jet black hair is fooling no one - and spends her time in the gym chatting or checking herself out in the mirror. If you thought it was only the young gym bunnies who constantly check themselves out in the mirror, then think again....

The Gym Douce Girls - they turn up for each and every 'easy' class - bodybalance, aqua, gym douce, le stretch etc like a crowd of starlings and do their bit, moaning and flirting but getting stuck in. Then afterwards they chat away in the changing rooms comparing grandchildren, hospital experiences, gynecological problems, hairdressing tips the works, then suddenly all disappear again.

They are there, week in, week out. Maybe the gym is some sort of social life for some of them but most of them do come to exercise and you can see that it is helping to keep the active and is benefiting them all, whatever their level of mobility and fitness. I hope I can be doing that when I'm 92 too. 

The Chief Witch - on her own!

I was doing some interval training on the cross trainer today, when I suddenly noticed the chief witch, tucked away in the corner and doing her best not to exercise on one of the bikes.
It was much earlier than the usual witching hour, when the coven descends on the gym and she was all alone. At first I was surprised, then realised that since she has come back from her long holiday in Spain (boy, did I enjoy those weeks) she has not been around as much as usual.

Sure she appears in the gym, but rarely does the classes. She would still met up with the other witches in the pool afterwards and lead the conversations in the changing rooms, but has gradually been reducing her appearances.

Has there been a big row? Are they in disagreement about who could be the most annoying? Have they decided to explore other career paths? Have they split because of musical differences? I will endeavor to eavesdrop and find out for you, but for the moment it does mean the gym is a much quieter and more pleasant place to be.

After my workout I was doing my usual couple of post steam-room lazy laps to cool down and was enjoying having the pool to myself, when she suddenly appeared next to me about to commence her 'walking' slowly up and down the pool exercises.
It is a narrow pool and she likes to walk round the edges of it, making lap swimming impossible. I seized my moment and stuck hard to my 'lane' and swam furiously up and and down, forcing her to to use the other 'lane' for her walking.

To be fair her walking appeared to be much quicker as she was on her own, I guess she was able to use the extra energy she usually expends on talking annoying loudly.

For me however this did mean that my usual cool down, lazy laps became another workout as I really wanted to make my point and show her how a pool is normally used. For all that extra effort I put in, it better have done!

PS - did the new release of body pump today - will have achy muscles tonight. Much, much harder than the last one.....

The Staff 2

Time to introduce some more of the staff!

First up is the Chief Guy.
Now he is a true example of French employment logic. He is the eldest and therefore the boss of the instructors, even though he is the worst instructor ever. He never asks if there is anyone new in the class, he never demonstrates the moves correctly (which can be quite dangerous when you're asking people to lift heavy weights) and - this is the worst bit, he can't even do some of the moves.
Cute Guy moaned once about a difficult, optional move in body balance that he didn't like but said he'd been told to include the move by Chief. The funny thing about this is the Chief doesn't include the move in his class!
I eventually have decided that he has a problem with his knees as he can't do squats properly and always uses light weights. In body balance he can't do a Hindi Squat or a Swan pose. Now this is fine in itself, lots of people have problems with their bodies when they are reaching their late 50's but I just wish he would say so, rather than just do the moves incorrectly and have a class full of people copying him and potentially damaging their joints. Just saying.
He is also the worst at singing along to English lyrics, badly. Very badly. Always gets the lyrics wrong (in case you think I'm being judgmental - I never sing along to any song French or English, unless I know the words!) At the moment we have the joy of Flo Rida's 'Whistle' for our ab track in body pump, which is a song about blow jobs. Having Chief singing 'Can you blow my whistle baby?' is just not good. Seriously.
This week he has taken to wearing his baseball cap backwards.....

Fortunately I can avoid most of his classes except on the rotating weekends and he also alternates a Tuesday body pump with Chatty Girl, and she is lovely.

In fact, I wish she did more classes, she was brought in when another instructor (who didn't do the Les Mills classes) left and so got put on her schedule of sculpt, aqua, step etc - but I think she is the most qualified instructor in the gym, so they now let her do these alternating classes on a Tuesday, which is a little frustrating as she is really good.
She's funny and chatty but not in an obnoxious way. She also challenges you and encourages you to do more (no wonder the Coven all disappear when it's her turn to lead the class as they don't want to lift more than 5kg!) Her sculpt classes are a real challenge!
I think she's worked abroad as her English seems very good (well she gets the lyrics right when she sings the songs and her accent is good!), in fact I must ask her one day, but she's never in the changing room long enough for a chat.

