In the middle

It is the name of a series I really like of the quintessential middle class of America. But I am not going to talk about the middle class and their money problems. Today I am talking about the simple things you can do to motivate yourself while exercising.

Now I love some intense cardio classes. The more crazy they are, the better. I don't enjoy zumba because they don't make me sweat as much. I do a lot of kick boxing, flex etc to keep my heart rate pumping.

Here is the hypothesis: Your class output is directly proportional to where you are standing in the studio. Meaning are you in the center or on the right or in the front facing the mirror head on?

Sample 1: Kick boxing class 1
Location: Middle right
Output: Medium
Reason: Took too many breaks to grab a sip of water which was right besides me. Felt like no one was judging me for taking breaks

Sample 2: Flex class 2
My location in the class: Last row left
Output: Medium Low
Reason: Did not feel as engaged and made too many short cuts in the class

Sample 3: Yoga Class 3
My location in the class: Front center
Output: High
Reason: Every moment I saw myself in the mirror I knew others could see me too. That motivated me to try harder at getting all the positions correctly. Also you don't have anyone obstructing your view which helps you in ensuring the right posture.

There could be many more variables that could impact your performance like the instructor, the class structure itself, music, the number of attendees etc. 

I feel that for me who is on the more introvert side, it is natural to stay on the side and work out or do anything. The performance is good to great but not recognized or appreciated by you. On the other hand when I pushed myself more by being in the middle of the class, I saw exponential change in performance. It did feel uncomfortable the first 5 minutes but by the end of the class it felt great.

Push yourself to explore the unknown. The results may surprise you.

Leena --<@

The Group

I think everyone aspires to be a part of some group at one point of time or another. Whether it is to be part of the cool group or the intellectual group or even the geek group, as social animals we want to be connected with some set of people. I always tried to create my own group and then include any one who wanted to enjoy being themselves.

Recently though, I have had this desperation to be part of a certain group. I have been on a weight loss regime since early 2011 and have taken up running as my cardio routine in my gym. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into, but I wanted to part of the group that can go on running for hours at a stretch without any problems. I remember the Nike Commercial in the movie " What Women Want" I would love to have that feeling when I am running. Easier said than done right! 

With the resolution of doing my best I got on the tread mill. A lady and a guy were on my side running nonstop for 30 minutes. I did my 3 minute warm up and started running at the speed of 5. In 2 minutes I was gasping for breadth and pressed the emergency stop. I looked around and the people besides me went on running like they were flying effortlessly on thin air. I was super annoyed. 

My trainer took me aside and told me,"Leena the more you will push yourself, the farther you will go." Sounds simple enough. Well not in the gym. I started running for 2 minutes and started challenging myself to increase in 5 minute increments every week. 

It was very painful and for a person with a short attention span, it can get very boring. I tricked myself into thinking that it was fun and coupled it with loads of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Disney Channel feel-good shows. 

Today I can run for 45 mins non-stop at the speed of 5 - 5.5. The feeling you have after finishing that long stretch is simply amazing. I look forward to almost going "WOOHOOO !!!" once I am done. Now I don't care if I belong to the runners' group or not. I am just glad I was able to experience that feeling! I hope to run a 5k soon just to see if I can make it that far. I have discovered my love for running and I am not looking back.

Cheers!

Leena --<@