I’m a show off and I like it!
Improvement makes me a show off….
I hated push ups three months ago – I would groan inwardly at the mention of them. I felt like a little weakling sparrow-type bird being asked to do something far out of my comfort zone.
Well, fast forward to today and push ups still receive an inward groan, because I’m still not a fan, but now they are a test of my strength, and yes, there is significant improvement. In fact, I don’t do that knee-drop thing at all. It’s on the toes and it’s all arms and shoulders and abs, and they’re working! Yes, I huff and puff, and yes, it makes me red in the face, but I’m hitting the rounds when they’re asked for and I love that sense of achievement.
I also get a buzz about getting called a show off by the instructor in Body Pump. Just one extra push up, one extra squat, one extra squat jump etc at the end of each round. Yep, that’s me, the show off. It’s because I can and I like to prove it to myself, that’s all 🙂
Spin class
So I decided to shake things up today and took my first ever Spin class. Now, I’m not a bike lover. I’ve had two bikes in my life. One was given to me by my parents so that I could get around before I could drive, but I found a boyfriend with a car instead, so that put paid to any effort on my behalf (v uncool for me to cycle around that at the time of my life).
The second bike was presented to me as an anniversary present by my husband. Again, at the time, he might as well have given me a hoover, because it was going to get no use whatsoever. I may have taken it for one spin, but it’s the whole painful crotch area thing, cold hands, cold face etc that doesn’t do it for me, and whilst I think I have strong legs, they aren’t cycling legs.
And point proven during spin class because I hated the first 20 minutes. All I could think about was that it was no wonder Lance Armstrong took performance enhancing drugs, because it is bloody hard work and painful. And with spinning, you’re not going anywhere apart from up virtual hills. Boring.
I kind of enjoyed the last 10 minutes as we cooled down and I began to feel my legs again, and I give it to the instructor, she played some ace rock/folk music, which made a change from the dance music I hear all the time.
But Spin class is not for me.
Body Pump, Zumba, Conditioning, Aeroboxing, Toning, yes. But not Spin. Ouch.
Claire Bolden McGill is a British expat who lived in Maryland for three years and moved back to the UK in August 2015. Claire wrote about her life as a British expat on the East Coast and now works in travel and hospitality PR in the UK. She still finds time to blog about her repatriation and the reverse culture shock that ensued – and she still hasn’t finished that novel, but she’s working on it. You can contact Claire via twitter on @clairebmcgill or via her blog From America to England.