Fitness Class Discrimination

As I told you all in my last blog entry, I recently attended a hot yoga class. I wanted to talk a little more about this experience I had. But first, a little background: I am not a huge “class” person when it comes to the gym. I am a member of Gold’s Gym, here is beautiful Southern Pines, and the gym has a great variety of classes through out the mornings and afternoons of each day. When I first signed up for the gym I told myself that I would attend the classes and make the most of my money, since the classes were included in my monthly membership fees. I started out strong. I went to at least one class every morning and on some days I went to two. But my initial work out “high” started to dwindle and I wasn’t seeing the results that I wanted to.

I am a runner. I have been running since middle school both competitively and leisurely. It makes me happy, it is what I love to do. When I was deployed as an active duty Soldier, I ran 6 miles every day, sometimes twice a day, and with in a few months time, I had lost close to 30 pounds. After coming back to the states, and getting back into my normal life routine, the weight came back. It didn’t bother me at first, but after a while, I knew it was time get back into it. I thought the gym membership was just what I needed and the class schedule would keep me honest. Well the classes got redundant, and I wasn’t seeing a change in myself like I do when I am on a running schedule. I started to notice something else too. The other members of my class didn’t seem to be getting thinner either. I started to take note of the attendees of the different classes, and after a while, if the majority of the members in the class weren’t in great shape, I didn’t attend the class. “Nope, this class obviously doesn’t work, Im going to the treadmill” I guess you could say I was being prejudice to certain classes based on their attendees. The gym membership was still great. It was perfect for running when the weather was bad. I do love the stair master every now and then, and I could watch hulu on my phone while I worked out. Also, even though it was a chore to get to the gym, once I was there, I was more motivated by seeing other members sweating their butts off too.

My husband has some back trouble. He will get some spasms when he has been working hard and sometimes they are debilitating. His physical therapist recommended yoga. My gym doesn’t have yoga, but there is a hot yoga studio in my town so we signed up for a week of classes to try it out. Nervous as I was, I was also extremely excited. I had read about it, and seen it in several fitness magazines and knew that hot yoga was relaxing but also a great calorie scorcher. Upon walking in to the studio everyone was quiet and seemed to be mentally preparing for the class. My husband and I just sat there smiling and people watching. It was cold out so many people we wearing coats and long pants, but as expected, everyone started stripping down before entering the 105 degree room. It felt like walking into someone’s mouth that just mouthwashed with lavender and eucalyptus. After claiming my real estate and getting settled I started looking around to see what king of people I was surrounded by. Super sexy was the kind of people I was surrounded by. Every person was wearing a cute Lululemon outfit and sculpted like you wouldn’t believe. There wasn’t a chunker among them, well except me, the noob. I couldn’t believe it. I was used to being one of the more fit attendees of classes, or at least middle of the pack, but not here. This class was full of slender, muscular human beings and all I could think, was that I need to start doing this more often. I want to look like these people. After the next 75 minutes, I understood why these people looked the way they did. The class was ridiculous. The floor would have been more slick than a slip and slide had I not been on an absorbent mat and continually mopping the sweat off my body through out the class. The poses were difficult, the balance was difficult and I reached muscle failure in the first 10 minutes. After an agonizing hour, the class went into a meditating and relaxation mode. As we lay there with the hypnotizing music playing, the instructor came around to each student, laid a cold lavender compress across our eyes and forehead and proceeded to massage our shoulders and arms. I never felt so good in my life. After the class, my husband and I couldn’t wipe our goofy grins off our face, and that night, after a hot shower, I never slept better. I found my perfect class. All the students are fit, I am sore for a day or two after, I leave feeling relaxed and you get a mini massage? Class Perfection!