My history of working out has been inconsistent, and that’s putting a favorable spin on it. I go through periods where I’m pretty good about exercising and then I’ll stop for one reason or another (injury, work, travel) and never start back up. Joining a gym helps for a while because I feel bad about spending money on a membership and not going but I eventually become numb to the payments.
The pandemic was the perfect reason to quit my gym since they were closed. I was working from home for part of the year and started going on semi-regular walks around the neighborhood just to get out of the house.
But even that stopped and I began to put on some Coronavirus pounds.
When my back and knees start to hurt, I know it’s time to take things seriously and start working out again.
I was at my best fitness level when Sharon and I joined a fitness class with an inspirational leader. He wasn’t the type of trainer that yelled at you, but one who made you feel that you could do whatever you set your mind to. Here’s our 1-year before and after picture with the both of us on our way to being as fit as we’ve ever been.
I’m telling you that story to tell you this one. I miss having fun while working out. Recently, it’s seemed like a chore. I tried a local CrossFit place but that’s just not for me. I was hesitant about Peloton because all the commercials make it look like a group of people on bikes trying to be better than everyone else.
I don’t have a bike, but I have a Chase Sapphire Reserve card and get a $120 Peloton credit (Sapphire Preferred cardholders get a $60 credit.) That’s enough for several months of a digital membership. Since you can cancel at any time, unlike several gym memberships, I had nothing to lose. Signing up was really easy.
Within minutes I had my account set up. I downloaded the app onto my iPhone and iPad. The best setup would be to install the app on my Fire Stick but the best place to exercise in the house doesn’t have a connected TV (we’re so 90’s.)
I was impressed with all of the classes available. There are plenty of archived workouts that you can sort by experience level and workout time. After browsing all of the classes, I put down my iPad and went to bed.
It’s one month later and my free trial is over without taking a class. Now that I’m using my money from Chase, I decided I better start getting to business. For my first class, I picked a 20-minute full-body beginner workout. The class started with the coach telling you which weights to grab, and feel free to go down in weight if you’re a beginner. I still have some muscles, so I went with average weights. Then the class started but not with exercise but with instructions. This is a beginner class and you need to make the moves right. Learning the basics will lead to more advanced skills later on.
This is the one thing I hate about exercise classes. I always feel like the dummy and hate to have the instructor spend time telling me my deadlift form is wrong. But none of that is here because you’re at home and can take as much time as your want. They even know what you’re going to do wrong, seemingly at the exact time you’re going to do it. The class also had a perfect level of lighthearted humor and inspiration.
As the class wound down, I was starting to get a little tired and broke a sweat. Expected after months of not doing much of anything resembling exercise. However, I wasn’t discouraged. I was happy. I learned how to do three exercises correctly. I could take another class if I wanted to push myself but I opted to take a 10-minute stretching session.
That was when I noticed that when you’re taking on-demand classes, you can still see other members taking the class at the same time as you (even if not in sync.)
I’m typically hesitant about starting a new workout regimen. It takes me a while to get back up to speed and I hate to hold a class back. I’m also super sensitive about being overly needy with adaptations.
I like the Peloton classes. I’ll stick with the beginner classes right now until I’m back into the swing of things and feel more comfortable about pushing myself some more.
And I can’t beat the price.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
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