We are now armed with bars, dumbbells, resistance tubes, bands, balls, hand weights heavy and small, big squish balls which are waaaaay heavier than they look, steps, bouncy-looking contraptions called BOSU, long wooden machines with pulls and pulleys attached, mats both padded, long , flat and with grips, wide and narrow square-looking things called bricks, round agents of death called rings and portable ladders, cones and hurdles.
Back in the day, we had our bodies, a carpeted floor and a towel.
Today, we squat, jump, plyo, burp , er…uh…do a burpee…leap, thrust, grunt, tuck, pulse, lift, heave, step, lunge, balance, contort, hold, focus, breathe with meaningfulness, squeeze, explode, stand on our head and just all out go for it.
There is nary a grapevine in sight.
Grapevine? Pray tell.
One-two-three to the right CLAP One-two-three to the right CLAP. Repeat again to the 32 count. And then of course, go on from there…knees up 4 to the front, shimmy back, slide to the right, slide to the left, walk with purpose forward, 4 jacks back….
Aerobics.
By its very definition: Any moving activity you perform for at least 30 minutes (used to be 20, by the way, back in the very same aforementioned day…), and optimally performed at 80% of your Maximum Heart Rate, which can be calculated by using 220 minus your age.
But enough of that.
My point is….
Exercise has changed, not so much in either a good or a bad way, per se, but just …changed.
It used to be the question we asked each other was “which club did you go to this past weekend?” Or “Where do you all usually have lunch?”, etc…
Now, the curiosity, tinged with a comparative and competitive drive is the question “Where do you work out?”
And it’s a good question.
I’ve been working out since as long as I can remember…I have long considered it my social life. It’s where I’ve met my best friends through life, where I met what I thought at the time was the “love of my life” (lol), it’s where I’ve networked for my career and it’s always been the end result of my day, both as a young adult and today. It has always been important to me.
I started out at 18, teaching classes to the baseball team at college atop a table in the cafeteria. I then graduated to fitness gyms on summer breaks. When I graduated college, I got a “real job”, but then always kept my “second job” teaching Animal Aerobics at three area health clubs. I had a huge following. Was the best part of my day after work, going to the gym, stepping up on the mini stage, turning on the cassette player and screaming my lungs out with cues to the beat and the chorus. No microphones back then.
It came without buttons, it came without bows. Just all of us, in spandex and Reeboks, a big room and a lot of sweat.
My body responded. I felt strong, lean and light as a feather as I pumped my feet and cheered, clapped and walloped.
Today we are so much more serious!!!!! Working too hard to smile, thinking of the huge weights we are about to curl, or the bar setting on our shoulders, ready to squat to the ground through our hips. We compare with others our workouts of the day, and think one of two things: “Sounds wimpy” or “WOW. Maybe I should try that, but it sounds pretty hard core”.
So much to choose. Hard to pick the passion, because for anything to be effective, it needs to be performed consistently. And let’s not even talk price. That could send you to the cleaners if you do them all.
But it’s all good. A body in motion tends to stay in motion.
But to be honest, I find it depressing that nary a grapevine in sight anymore.
jensumandthensome 