Like my post in praise of the 5 km and other shorter distances, I’m here to sing the praises of the shorter effort. In this case it’s the half hour fitness class I’d like to say nice things about.
I use the university gym and fitness centre and I love their range of classes. I often go to indoor cycling in the winter and aquafit in the early morning. I do whatever fits. But daytime classes are tricky. I’m mostly booked on the hour, pretty much every hour, for most of my days on campus. I like the idea of exercising at lunch but if my last morning meeting ends at noon and my first meeting of the afternoon starts at 1, full hour classes are out. Sure, the gym is just a few minutes away. Sure, I’m a super hero who wears leggings under work clothes for a quick change but even I can’t manage that. (See Sam is on Conversation Canada talking about super heroes and leggings.)
Then, I noticed them. Half hour “express” classes. The one I’ve been going to is the TRX class. I love it. Starts at 12:15, ends at 12:45.
You might ask–and you’re right to ask– when on earth do I eat?
The thing is since breakfast is at 6, there’s no way I’m going to make it to noon anyway. I usually eat half my lunch early. Call it second breakfast. Mid-afternoon I finish my lunch. It works.
I’ve been going to the express TRX classes Tuesdays and some Thursdays. I really like it. Since I can’t walk much these days I need to make real effort to get movement into my day. Yes, I bike to work. Yes, I wobble on my new stool. But mostly I sit a lot. The TRX class breaks it up. I love the TRX anyway. I think it’s a terrific piece of fitness equipment. I’m going to blog about that separately. It’s great strength training. And I’m back at work in the afternoon energized.
And yes, I could go the gym on my own and do my own thing for 30 minutes but I’d have to be pretty organized and focused. I prefer that some one else does the planning and tells me what to do.
And no, I don’t shower. It’s a half hour. I just put on new antiperspirant and fluff my hair after.
Call me a fan of the 30 min exercise class.
Yes– what a great idea! It all counts and it all adds up. And I bet it reduces sleepiness for afternoon (well, not sure about that, but one can hope…)