So there you are, two more of our instructors. I guess like most gyms, there are those you like and you tend to gravitate towards their classes when you can and those you don't and you try and have as little to do with them as possible.

Oh, in case you're wondering - Leotard Woman wasn't wearing her leotard today, but I'll keep you updated on any more sightings!

Shock Horror

A leotard was seen at the gym today.
I was so surprised I nearly feel off the cross trainer.
It was blue and worn with blue and white stripy leggings.

This is the worst bit - it looked new.
Yes, new.

Now this lead me to wonder why and here are a few possibilities....

1 - this woman is so bang on trend (I admit I'm not) and she's streets ahead of the rest of us.

2 - she was having an 80's throwback moment (she's in her early 50's, so it's possible.)

3 - she's a mature gymnast and was stopping in at the gym on her way to gymnastics class.

Which do you think?

Why?

Why, why, why, why, oh why did I think it was a good idea to raise the weights for the squat track in body pump today.........

The Staff 1

Time to introduce to some of the staff at the gym, so here goes.

First up are some of the gym instructors.

They do the weekend shifts on rotation, so today we had Cute Guy. Please feel free to blame one of my friends for the naming of the gym guys. She used to do Ju Jitsu here in Lyon and practically all her conversations would start 'So there was this hot guy at the gym...' We used to have code names for them all, in fact it was quite a surprise to occasionally meet one and find out they had a proper name. So this habit continued when I joined my gym and I was finally able to start conversations with 'So when I saw hot guy at the gym...'

Back to Cute Guy. He really is very sweet, has a lovely personality and you do just want to pick him up and put him in your pocket. He is one of the better instructors and is good at explaining correct movements etc and keeping an eye on everyone in the class. I regularly go to his body balance class on a Monday night. He is also honest if he can't do something (unlike one of the other instructors), for instance some of the advanced moves in body balance are a wee bit challenging and he can't make all of them. He moaned bitterly about the Crow Pose saying that on the training videos all the instructors would just pop up into it and he really couldn't do it. It makes the class slightly refreshing.
Cute Guy has also been known to shake things up a bit, like the other week when he changed the order of the body pump to make it more challenging, but I think I moaned commented about that in a previous post, so won't go about that now.
I think he's been on a Stretch course recently as today he had us doing some strange shoulder and arm stretches that I have never come across before and the other week he had us all lying on the floor with our legs up the walls doing bizarre moves to lengthen our hamstrings and glutes.
He does have a reasonable English accent and doesn't sound too bad when singing along to the lyrics of the songs. He does get the correct lyrics too, which is not always the case. I also like him as he will go and switch the aircon on when necessary and not have a great debate with everyone about it. The French seem to have some mortal fear of the aircon and really don't like having it on, but believe you me, when you have 30 people in a small room, all sweating - you need it!

There is also Petite Girly who was on duty last weekend. I only ever do her classes when she has the weekend shift, so don't really see her that often. She is tiny. I also am not sure if she is boarder line anorexic as she doesn't have an ounce of fat on her. She does have a set of abs to die for. She is very quiet and just comes into the studio, does the class and thats that. No chatting and interacting, just does her stuff. In some ways it can be refreshing, in other ways I don't find it very motivating.
She does have the annoying habit of dictating what weights you should be using in body pump and will, for example, frequently say that the women should use a small and medium weight as a maximum for the triceps, as I'm putting on the large weights on the bar (as encouraged to by the other instructors.)
I do feel a little sorry for her, as she has to do the body pump training but she only takes one class every 4 weeks, so the Sunday Morning Regulars always know the routine better than she does. Last Sunday she gave up the pretense and did one of the older releases and actually it was fun to be having a bit of variety, so I hope she does that again.

That's it for now, I'll introduce some more instructors another time! 

Oh, what shall I wear...??

In the early weeks of January one of the Saturday Afternoon Regulars was seen sporting a new work out outfit, with YSL inscribed on it. I have no idea if it was genuine at all, but it did seem rather an odd departure from her normal wear, so I'll hazard a guess it was a Christmas present.

Fortunately things seemed to have changed a lot since the 80's when work out wear was a leotard and legwarmers (and of course a sweat band carefully arranged in your hair), and things seem to be a lot more relaxed now and cover a little more of your body. However there still seems to be a uniform of leggings and tops at the moment.

