A week ago, I decided I wanted to take a class at the YMCA called "In Shape" for women. The program guide described it at a class which uses cardio exercises and weight machines to help condition bodies, tone muscles and improve flexibility.
When I got there last week and asked where it was, I was told that it was just in the weight room, I could go warm up on the cardio machines. So it's right in the middle of everyone. And it's on a Thursday night, when the cardio/weight room is packed. Interesting.
I've seen posters up for "Group Orientation to the Weight Room" and while I thought I could probably learn a thing or two, and while I know I'm unsure about a few things, I didn't sign up for weight room orientation because I've been going to the gym for over a year and I figured it would be boring.
Good thing, because the "In Shape" class consists largely of introducing the equipment in the weight room. It's not so much a "class" but instead it's more like a "tutorial." Unlike a 30 minute orientation, it's 8, 1-hour sessions that each focus on a specific set of muscles, so when the machines are introduced, it's a lot more detailed.
There were only 5 women last week (this week there were 4). We sat around a table and introduced ourselves, and then we warmed up on the cardio machines. The trainer told me to try out the rowing machine. I've tried it before I couldn't get it. So she explained that I had to go legs, arms, arms, legs. Stretch out your legs, pull back your arms, release you arms, rebend your legs, repeat. If you mess up the order, you end up banging your arms on your knees or tangling the rowing chord. Turns out, it's really easy. It was kinda boring. But boy, I felt it the next day.
After the warm-up, we were told the first week was all about legs. She made it clear that when she said to "push yourself" that you needed to do it. She was adamantly against doing many reps on a low weight, and instead really argued for as high as you can go with fewer reps. She said that most girls won't do that because they don't want to bulk up, but we can't bulk up because we do not have enough testosterone and female body builders are taking things like testosterone and human growth hormone and have mustaches and big foreheads.
Feeling self-conscious over my big forehead, (and looking at the huge hulky biceps of one lady in the class), I asked about the normative range of testosterone levels in women and the possibility that some women just might have elevated levels - like women with polycystic ovarian syndrome. Yup, nope, we were still gonna go as hard as possible on the machines. My next question would have been to ask where the fine line between pushing ourselves and injury was, but it never got asked.
The core of the class was around 5 resistance machines. I don't know the proper names, but there was the "leg press" in which you sit in a chair that moves up and down a ramp, and you push your feet on a stationary wall-surface, and you push off the wall. I was happy to learn about this one, because I had tried it on my own before and couldn't figure it out. The instructor wanted us to start with 100lbs. She explained that your toes should be above your knees and you knees should be at a 90 degree angle at the start and you should straighten your legs but not lock them.
Other women did it, no problem. I sat down, and my knees were in my face, not at 90 degrees. I tried to adjust the seat, but grabbed the wrong lever so when I pushed back to adjust the seat it the weight tried to lift. 100lbs was too much and I couldn't do it, so I just went no where. After the trainer's help, I figured it out, and could do it on 60lbs.
There were two "leg curl" machines that were kinda the opposites of each other. One you sit in and push a bar under the calf down and bend your knees. The instructor recommended 80lbs but I was ok at 60bs. The other, you push a bar on your shins up and unbend your legs. That one frigging hurt. Both were supposed to work your upper legs and thighs, but the latter one just worked my knees. The front of my knees were in tons of pain after 4 reps.
The trainer said, "You want to push yourself so that the 10th rep is really exhausting," but I could not keep going after 5 reps on 50lbs (others were doing 80bs). I lowered the weight and lowered it again. At 30lbs it still hurt. We adjusted the bar so it wasn't on my shins, it was on my ankles, and it still hurt. So, I was told that because my knees are weird, I shouldn't use that machine ever again. Ok deal.
The last two machines were the "squeeze your thighs closed" and "squeeze your thighs open" machines. I use 'em all the time and could actually do the weight suggested by the instructor, so that was fine.
