I finally gave in and decided to pay for exercise. I have always been against it knowing that it is free to run but it is so hot right now so I cant run outside plus I only feel comfortable running about 2 miles and that is not enough. So I am officially a YMCA member. I chose the Y because 4 people on my mission team and my roommate have a membership so it is much more fun to go with someone else so you can laugh and look stupid together.

And I promise, I look stupid. I have been trying all the different classes and they are interesting. I took a yoga class but it was a little to chill for me and I wanted more of a workout. I have done cycling classes and I LOVE those! They are a super hard cardio workout and you can make it as hard or easy as you want and the teachers are pretty fun with loud techno, rock music. I love it! Everyone is like grunting and yelling when it gets hard and it just makes me laugh. I join in too.

The funniest class is called cardio mix. The two times I have been have been somewhat different but about the same thing. We use the step (see pic below) for a while and then do some arm toning with hand weights and then some ab work. The first class it took me a while to get the step down but it was not too hard. The arm work was tough and I was yelling out for sure. The ab work was impossible. I did a couple of the exercises and then just got the giggles and could not do anymore. It is hard to laugh and work out your abs.


Yesterday when I did this class the step was WAY more complicated. So complicated that one of the ladies left because she could not keep up. I had trouble but whenever I messed up or got lost I just did my own thing. We did some moves where you have to do the Charleston, a couple where you have to do steps over the step and then you are not even facing the teacher. There are some kicks and knees and just lots of variation. The variation made it hard but also kept it from being boring.

Let me add to this that I am not the most coordinated person. I will try my hardest and maybe even get all the moves right but I just look stiff and gangly and goofy when I try anything like this. So I watch the teacher and try and do what she does but then there is a huge mirror in front of us to watch ourselves and it was all I could do to not laugh at myself. I also would get excited when I would get one of the hard steps right and I would clap or yell out. Sadly this class was not as excited as my others so I just felt silly. It was an experience.

Tonight I am going to a step and sculpt class so we will see how that goes. I love trying new things. I just see this as such an adventure. I go into class and do not know what to expect and even if I go to the same class the teachers vary and they all teach differently so you just have no clue. I love that! This is way more entertaining than running and it is a great workout too.It is also fun to meet people outside of the ACU and CoC bubble. I always get to talk to the teacher after and they are super nice and hopefully I can get to know some of the class regulars too. I actually feel like I am a part of the Abilene community and not just an ACU student. So fun!

NOTE: I went to the step and scuplt class and the steps were more complicated and once I was inches from falling off the step but I saved myself. I am just waiting for the day that it happens.