My Workout Journey

So I've been on a quest to find out my favorite way to workout. I get bored really easily so I always like to find something that can keep me on my toes. This year, when I moved up to Idaho, I was really excited for the free gym and the free pool.

I first started working out at the gym. This place was nice, especially since there had been a total upgrade on all the equipment since the last time I had worked out at the gym. All brand new machines, bikes, ellipticals, everything you could possibly want (within reason, of course, this is C of I, let's not go crazy). However, there was a problem: I had a weird issue about working out amongst the students. I felt super self-conscious, even when I didn't know the students. It should be no different than working in a gym at home but for some reason, I just couldn't do it. So goodbye gym.

I figured that I could get some working out done at home so I gave some at home "remedies" a try. What works best at home is yoga, for sure. I actually really enjoy yoga. My first yoga class ever was at the 24 hour I go to when I'm at home and it was supposed to actually be a stretch class. But the teacher ended up doing yoga and I loved it. I hated the actual stretch class I went to the next week but decided to keep coming back to yoga.

it is physically impossible for me to bend this way...

So now without a place to actually practice yoga in the area, I downloaded some podcasts. This is Chazz, from YogAmazing. He's ridic. But I adore him. He makes the lamest jokes but I love his 30-min yoga workouts. Sometimes it's just good to watch him on mute.

awww.... doesn't he look like he makes lame jokes?

But I really do like him. And I thought I was getting pretty good at yoga. So I went to the library and got this lady's video.

and this was the easy stuff!!!!

OK, she was cray-cray. First of all, she's in the middle of the freaking desert doing all these crazy dancey yoga poses. And she's going all over the place- slow down, lady! Take a breather! After awhile it just got awkward watching all these skinny people writhe around in the desert and I realized that I didn't need any crazy advanced yoga. So now it's just me and Chazz hanging out. Although once I went to a yoga class in Nampa where I will be going in September to use my kettlebells groupon and I was one of the best there. Once girl hardly did anything and kept looking at her. I was tempted to knock her lights out because she wasn't doing any yoga herself but Chazz always tells me to "take the peace and the strength and share it..." and I didn't think physical violence against this stranger was following those directions.

and let's be real... i only really do yoga for shivasana.... this is my favorite part....

I also felt that it would probably be good to get some cardio in, so I picked up Denise Austin's cardio workout. I have some groupon kickboxing classes that I'm going to start Thursday and I thought that I'd give it a go first with Denise. OK, yeah, not gonna happen any more. I gave it a try and a) she moves way too quickly for me b) she doesn't give me a chance to figure out the way that she does all these moves and c) I am soooooo not coordinated enough to do work-out videos. Except cardioke, but that's only for me and Shiri. And Bollywood dancing, we're good at that too. But yeah, Denise and I just did not click. Plus she's wayyyy too perky for me.

even the front cover of the DVD weirds me out... i think it's the eyes...

I've also recently picked up running, of course. And I'm still going at it, just not as intensely as I was when I was running with the podcasts. I have, however, found the greatest running music ever. Why had nobody told me about Vampire Weekend before!? They will be on my running list for the 5K on Saturday, along with Cody's house electronic Europop sounds, of course. I have a nice little block loop that I run now that's exactly 5K. And there's a little uphill and a little downhill which always makes me feel like I'm working a little harder.

this is NOT how i look when I run....

But my favorite, which I'm finally getting back into, is swimming.

Now you may say, Michal, you say that you get bored easily, isn't swimming the most boring thing on the planet unless you're swimming next to this guy?

oh hi abs

And I say to you, nay. It is not boring. And these are the reasons. A) I get to swim with flippers and that's fun. B) They have these things you put between your knees to just swim with your arms and that's also fun. C) Nobody is ever at the pool so it's like I'm rich and I can fantasize about all the other things I could have as a rich person.

And this helps.

As do they, because their podcasts are the perfect length for a 40 minute swim.

Can someone explain to me why these people find it necessary to swim with their pets?

and this just cannot be safe

Once summer comes and I'm back in Irvine, there will be a lot of the following:

I'm glad to be going through this adventure of finding out my faves and not so faves of working out, especially because the journey is far from over.