Get Pumping

When Hubby Tony left for work today he asked me what my day was about. I told him the only definite was a trip to the gym, but then I had a whole slew of errands that needed to get done...and a few that I wanted to do. We laughed about how the day would quickly fill up. An hour later, I was a third of the way to the gym when the 'D' light on the dashboard started blinking. I doubled back to the repair shop, dropped off the car, and got a ride home. All of a sudden I had a home bound day.

I hadn't showered yet, so I decided to get some house work done before I cleaned myself up. I used the step stool to dust all the high places I can't reach from the ground, used the same rag to remove the dust bunnies and cat hair from the front hall and dining room floors, then swept the kitchen floor and cleaned up a couple of coffee drip stains.

It felt good to be moving, but my cleaning didn't take the place of the Body Pump class I would have done at the gym. I'm motivated to get things toned up; Son Tony's wedding will be here before I know it, and the last time I tried on my dress it was a little tight. Suddenly inspiration hit, and I wondered if I could find a video online that would substitute for my aborted trip to the gym. Turns out that YouTube had dozens of options for me.

(If you're not familiar with Body Pump, it's a poplar group weight lifting class. An instructor in the front of the room leads you through ten choreographed sections, each the length of a song. After the warm up song there are tracks for legs, chest, back, triceps, biceps, lunges, shoulders, core, and then a cool down. You do a lot of exercise repetitions with lighter weights. And when the hour is over you're thrilled to be able to put all of your equipment away.)

But before I could start the video, I had to come up with equipment to use. My gym has all the necessary barbells, plates, steps, and mats. The only barbell in this house is a seriously heavy one that Son Donald left when he moved out, and weight plates that are 15 pounds or heavier. (By comparison, I use a bar that's about 4 pounds and plates that are 5 1/2 and 2 1/2 pounds.) However, I improvised with a set of three pound plates, a set of six pound hand weights, and no bar. I chose to rough it and lay on the floor instead of using a step and mat.

I set my laptop on the kitchen counter, except when I was doing the tracks that involved laying down. Then I put it on the floor next to me so I could see it better. The instructor did a good job of calling out the exercises as they came around, and the video was very easy to follow. I'd like to say that I completed the whole thing as enthusiastically as I would at the gym, but the main reason I do group classes is for the extra motivation and the shame of quitting early. Since I didn't have that I cut a few corners, but at the end my muscles were just sore enough I could tell they had worked. That was good enough for me.