You can do it!
Lately we’ve been going to 24 hour fitness to get fit! This was part of Cliff quitting smoking… he used the money (and admittedly a little more) that he saved by not smoking to buy us gym memberships. Then of course we had to get Kid’s Club memberships so we could leave the kids in the playroom several times a week. Madeline LOVES it… Amelia tolerates it. I hope she grows to enjoy the plethora of new toys available to her there!
Cliff has a schedule for the muscle groups he works on. I thought I’d just be swimming, so that’s what I did the first couple of times. Then I went with my sister, Kendra, and we did the elliptical machine, which I really liked! She showed me some killer abdominal exercises too. I went around eying the weight machines, but honestly I was a little intimidated. There are handy little illustrations on each machine, showing you how to position yourself and what muscles you are working, but I had more questions than that. Should I focus on my abdominals since they were stretched out by two pregnancies? What other areas should I work? Am I neglecting some muscle groups? How much weight should I lift? Should I develop a schedule, like Cliff? I followed him to the weight room one day and asked him to show me around. I could tell he was even a little nervous, since he mostly just knows what works for himself, and he didn’t want me to get intimidated any more than I was. His casual guidance was just what I needed. I overdid it a little bit that day while I tried to get a feel for the exercises, and had to take a few days off, but I was excited to get back in there with my increased confidence.
I still don’t have a muscle group schedule, but I do about 10-15 minutes in the weight room and then 10 minutes pushing myself hard on the elliptical. I never want to spend more than 30 minutes working out because poor Amelia can only take so much right now! I look in there when she can’t see me and it’s so heart-wrenching. She’s not crying, but she looks sad and just stares. When she does see me, she bursts into tears. I think I’ll put off the hour long classes until she starts to enjoy the Kid’s Club, or schedule it with Cliff to stay home with her. I’m trying to get to the point where I go three times a week doing weight room/elliptical, and then one day of swimming and stretching in the jacuzzi.
Why did I make the switch to the weight room?
- weight training builds strength and even flexibility when certain exercises are done
- weight training increases bone density, something all women, specifically those who have had babies and nursed as long as I have, need
- I’ve heard weight training “gets results” better than anything else.
I thought about taking a “before” picture, but honestly, I look pretty good already! If I took a before picture 9 months ago, the after would certainly be more impressive. With my youth and previous core fitness, childbearing has taken a minimal toll on my body. The workouts I get from carrying children around, pushing the double stroller up the hill, and nursing have steadily brought me back down to my normal size. My biggest problem is figuring out when I can buy clothes, as the jeans I bought when Amelia was 8 months old fall off me now. I just want jeans that fit, that’s all, whatever size they are! Like all women, I’m sure, I have areas I’d like to improve, but I would be more interested in seeing before and after bone density numbers.
I have The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess on hold at the library, but if I don’t get it soon, I may just have to buy it. I think it’ll get me on a schedule and help me track my progress, as well as introduce me to some new exercises. I read the forward that is provided on Amazon, and it is humorous as well as very informative as to why women should lift heavy weights.
It’s thrilling to me that I’m trying something new that I never even thought I would try before I was there, in the gym, with everything available to me and my babies taken care of. For once, there’s nothing standing in my way!