So as many of you know I’ve been going to the gym in an effort to improve my overall health. I first joined when I made my move from Washington to California back in October. I arrived in town on September 28, began at the gym on October 5th and on October 6th, life interrupted my plans! Isn’t that always the case?
TRACK MY JOURNEY LINKS:
Steadfast Friends Conquer Moving Day
Gonna Get Fit Just Can’t Quit: Redux
And that brings us to today, benchmark day. I have had struggles at the gym, although attendance has not been one of them. Originally I was attending weekdays for an hour from noon til 1:00 (that is active workout time), however, it became very evident to my trainer Ray, after the first week that even with modifications much of the activities that we do as part of the group hour were outside the bounds of safety for me. And so we modified again.
My current routine involves me working on a prescribed set of exercises three days a week and keeping a notebook with me at all times to comment, record and reflect upon. Some days I have to work around the others at the gym and although I am not working with them, I still feel very much a part of the entire group. We are mostly women (I think there are 4 men in the hour I am there) from 20s to 50s and we are all very determined to get stronger, faster, healthier. We are a group set on success!
And that is probably what makes it easier to go. The hour that I am there I believe the Mexicans outnumber the whites and I haven’t noticed any other races. Sometimes the gym has one little boy who I am totally in love with. His name is Alex and he is 2. He will mimic what he sees the rest of us doing. So adorable. Other days, there are a plethora of kindergarten or younger children there as we work toward our fitness goals.
We all get on the scale before and after our workouts. And we all grunt, scream and vomit as necessity provides. We celebrate each other’s achievements and encourage each other through disappointments.
So how far have I come?
Well, on day one, all the way back in October I was unable to achieve the goals and done for time:
100 Australian Pull-ups
100 Squats (modified)
100 Push-ups
100 Sit ups
He modified it to 25 reps of each. My clocked time was exactly 24 minutes.
In January I went to the gym and worked out 15 times. My new benchmark record:
100 Australian Pull-ups
100 Squats (modified)
100 Push-ups (modified)
100 staged crunches (sit ups would have been easier. Next time I’m doing sit ups on a slant!)
Time to completion: 24 minutes exactly!
The wonderful photo was taken by Austin Schmid and acquired through Unsplash. It is a great source for free photos under the Creative Commons Zero license, so check it out!
Memee's Musings 
So, any thoughts?