I am pleased to report that I feel more body confident now and so have moved from the baggy T shirt, let's hide my body as much as I can look, to wearing a more form fitting dri-wick top, which is actually way more comfortable, especially as the French have a hatred of air-con.

At the moment pink racer back T shirts are the in thing. In fact these racer back T shirts are the in thing, probably because they cost a mere €7 from Decathlon. As mentioned the popular colourway seems to be pink top and black leggings. However one Coven member has a bright turquoise top and leggings combo which she delights us with from time to time. Sunglasses optional. Leggings can vary from skinny to the ankle, capri style and yoga pants. Anything goes. After an organised run you may see a T shirt or two proudly proclaiming that their wearers took part in a 10k or marathon but then they disappear again. One woman has a T shirt with a sperm swimming up over her shoulder, the front is too worn to see what it is saying but it intrigues me. Midriff bearing tops are only worn by 2 women and one of those also wears shorts as well. Everyone else seems to remain well covered!

Men seem to go for the T shirt and shorts option and there are some interesting T-shirts to read during class. I once saw a guy wearing an England top as he ran on the treadmill and thought that was a brave top for him to wear. As the gym is Lyon there are a fair amount of Olympic Lyonnais combos at any one time. However, if you are a guy reading this please, please, please don't think that nylon football tops are appropriate gym wear. They make you stink. So don't. Ok? I am also pleased to report that the craze for men to wear stupidly small muscle T's and brightly coloured jogging bottoms has disappeared but compression tops are still worn by some of the more serious body builders.

There is the usual collection of named brands but the aforementioned Decathlon seems to be the most popular and beats Nike, Adidas et al hands down. A while ago, an older female was seen a couple of times in a Nike top that proudly proclaimed that she was a Porn Star, then I think someone must have translated the wording for her as she stopped wearing it.

 At one time my baggy T shirt look was acquired from not winning at the pub quiz, so I was sponsored by drink companies and promoted the likes of Fosters, Smirnoff, Desparados and Jack Daniels during body pump. I now have gone for the lazy option and found that black tops tend to co-ordinate with my black, navy or grey leggings very well, though do occasionally sport a bright coloured top so that I can't be accused of being too boring.  

Gym Gerbil

First up - I must apologise for a lack of posts at the end of last week but I was laid low with the lurgy and part from an update of my current temperature, there wasn't much to report.

So tonight I hauled myself of to the gym for the body balance class. Monday nights are not my favourite time to go but are marginally better than Friday nights, so Mondays it is then. And what a friendly night tonight was!

I arrived and was given the usual cheery greeting from the receptionist.

In the changing rooms I said a 'Bonjour's' to a some of regulars I see.

As I went to wait for the class to start a 'Hey, Charlotte, ça va?' was yelled across the gym floor from Hot Guy.

When the body pump class left the studio I saw one of the 2 people that I also know outside the gym, and had a quick chat.

Once inside the studio I saw the other person I know from outside the gym.

When leaving, I exchanged a couple of friendly 'Bon Nuits'.

When getting on the metro, I saw and 'bise'd' another guy I chat to regularly.

Now what does this all mean?

Has my strategy of slinking into the back of the class and keeping my head down totally failed?
Am I going too often?
Am I turning into (shock, horror) a Gym Bunny?????

This last option is too hard to think about, so I think I'll call myself a Gym Gerbil for a bit and see how that fits....

Improved flexibility

So in body balance on Saturday I was in a Hindi squat and then instructed to sit back on the mat behind me, and I have to admit I misjudged this slightly and landed with a bit of a bump. This caused the instructor to add 'délicatement avec grâce et finesse.' and smile at me. Bastard...

I enjoy body balance. In the dark, murky past I used to do Ashtanga yoga and Pilates and used to be very flexible and strong. I used to be a real flexigirl. The Ashtanga was very dynamic and was hard!

At the gym that I used to go to in the UK the guys on the gym floor were very good at telling all the 'muscle men' to do stretching and advising them to go to stretch classes. So every now and then one of them would appear in a yoga class, looking slightly nervous but at the same time confident that they would find a stretch class easy peasy. A few of them made it beyond the sun salutations, some even made the first half hour. I only remember 1 of them sticking with it and returning week after week.

My gym now doesn't do yoga but does body balance (a mix of tai chi, yoga and pilates) and stretch classes - imaginatively titled Le Stretch.

