Tonight was a first for me; I went to an exercise class! Yes, you read that correctly, I did type an exercise class! I joined a group of other mad eejits, willing to put themselves through the fun and games that is Kettle Exercise or as we have now christened it Kettle Exorcise.
The class took place on one of the squash courts at The Western Health and Racquets Club and was led by the lovely Angie from http://www.fitforlife-helensburgh.com/ . She carefully explained what we would be doing and the benefits of the various exercises/ torture we would be putting ourselves through during the 30 minute session. Angie also explained the importance of keeping a good posture during the exercises and for someone who has spent most of her life with hunched shoulders; this could actually make me straighten up! I have to admit to being slightly alarmed though when she told us that we would not be stopping, the session was continuous and we would move from one exercise straight into another. Mammmmmy! Help!
There were about 12 of us including the man himself GymGuyMark, who it has to be said stood at the back of the class, probably so teacher couldn’t see him cheating! Krista and I chose the middle of the room but the very brave Lynn and Anne stood right at the front. Time to choose our weapons! I decided to be brave and went for a 4kg kettle (I think), it wasn’t too heavy and the weight felt not too bad. A kettle weight, by the way, is a bit like a bowling ball with a handle. We started off with a warm up, sans kettle, which included star jumps. OMG! I cannot remember the last time I jumped voluntarily, possibly when the barman called time and I leapt out of my seat to get to the bar. Warm up over, we then started the real exercises. Angie’s direction was very specific and most of the moves were very straight forward, main problems were trying not to skelp yourself with the kettle or to let go of it and brain someone else in the head. The moves ranged from straight forward lifting to lunges, from swinging the kettle to the side and a few funky through the leg moves. Absolutely knackering but you could fair feel the old lungs working hard. My arms did start to wobble a bit towards the end of the first lot of exercises but perseverance was the name of the game.
There was however one little problem, I was sweating like Niagara Falls after a downpour. Twice when I had to look up, I could feel a small waterfall starting to make its way down my face, so when I looked back down I was rockin that very attractive sweat drip off the end of the nose look. Have you ever tried to keep exercising whilst trying to prevent sweat beads from dripping off your ears, nose and hair? I have and it is not easy.
Dripping drama over it was time to lie down! Being a veteran of GymGuyMark’s ‘lie down’ I was well aware that it was not nap time. After a few tummy exercises it was time to stretch and cool down. Big clap for all of us and it was over.
So … verdict! For an unfit person like me, it was tough and I did use a very rude word to describe how I felt. But I have to admit the sense of ‘I bloody survived’ possibly overtook that. The banter among the class was excellent and I think everyone felt the same, much challenged but we could all understand what the benefits would be. Angie was great, very encouraging. She kept an eye on everyone to make sure we kept our posture, so no sore backs! Will I be back? Yup, Saturday mornings will never be the same again!
Time for a cuppa
G x
Gin or Gym 