Sixty Minutes of Torture and Ridicule

I have several posts ready in my mind that I have yet to process on Blogger...so stay tuned as some posts might appear postdated.

But, this morning, as I attempted to get myself out of bed...aching in every muscle group of my body - my thoughts drifted towards the torture I endured yesterday - so I thought I'd write about it.

For the last couple of years I've participated in a class called Group Power at our gym.  I remember the first time I participated in one of these classes with my gym partner, Christy.  She had encouraged me to give the class a try, even though I tend to shy away from group exercise.  I was so lost as to what weights to put on my bar - without a clue as to what would work for the "leg track", "biceps track", etc.

For the record, the class is a strength training class that uses steps, bars, and weights to do specific muscle group exercises to songs.  There is a warm-up track, a "legs" track (SQUATS!), a "chest" track (bench press, or push-ups), a "back muscles" track, a "triceps" track, another "legs" track (often lunges), a "shoulders" track, an "abdominal" track, and finally (my favorite) - the cool down/stretch track.

At my most physically fit point, I'll aim for two of these classes a week, with cardio workouts on the other weekdays.  Right now, I'm still at once a week, having begun again in September since taking a break through the summer.  There are different leaders that I favor - those that are kind and low-key and don't harass me about my form or any absence I have had from their class.  Then, there's Kelly.  She runs the classes that best fit in to my schedule, but the above adjectives do NOT describe Kelly (except for the "kind" one).  She is VERY energetic and social - she wants to know everyone by name in our class, and make sure everyone is getting the optimum workout.  She likes to "call people out" during the class - for funny comments, for compliments about performance, or for "constructive criticism" regarding the form in which a person is doing the exercise.  It's that last "call-out" that I get to deal with the most.

If you know me, this is absolutely the worst-case-scenario for my personality.  I hate to be be called out when I'm doing something wrong - much less in a class full of 20 athletes.  If you also know me, you would know that I try really hard to do the right thing in front of a teacher (happening since kindergarten). 

So, you can imagine my feeling of defeat, when yesterday, no less than FOUR times, did Kelly point me out for doing something "not quite right".  The most she did that to anybody else was once.  She gave me one "good job Stephanie", but you know, a little too little too late for my taste.  I stand in front of the mirror (I've tried, there's no way of hiding in that class), and I swear I'm trying my hardest to make every motion correct - and I can definitely see lots of other folks who are obviously not doing it correct.  It's not fair.

I could say that Kelly just doesn't like me.  That could be the case, but I don't really think Kelly (who has such an outgoing personality in our class) works like that.  I have been absent from her particular classes for months - so she might be holding a grudge about that.  More likely, because of that absence I was the focus of her attention particularly upon my return yesterday morning.  I was someone "new and shiny" to watch.  The best case scenario would be that Kelly is especially attentive to my form because we've talked about my headaches and she knows that it is essential that my form be correct, particularly during the back muscles track to prevent me from injuring myself further. 

All I know for sure, though, is that I felt totally picked on Friday morning.  I walked away thinking, "What's up with that?"  And, then, this morning, as every muscle in my body hurts, I was internally screaming "WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?!"  Sometimes, enduring those things that are ultimately best for you - absolutely hurts.