I've been working away at these and have got most of my flexibility back, isn't muscle memory is amazing. I do feel a lot better after each class, it's good to feel all stretched out. The only thing I have trouble with is my hips, I can do forward bends, and my back bends are pretty good, but my hips.... They always have been difficult, I have never been able to a lotus position for example.

The latest couple of releases have had some tough hip openers, and I began to notice a gradual change, which has been good. Then for the last 3 Sundays the instructors have again concentrated on doing hip opening exercises, and boy have my hips been painful. It has payed off and though painful, I can reach deeper into stretches and feel really pleased. Finally the hard work is playing off.

Still can't do the lotus position though....

Friday weigh-in.

Hmmm, stayed the same, and I've been eating really healthily and gone down a belt notch.

Will hope it's because I've been increasing the weights in my work out and what I've lost in fat, I've gained in muscle. 

Pride commeth before a sore bum!

So after posting the moan the other day about the lack of effort some of the women put in at the gym, it seems that actually I could have been putting more effort in too!

Shortly after publishing that post, I sauntered into my usual body pump class and thought to myself that I needed to up the weights for the squats - so I put two more kilos on the bar and was feeling dead proud of myself when I completed the track with no major incidents.
Then we got to the tricep track and Hot Guy told C (another female who uses similar levels of weights as me) and I to go to 10 kilos. I start shaking my head slowly at him and he nods slowly back saying "Ah yes, Charlotte". As C did, I had to too!
I survived, though the last few chest presses were a little wobbly.

Then Hot Guy tells us to use the 5 kilo weights for the first part of the shoulder track, this was actually quite easy to do and I had been thinking about it being the next set of weights that I increased.

 When I increase the weights I normally put them up for one set of muscles, then see how it goes for a couple of weeks, then when I'm comfortable with that, will think about increasing the weights for another set of muscles. So uping the weights in three sets of muscles on one day was a big a thing.

Two days later, on the Sunday, I amble into the class thinking to myself "It's Petite Girly today, so I'll try the new weights but if I get tired, I'll go back to my normal weights for the shoulder tracks."

But to my surprise Hot Guy is there instead of PG, so I can't wimp down can I?
Then he gives us the 'option' to increase the weights for the back muscles - and calls out my name as one of 'Les Experts' who he expects to see with increased weights.

I ached all week, finally feeling better after a good stretch in body balance on Saturday.

Then yesterday, just as my friend and I are gossiping before the class starts, Cute Guy announces that he changing the running order of the body pump class to make it more challenging. Not what I wanted to hear.
He put the lunges straight after the squats (no time for the legs to recover) Then strung all of the upper body ones together (again no time to recover) and had a new, tougher tricep track. It was a challenge.

Despite a session in the steam room, I ached all afternoon, especially my arms and as for my bum.... I raided my medicine drawer and though I didn't have any ibuprofen, found relief in some paracetamol and codeine tablets (really can't remember what I was given them for.)

Despite all the bitching and the achy body, it does feel achy in a good way - I know that I've worked hard and tested my muscles. However I would like to keep these weights for a little while before any more 'challenges' arrive.

The Coven

I feel it is time to introduce you to some of the people at the gym.

First up is the group of women that I call the Coven. This is in my mind, I haven't yet done it to their faces but there may well be a day soon... Don't get too excited by the name, this is the last group of women you'd expect to see dancing naked through the woods at midnight, I call them that because they cackle very loudly and rather too often.

They go to the gym everyday in the mid afternoon, do as little 'working out' as they can possibly get away with, talk very loudly, take over the changing rooms and then leave.

Sometimes I can laugh at them, other days I want to punch them.

They are all middle aged ladies who instead of lunching, go and annoy everyone at the gym. There about 7 of them but fortunately they don't all turn up at once but, boy do they have the capacity to talk.

There they are on the treadmills at a slow walking pace with a slight incline - chatting to each other.

There they are in body pump, using 1kg weights, (or even no weights or bar) - chatting to each other.

There they are strolling along in the swimming pool - chatting to each other.

I do find them annoying, fortunately I don't go often at the same time as them, so don't often see them. There seems to be a ringleader and it reminds me of the school gang, and the others try and keep up with her. She talks the loudest and the others follow. I really am tempted to point out to them that as they are standing so close to each other they don't have to shout, but then I'll just be the nasty teacher and they'll try and get back at me.

