Sam and I are in Banff for the week working on our book project (exciting!). One of the fun things about this week is that we get to try some fitness classes together. That’s rare for us.  We don’t usually work out together.  And we don’t usually do fitness classes of the Zumba, Bootcamp, Spin kind. For me, the last time I did anything like that was in November 2012 when I was here at the Banff Centre for a couple of weeks. And I blogged about it.

Tonight it was Bootcamp.  The instructor was a tall, strong and lean young woman from Down Under who asked us where we were from. She didn’t ask if we were new to fitness classes or anything like that, which means either that we looked like we belonged in the room or that no one new would ever take something named “Bootcamp.”

Aside from an easy swim yesterday, I’ve been taking it easy because I’ve been attempting to recover from a stomach bug that hit me hard the day we left (worst travel day ever). So for me, it wasn’t going to take much to make it “puke-worthy.”

About 20 people showed up for the class.  We each took a mat, a set of “medium” weights and a set of “heavy” weights. I took 6 lbs and 15 lbs respectively.  Nothing heavier than 15 lbs was available, which was fine, because even though 15 lbs is very light for deadlifts, the whole thing challenged me.

These things always start off easy-ish with the warm-up. Once warmed up, the class went like this. We repeated circuits of three exercises: push-ups, deadlifts, and weighted crunches (or something involving raised legs that I didn’t choose or pay much attention to).  We did each for 40 seconds, with 40 seconds of an increasingly difficult cardio blast in between.  The first circuit we did jump squats. The second circuit we did reptile burpees.  The third time around, it was flying jumping jacks. Fourth round: Plank jack burpees (I think). Fifth round: scissor lunges.  Sixth round: bicycle oblique crunches.

I was ready to loose my afternoon snack after the second round. I will blame the bug. I lay down on my mat to catch my breath (a strategy we are invited to employ in hot yoga, and to which I thought I better help myself). The instructor came to check on me and I said I was just getting over some sort of stomach thing.  She looked alarmed and said, “at altitude!” which I guess was a reference to the fact that when you live near sea level, the thinner air in the mountains (we’re at 1400 metres here) can challenge the system.

I am proud to say that I only sat out for one 40 second cardio session in the entire class despite how I was feeling (don’t try this at home).  I’d like to that think on a different day I would not have chosen the easiest modified option for each of the cardio sessions after that.

As I said to Sam afterwards, I liked a few things about the class:

1.  A good instructor–she taught a demanding class and showed concern when I was struggling.  She checked in with me periodically after that. My ego might have struggled against that a bit but it was good of her to make sure I was okay.

2. The moves were not too complicated. The last time I did a class here the moves were so confusing I couldn’t figure them out. Tonight was more about endurance than about complexity. I prefer that.

3. The class was intense enough that everyone focused on their own workout.  I didn’t feel like anyone had time to look around or pass judgment on anyone else. I think even the people who weren’t about to barf didn’t spend a lot of time thinking beyond their own mat, their own weights, their own plank jack burpees or what have you.

4. That same focus meant that, for me anyway, I didn’t have any time to think about other things. I love physical activities that don’t let my mind wander.

5. I usually like heavier weights, but with the intensity and continuous movement of this class, the lighter weights and timed reps were good.

6. No mirrors. I’m getting more and more opposed to mirrors when I’m working out. Why in the heck do I need to look at myself?

And as a bonus, fitness classes come free with our artist cards.

I confess that I was a bit hard on myself sometimes, thinking I should be doing better.  Even in my regular condition, I’d have some work to do before I’d be able to stick with the unmodified versions of everything for the entire workout.

As a way of getting in some cardio and strength training with weights and with bodyweight exercises, Bootcamp does its job.  It’s offers an excellent break from writing and, better yet, we didn’t need to go outside to get over the building with the gym (I forgot to mention that today was -28 degrees C with the windchill–almost 20 degrees C warmer than it was on the weekend, when this was the coldest place on the planet). I’d do it again.

Nelson Mandela, iconic representative of hope and peace, believed in the power of the sport to “change the world, to inspire, to unite people, to create hope where there was once despair.”

And when Nelson says something, it motivates people to believe it.

In 1998 I had the honor of attending a specially-convened convocation in Harvard Yard to award Mandela, then President of South Africa, an honorary degree. It was only the third special convocation in the history of Harvard, the others being for George Washington and for Winston Churchill.

I was on my first sabbatical, and spent part of the year at the Bunting Institute at Radcliffe College. The Institute’s director had two of the highly-prized tickets (these with assigned seating close to the front!) to this momentous occasion. Because of my South African roots, she offered one of them to me. The other went to another Bunting Fellow who had been involved in the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

This is all by way of saying that Nelson Mandela was an extraordinary man and a compelling speaker.  Here is the text of his Harvard speech, in which he so humbly accepts his honorary degree, saying:

I know that through this award you are not recognizing any individual achievement, but are rather paying tribute to the struggles and achievements of the South African people as a whole. I humbly accept the award in that spirit, while at the same time wishing you to know that we are not unaware of the great compliment you pay us by conferring this degree at a specially convened convocation.

It was the only time in my life that I have actually felt proud of my South African heritage. And when Mandela spoke, it really did feel (to me and each of the other 25,000 people in the Yard, no doubt) as if we were just sitting in his living room while he told stories over a cup of tea and a plate of rusks and biscuits.

But back to sport.  Though the music makes this Youtube video a bit over the top, it captures an inspiring message about the power of sport, delivered by a great human being.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lvHnYQsTBU

Kind of makes you want to go out and play, doesn’t it?

