This June, I tried something new! Here’s a hint: I’m exercising again! And for those of you who have talked to me recently, you’ll know I’m obsessed.
Growing up, I was an active and competitive athlete. Our family cherished outdoor time and exercise, regularly going on hikes and playing basketball or soccer in the yard. I joined the town soccer team in first grade, and was the only girl who regularly played soccer at recess throughout the duration of elementary school. I added lacrosse to my repertoire in middle school and excelled in track (before I decided I hated running), finally adding on basketball in high school in order to stay in shape during the winter season.
My mother was always health-conscious and so we had well-balanced family dinners each night and sandwiches, accompanied by fruit, were brought to school for lunch. Breakfast was a requirement, and the phrase “most important meal of the day” was oft-uttered. As a result, health and fitness were never really a top priority of mine – healthy and active was just a fact of life. I was lucky.
Then came college – looking for a city and a school that offered a lot of options, I headed to Boston University. At this point I was aware of the fact that I’d have to start actively thinking about exercise and wasn’t looking forward to it. Fortunately, BU has a beautiful gym and, as I thought, a lot of options. I joined the club lacrosse team and in the spring founded the school’s first quidditch team, while ensuring I used my extra tuition credit each semester to take a fitness class. I tried pilates, learned tennis, and got certified as a lifeguard. I made a point of making the gym semi-regularly, and of course ended up sprinting around the 2.5 mile long BU campus when I was late to class or club meetings.
City life treated me well, in terms of physical activity and the necessity of walking wherever I went – I didn’t realize how well until I moved down to Florida.
For those of you who don’t yet know it, working 60 hours per week in front of a computer in a suburb in which walking is not common nor encouraged is not a recipe for maintaining a healthy weight. Meeting a man who loves pizza as much as you do 6 months after beginning your new sedentary lifestyle also does not help. I gained 20 pounds my first year in Florida, after roughly a decade at a stable weight. None of my clothes fit me anymore, which was my biggest concern.
I tried running occasionally, but as you recall, I hate it, and began suffering from shin splints whenever I tried to start up again. I tried biking, which had become a favorite exercise in past years, but Florida is terrible biking country. Dangerous elderly drivers, flat expanses, and a multitude of stoplights is not my idea of an exhilarating ride. I trained with friends and struggled through a 5k Mud Run at one point, but those workouts didn’t last. I tried a Crossfit workout with the local Young Professionals group and was intrigued, but not hooked. I spent a month practicing hot yoga on a consistent basis, but fell out of that one, too.
That brings me to last June, almost two years after moving down to Florida. My pizza-loving man moved out of state and we invested in FitBits. I cut back on the pizza and started walking two miles each morning once I realized that I was regularly achieving less than 10% of the suggested 10,000 steps per day. Finally, at a friend’s suggestion, a group of us tried the Pure Barre studio down the street. As Pure Barre states, “Utilizing the ballet barre to perform small isometric movements set to fantastic music, Pure Barre is a total body workout that lifts your seat, tones your thighs, abs, and arms, and burns fat in record- breaking time”.
I think my exact quote once the class ended was “I felt like a drowning kitten – but I loved it”. While there is assuredly no water involved in barre class, my lack of general muscle strength, especially my lack of core strength, prevented me from doing any of the exercises in proper form. Instead, I found myself wriggling around on the floor helplessly trying my best to lift my body and contort my struggling limbs into place. At the same time, the music was upbeat and entertaining, and the full body workout incorporated a variety of exercises with a relatively short number of repetitions that required focus. The 55 minute class flew by, leaving me feeling drained but accomplished.
I was so sore in the following days that a full week passed before I felt ready to tackle the class again. Throughout the summer I kept up a once-per-week (sometimes twice!) routine, before committing to a more regular 3-4 sessions per week in August. One of Pure Barre’s claims is that you can “see results within 10 classes”, and I do have to say – it’s true. With each class I felt stronger and could unbelievably quickly see my body appearing more toned.
Unnecessarily-long-story-not-so-short, I’m still hooked. I’m wrapping up 7 months with Pure Barre, I try to make class 4-5 times per week, and I’ve never felt better. I feel strong and I feel toned, I once again fit into my wardrobe, and I feel proud of what I accomplish every day. For the first time in my life I can do 10 real push-ups and I can do the plank for more than two minutes without breaking a sweat. Don’t get me wrong – the class is hard, and that doesn’t change! Each session is an effort in self-discipline and determination. When your muscles are burning and your body is screaming at you to give up – can you manage one more lift? Can you press on for 20 seconds more? You can do anything for 20 seconds, right?