They have decided that the best way to dry themselves after a shower is to go into the sauna. Really annoying if you are relaxing in there. One will bang the door open and come in, then the others will follow 1 at a time (so lowering the temperature) squeeze into a tiny space, all trying to dry themselves at the same time, so elbows are going everywhere, then all leave separately - lowering the temperature even more.
Recently they have discovered that the most annoying way they can dry their feet is to use the hairdryers, so sit in a row - blocking the bit between the showers and the changing area, chatting loudly over the noise of the hairdryers.
Whatever happened to drying yourself with a towel?

Of course they can't get their hair wet - so they don't swim in the pool, they amble up and down it really, really slowly for 20 mins and tut at you if you get in their way by wanting to swim. I mean, who ever heard of actually swimming in a swimming pool?!?!

They flirt with the men in the class (who I don't think really like them) and swoon over the instructor S, who is the most unswoonable guy ever. Really! He's the worst instructor and gives you no motivation whatsoever, they like him as he calls out their names during the class which makes them all giggle. Fortunately he doesn't know my name. Even more fortunately he has started alternating his class with one of the female gym staff (who makes you work hard) and on those weeks the Coven all discover that they have an injury of one sort or another and so stay in the cardio area. Relief!

For the Coven the gym is a place to meet up and chat, and I guess there's nothing wrong in that, I just wish they weren't so loud and were a little more considerate of others. Also, though they are doing very little exercise, at least they are doing something which is better than nothing.

Friday weigh-in!

Standing on the scales went well this morning and I've released another half kilo.

At first I was a teensy bit disappointed but then realised that back in my weightwatchers days I would be pleased with half lb and this is a whole lb and a teeny bit.

It's interesting the psychology of having a different unit of measurement. When I was in the UK using units of stones and lbs seemed normal but in terms of a goal weight everyone seemed to be focused on a round number of a stone or half stone.
In the US people again seem to want a round number - a coaching colleague was talking about reaching 180lbs as his goal.
Now I'm in kilos I'm not sure where I'll end up, will the psychology of whole numbers apply? 65 seems to heavy for me and I think I'd have to stave myself to get to 60, so do I end up with a number in the middle?

I am hoping that I get to a point when I look at myself and think 'Yep, that's great!' and decide that that will be my ideal weight. the scales are important to help give me the motivation to get there, but I don't want them to be the be all and end all. My muscle mass is greater than last time I lost weight, so it's a whole new experience this time.

Friday weigh-in 2

Well, it was time to face the scales again today and I wasn't looking forward to it!
I knew I hadn't done well food wise this week - a combination of reasons, I could come up with a whole host of reasons and excuses but at the end of the day it is me that puts the food in my mouth...

So I braved the scales and to my surprise I hadn't put on any weight - I hadn't lost any either, but I was pleased that I hadn't gained any!

After last weeks amazing result, I still am 2 kg through my target loss of 10 kg.
Only 8 to go.
Yipee!!!

I am getting impatient about waiting to see what my new body will look like, and I'm excited at the same time.

(French) Women Don't Sweat!

I had been about to write a funny piece about how a lot of the women in the gym don't put any effort into what they are doing and I really do wonder why they bother going there at all.

Then I read this article and realised that it may be true of a lot more woman than I thought and not just French ones and it made me feel quite sad.
To be sure, at the gym I used to go to in the UK there were a few woman who would turn up, put in minimum effort and leave again, but here it is a huge number.

One girl just wafts around in the Zumba class and rushes to the changing rooms during a water stop to check her eye make up hasn't smudged. Another woman does the entire body pump class without a barbell or weights (the squats/lunges and abs I can understand - but the other exercises are designed to be used with weights, it's surely a waste of her time?) Her friend also seems to be reducing the amount of weights she uses each week, rather than increasing them. Women on the cardio machines, reading books and never looking out of breath and not a drop of sweat between them.

Actually a large number of women in body pump have stayed at the lightest weights possible and not increased them at all over the last 18 months I have been there. I know everyone is different and has different reasons and perhaps problems but there seem to be an awful lot of them!
In the UK we were actively encouraged to increase the weights and work harder, most of the women in the classes were pumping quite heavy weights but here a couple of the instructors actually dictate what the maximum weight a woman should have on the bar - which is pretty light and most of the women seem quite happy with that.

