More from The Wonderful World of Cardio
“Jumping jacks, go”
And we’re off and jumping. Then forward lunges, alternate legs. Go. Then what the heck did we do? Jump squats, short fast ones?
Chris, the Tormentor (or, as he will henceforth be known, the Late Arriver), then instructed us to pick up weights. Kind of light ones at that. Me, 5 lbs., Elena, 5 lbs, Dolores, 2.5 lbs. Squats holding weights to our collar bones, then standing and raising them all the way up. Repeat like 8,000 times. Then jogging in place with weights over our heads. Did I say they were light? It’s amazing how much 10 lbs. feels like after it’s been raised overhead while jogging, then running in place. Somewhere in there, we did toe touches on one leg, alternating, to slow our hearts down.
Not done yet. Stand still, rotate raising weights with straight arms. Again with the 8,000 reps. Suddenly arms can’t even lift all the way up to shoulder height. What to do? Suck it up and do it anyway.
Water, break. In my case, the gasping sucking sound you heard was my lungs in search of air.
Repeat that set, only this time add in more jumping jacks (arms front), then bring out the mats and stand to one side, do burpee, lateral hop to other side of the mat, another burpee, then lateral hop back … and so on. On the mats we did what may now be classified as “an exercise that Elena likes,” mountain climbers. Sure, cause she has perfect form and doesn’t need a mat to do them on … good for her.
Unlike some hours, cardio-focused hours seem to take longer, at least to me. I try to adopt a shrinking violet stance and become invisible. Unfortunately for me, it doesn’t really work. My invisibility cloak needs to be returned. Alas, it is not my secret superpower. Chris can still see me and he seems to enjoy watching us/me suffer, I mean, exercise. Ok, to be fair, that’s why he’s there. Not sure why I am.
At the top of the hour, we had hopes of Helen joining us and there was talk of a Ruth sighting. The mythical Ruth did not appear. Helen came by to offer explanations in person (she’s not in control of her schedule sometimes, we all know how that goes). While we cooled down, Chris talked about the whole eating right thing. All I heard was “blah, blah, blah … protein … blah, blah, blah …”
As much as my heart is still pounding 30 minutes later, I comfort myself with the following thought that at least I showed up.
Now if only I could stop whining!
And we’re off and jumping. Then forward lunges, alternate legs. Go. Then what the heck did we do? Jump squats, short fast ones?
Chris, the Tormentor (or, as he will henceforth be known, the Late Arriver), then instructed us to pick up weights. Kind of light ones at that. Me, 5 lbs., Elena, 5 lbs, Dolores, 2.5 lbs. Squats holding weights to our collar bones, then standing and raising them all the way up. Repeat like 8,000 times. Then jogging in place with weights over our heads. Did I say they were light? It’s amazing how much 10 lbs. feels like after it’s been raised overhead while jogging, then running in place. Somewhere in there, we did toe touches on one leg, alternating, to slow our hearts down.
Not done yet. Stand still, rotate raising weights with straight arms. Again with the 8,000 reps. Suddenly arms can’t even lift all the way up to shoulder height. What to do? Suck it up and do it anyway.
Water, break. In my case, the gasping sucking sound you heard was my lungs in search of air.
Repeat that set, only this time add in more jumping jacks (arms front), then bring out the mats and stand to one side, do burpee, lateral hop to other side of the mat, another burpee, then lateral hop back … and so on. On the mats we did what may now be classified as “an exercise that Elena likes,” mountain climbers. Sure, cause she has perfect form and doesn’t need a mat to do them on … good for her.
Unlike some hours, cardio-focused hours seem to take longer, at least to me. I try to adopt a shrinking violet stance and become invisible. Unfortunately for me, it doesn’t really work. My invisibility cloak needs to be returned. Alas, it is not my secret superpower. Chris can still see me and he seems to enjoy watching us/me suffer, I mean, exercise. Ok, to be fair, that’s why he’s there. Not sure why I am.
At the top of the hour, we had hopes of Helen joining us and there was talk of a Ruth sighting. The mythical Ruth did not appear. Helen came by to offer explanations in person (she’s not in control of her schedule sometimes, we all know how that goes). While we cooled down, Chris talked about the whole eating right thing. All I heard was “blah, blah, blah … protein … blah, blah, blah …”
As much as my heart is still pounding 30 minutes later, I comfort myself with the following thought that at least I showed up.
Now if only I could stop whining!