Then, we did other exercises. We stood around and were instructed how to properly do a squat (and a sumo squat, and a jump squat), and lunges. The hardest part is to not let your knees go infront of your toes. That was really hard for me. Then we held heavy balls and did hamstring curls (far too many, my legs hated me the next day).
And that was the first week. I went back on Monday and redid everything on my own and it was great. Except the lunges, I felt weird standing in the gym doing those by myself.
So last night was the second week. After some warm up time on the upright bikes, the trainer set up a circuit of free weight activities. Station #1: holding 2 10 pound weights and walking across the room doing 12 lunges. Station #2: 12 deadlifts a 15lb padded bar. (Deadlifting is keeping your legs straight, your arms straight (but dangling), your back straight, and just bend at the hip). Station #3: putting a metal bar with 20lb weights on behind your head and across your shoulders and do 12 squats. Station #4: 12 "side squats" "side lunges" or what the cartoon do before the races on Original Nintendo Power Pad Racing while holding a 15lb weight mid-chest.
We were told to do the entire circuit 3 times. The first circuit was totally easy. I mean, I still feel like my knees don't like getting low enough for a full lunge, but that's ok. The "side squats" are super easy, I do 'em all the time and never knew they were called anything. The friggin 20lb metal bar on the back of my neck wasn't too heavy, but it hurt my neck. I wanted to swap it for the 15lb padded bar, which was way too easy to deadlift.
The second time around I could feel my thighs working a lot harder. The trainer brought in a metal bar with 30lbs for the deadlift. Ouch, that hurt my back. She told me I wasn't keep my back straight, I kept curling it. I was honest and said I don't know how to only bend at the hips and not the back. She tried to help and would make a buzzing noise each time I bent. There was a lot of buzzing. She said to tighten my abs to help. That worked, but put all the work in the abs and not the hamstrings. And it still hurt my back.
The third time around, I was getting worn, but in a good way. The other women were all red-faced. Lunges were either easier, or I was sloppier. I used the 20lb bar for my deadlifts and that was good, and then I did used it with the squats (which seriously bugged my neck and I've had a headache ever since).
And then we moved onto "back" stuff. Turns out the two back machines were the ones I use all the time - the Low Row and the Vertical Traction. I was using the Vertical Traction properly, and the amount of weight she put on it was easy for me (40lbs). On the Low Row, I was letting my hands go too far forward and I wasn't keeping my elbows in tight enough, and I wasn't sitting up straight enough. I typically only use 20lbs on it and do 3 sets of 10 reps. She started us at 40lbs but only wanted 12 reps. Some women put it up to 50lbs because it was too easy. I discretely put it down to 30lb.
There's an area at the front of the weight room with the big weights and the benches and the big, musclely guys. Muscley gym addicts don't intimidate me, but I've still stayed away from there. I don't need any of that equipment. One of the women joked about learning that, so the trainer took us over there and asked to borrow the main weight thingy for a few minutes. She took all the weights off it, slid the bench away, and lowered the bar to about mid-thigh height. Then she laid on the floor with her shoulders under the bar and explained we were going to do "reverse push ups." You could grab the bar with an overarm or an underarm, it didn't matter. You bent your knees and pulled your bum up until you were straight like a plank. Then you had to pull your chest up to the bar.
Well, I was brave enough to go first. I could get my bum up. But overarm or underarm, there was no way my chest was getting anywhere near that bar. I couldn't. I could have pulled and yearned all I wanted, I can't lift myself. All the other women that followed me did it. Ah, well.
By the time that was over, it was 8pm. There was one more huge thingy at the back of gym that is good for pull-ups that she wanted to show us, but we didn't have time. So we just did some stretches (ankles to bum to stretch thigh, one foot infront of other to stretch hamstring, foot propped up against wall to stretch calf). We also did full torso stretches like in yoga.
Next week, we're apparently going to look at the pull-up thingy, and then we're gonna do chest training. I've already said that I can't even do 10lbs on the chest press machine, and it's probably gonna be the most difficult week for me.