Reading the article about how young women wanted to be thin and were afraid of bulking up made me feel sad. There is a lot of ignorance out there about exercise and it's benefits. Sports at school are being cut back as they are not considered essential, but also what else is not being taught? I remember learning about the body in biology and learning the difference between anaerobic and aerobic exercise in terms of muscle strength and heart strength and also how hormones played a part and that is why it is incredibly difficult for women to have bulky muscles like a man's.

So it is not only frustrating but also depressing to see so many woman pretending to exercise. Spending money on gym membership and clothes and yet not actually getting much from it.
Thank goodness for those that do make the effort, for the instructors who do encourage us to try a little harder and for the motivation to take it babystep by babystep.

During last Summer's Olympic Games it was refreshing to see so many fit and healthy looking women on TV. These women should be our new role models for young girls, not the anorexic looking, thin, airbrushed models on magazine covers. Looks that are impossible for the average 'normal' person to achieve without taking extreme measures.

Healthy is the new thin. That is easy for anyone, whatever their shape or size to achieve. Anyone else with me on that?

Friday weigh-in...

Whoo hooo, it was weigh in day today and not only did I get my target of releasing 1 kg, I actually smashed it and released 2 kg!! (A shade under 4.5 lbs)

It was amazingly easy this week, I must have hit the sweet spot of eating just enough to lose weight but my body didn't think it was going into starvation mode. After being on a plateau for a few weeks and then not really trying to diet over Christmas, I was also probably experiencing that initial drop in weight you see when you first start a new regime. Anyway, I'm happy about that as all my Christmas weight has gone.

When I went to body pump this morning and picked up one of the 2 kg dumbbells, I realised that it was that amount of weight that had gone, it felt good.

So this week's intention is to release another kg by next Friday.

January Intentions

Christmas, New Year, birthday are officially over and so there are no more excuses in the way of setting my January intentions - so here goes!

I want to release another 10kg of weight. Last year I lost 16kgs and do feel better for it. I plateaued for a while during the last couple of months of the year but that was ok. The last time I lost weight I was incredibly focused and probably lost it too quickly and never really got comfortable with my new, skinny self and the weight slowly crept back on. It took several years to get back to my previous heavy weight, so for the last 8 years I've not had a stable weight. This time round I want that to be different and so it was ok to plateau for a bit and get back into the feeling space of being a bit skinnier.

Now it is time for the final push. I'm looking at releasing a minimum of 2 kg a month, so let's say that I'll have achieved this by the end of April. That will give me the motivation of new Summer wardrobe!

It may not be my final goal weight - this time round I'm doing different activities at the gym, such as body pump and so have a higher muscle mass, so I really don't know what I'll look like, so as I get nearer releasing all of the 10kg, I'll have a better idea of where I want my ideal body and weight to be.

So my first intention is to lose a kg by Friday.

I'll keep you informed...

Sunday Mornings

The advantages of going to the gym on a Sunday morning -
You can feel smug all day
You can do as little as you want for the rest of the day
You can have a guilt free nap in the afternoon
You can eat what you want
It can help you work off a mild hangover

The disadvantages of going to the gym on a Sunday morning -
Getting out of a warm, cosy bed...

The gym I go to is actually open on a Sunday morning, which is quite unusual in France, though I think more gyms are beginning to open as France changes ever so slowly into a 24/7 world. One chain of gyms is completely closed over the whole weekend - LadyFitness obviously aims itself at ladies who lunch, not those who work.

You tend to see the same faces on a Sunday morning - there is definitely a group of regulars supplemented by the groupies of which ever instructor is on duty that weekend. The owner of the gym also does reception duty, so you don't see the normal receptionists. An awful lot of 'bise'ing goes on - the French double kiss, and a general catch up of the weeks news, generally the air is slightly more informal than the rest of week.

Some people seem to turn up really early and are already pounding the treadmills when I get there, there are others, like me, who turn up in time for the 10 o'clock class and others who scoot through the door at 12.30 for a maximum 20 min work out before being kicked off the gym floor at 12.50 as the club closes at 1.00pm prompt, so everyone can go home and eat a huge lunch!

Generally, I find that it is worth the effort to get up and go to the gym on a Sunday - I like my little routine there body pump, stretch class, swim and then a relax in the steam room. It can help work off a mild hangover, though is not recommended for a heavy one! On the way home I can buy a few things at the market before settling into an afternoon of guilt free whatever. 