And for those who are curious, the Harvard speech (which starts of with some wonderful stories and good humor):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zh8otC-c3s

I know going into new gyms is stressful for everyone who travels for work and who works out on the road. I’m shy to begin with and having to deal with people who think I’ve never exercised before and that I’m new to fitness centres is hard. Mostly I cheerfully take on the role of being the ambassador for fat, fit people everywhere. (Even though I’m still ambivalent about the label “fat”–see Fat or big: What’s in a name?— I know that’s what most people see.)

Let me explain what I consciously do to make it easier. (And I know that not everyone can do these things. Call what I’ve got “fit privilege.”)

First, I wear the right clothes. That’s easy.

Second, I often deliberately chose water bottles  from past races I’ve done. Fitness instructors notice and it helps smooth my path.

These days I always wear my CrossFit hoodie. Nothing screams “yes, I’m qualified to do your fitness class” quite like a CrossFit hoodie.

I get what fitness instructors are concerned about. They don’t want a visitor, a guest member, on a 1 day pass, keeling over dead in their class. They don’t know me, and they want to qualify me as capable of surviving their class without extra attention. It’s the professional and caring thing to do.

But I wonder about thin privilege and whether smaller, fit people feel the need to prove themselves to new gyms in this way.

I also worry that this might hurt thin people too. My worry is that fitness instructors might assume you’re fit and not give you the help you need. See How equating being fat with being out of shape hurts thin people too. Is this worry right? Let me know. (What’s thin privilege? Have a look at Let’s Talk About Thin Privilege.)

Today I went to a spin class at the Banff Centre for the Arts and the instructor handled meeting a new person well. She asked if I was familiar with spin bikes and how to adjust them and I said “yes.” I said I wished I’d brought my bike shorts and shoes. She smiled. We talked about cycling and winter. I mentioned the Forest City Velodrome and she asked about fixed gear bikes and how fast did you need to go to stay up on the walls of the track. All good. I’m welcome back any time and no heart attacks were had.

It was a fun class though I have two beefs about spin classes: The seats! Why not nice skinny road bike seats. (I know why. They scare people, but really they are more comfortable.) And all that bouncing to the music. Keep your upper body still people! Save your dancing for the night club. But of course, if they don’t ever ride real bikes all that bouncing is just fine.

On the theme of fancy gizmos that tell you when you should (or in the case of the “smart bra” shouldn’t) eat or drink, there’s an app called “Fuel My Run.”

Again, the very idea of needing to be told when to eat and drink runs counter to the whole Intuitive Eating mindset. Are we really so disconnected from what our body needs that we can’t tell when to eat or drink?

When we are in the middle of a long run, bike ride, or some other endurance activity, the answer turns out to be “yes.”  This article about How to Eat and Drink During a Marathon says:

Developing and executing a strategy for ingesting fluids and energy during the marathon is a crucial step towards success on race day. You can’t expect to just wing it and drink and eat when feel like it if you want to run your best. Developing a race fueling strategy takes practice and intelligent planning.

Start drinking fluids early. Don’t wait until you are thirsty or you’re getting hot or dehydrated. If you wait until you’re thirsty, dehydration or glycogen depletion may already be starting. Furthermore, as I discussed in my article on preparing your body for the marathon, the more distressed your body becomes, the more difficult it is for your digestive system to process all the fluids and energy you take in. By taking in fluids early in the race – when you’re not yet fatigued or stressed – you give your digestive system optimal conditions to get the electrolytes and sugars distributed to the muscles that need them.

If that’s true, then a running app that doesn’t just track, but also alerts us about when to eat or drink, could be useful in optimizing our running performance.

Question: Does this go against the principles of Intuitive Eating that say we should eat when we’re hungry, stop when we’re satisfied?

I don’t think so. We’re not constantly engaged in endurance sports.  It makes sense that when we subject the body to conditions that are not the norm for it, different strategies might be required.

Someone who is regularly committed to listening to their body and responding to its signals for food or drink is dealing with it appropriately under typical conditions.

But endurance sports tax the body differently, and waiting to feel thirsty or hungry is like waiting until your car sputters to a halt at the side of the road before re-fueling.  Not the best strategy for maintaining a consistent pace and staying strong.

Personally, I never get hungry when I’m out running (not that I’m ever out long enough for it to matter much).

I encountered “the wall” on that windy bike ride back in early November and needed to be told by one of the other riders that I should be drinking something to replace electrolytes and eating something to give me more fuel for the rest of the trip.  I didn’t realize that I needed to eat or even drink that day because I was dealing with so many other adverse conditions that the only thing on my mind was keeping the wheels on my bike turning.

It makes sense, then, that people who usually eat and drink in response to their body’s cues might need some prompting on longer runs or rides or even swims.

So in that sense, the app strikes me as useful and consistent with a more general commitment to intuitive eating.  If someone marketed an app for every day use that always told us when to eat and drink, that would be a different story.

I’m imagining now an app for dieters that only allowed us to eat or drink at certain times, and forbade us from taking anything in outside of those times.  That kind of app trains people to deny themselves and ignore their body’s natural signals not for any performance reasons, but simply as a dieting/weight loss tool.

“Fuel My Run” is not like that. Instead of forbidding us to do what we would like to do, it reminds us to do what we need to do to stay adequately fueled for the activities we’re engaged in.  Given that the body doesn’t always send signals fast enough, reminders during activity aren’t a bad idea.