Pet Peeves

I was slightly late to the body pump class today so wasn't in my normal spot and instead was at the back of the class amongst 'les experts' - the people who put loads of weights on the bar and generally try to look impressive and intimidating. Ok, I exaggerate, but they do put loads of weights on the bar, which leads to one of my pet peeves....

They have so much weight that they cannot do the moves properly!!!!!

What's the point in doing a squat, if the bar is so heavy on your back that you are only doing half a squat, or missing out parts of the routine??? Even worse - doing both???
I was about to ask if it was some sort of macho thing, as it's normally guys that do it, but today there was a girly doing it.

Despite the instructor really going into detail about how the moves should be, they just ignore him and do their own thing. It can't be good for the muscles and probably is a stepping stone to injury. They are straining to lift the weights,  contorting their whole bodies to do bicep curls, instead of just using the arms etc. Just drop a couple of kilos and do the exercise properly! It's far better to work up the weights slowly and steadily.

However at the other end of the scale are those who put no effort in whatsoever and never break into a sweat. They use the lowest weights possible and don't seem to have progressed at all over the last year or so.

Not sure which I find more annoying, I'll get back to you on that...

The Unintentional 10k

Over Christmas I unintentionally run a 10k, quite a surprising feat and if someone had said to me before hand that I would have done it, I would have laughed. And then laughed some more!

I am not a runner - I don't really have the physique for it. I have tried bouts of jogging in the past because I've read that it's good for you, others have told me how much they enjoyed it blah, blah, blah. Each of these attempts have been short lived, long enough to see some improvement but I've never had the motivation to keep it up. For some reason I prefer the gym. I am one of those who will go regularly and use the membership.

This year I went back to the UK for the holidays and so going to the gym wasn't going to happen. I did want to continue exercising though and so packed my trainers as jogging is the easiest form of exercise to do when traveling.

I got to see the fields and very muddy lanes of Essex, the towpath of the Grand Union Canal through West London (jogging round the puddles), the damp and muddy lanes of rural Cornwall and the damp looking housing developments of East Sussex (it rained a lot during my trip).

In Cornwall my Bro-in-Law (BiL) got the map out and showed me a route I could do that took him about 20 minutes on a bike. So on Boxing Day morning I got up and out I went, past the fish and chip shop, the the pawn shop, past the village school and out into the countryside. And I went on and on, then on some more, and a bit more, and then some more, begining to think to myself 'He must be bloody fast if this takes him 20 mins on a bike.' and finally saw a sign saying it was a mile to the next village, which I new wasn't on the route.

Being boxing day morning, the village was really quiet but fortunately I did find someone who gave me directions and so on I went and on some more. I was very relieved to see the church spire and know I was on the back. By this point I was doing interval training and walking up the hills and jogging the flat and the downhill and whenever a car came past.

There were times when I was thinking I was going to get lost and die in the Cornish countryside, other points when I thought that if I was reasonably coping with this type of distance maybe I could train properly and do a 10k.

When I got back to my sister's I collapsed on the chair, well normally my jogs last for about 30 mins not 1hr and 20 mins. BiL got the map out and it appeared that I'd missed a turning just out of the village and actually came back along the road I should have gone out on. The perils of reading a map when slightly unsober on Christmas Night!

That evening we went round to some of their friends and BiL was telling them about my run that morning and they said that it actually was the route of the village 10k. I was impressed with myself - a 10k with no training, well done girl!

For a couple more days I entertained the thought of training for a 10k, and getting the time down to an hour. Then I got back to France and have been going to the gym again and the motivation to go out in the cold and the rain and pound the pavements just isn't there.

Hello and welcome

This is just a short introduction and explanation as to why I'm writing this blog.

Last year I managed to lose over 16kg of weight and felt really pleased with myself. It was a mixture of changing my diet and incorporating more exercise into my life.

Some of the things that I see at the gym amuse me greatly and I have shared them with my friends but would also like to share them with more people, some of the stories are to good not to share!
Whilst telling some of these stories during a recent trip back home over Christmas, a couple of friends encouraged me to blog about them. I was also asked a lot about how I have lost the weight so these two points, combined with the fact that I still have some more weight to lose (not helped by Christmas!) helped me decide to start this new blog.

My aim is to write a couple of times a week about the different weight loss tips, motivational tips etc that I find helpful as well as throwing in some of the amusing anecdotes I see at the gym.

Although the gym I go to is in France, I'm sure that many of the stories are pretty universal.

I hope you enjoy reading these!