Do you know what one of the things I love most in life is? Yes, I do love Kit-Kats; of course, I'm head-over-heels for my husband; yeppers, Seyo definitely tugs the heart strings; well, duh, I do love my family oh so much; and yeah, buffets are definitely up there...y'all are proving to know me pretty well. I'm impressed. But what I was initially getting at is GOING TO THE GYM!! I love going to the gym. I'm not even joking; it gets me really super excited. Do I pitch a fit before I go? Sometimes, and yes, it can feel like a chore, but I never leave the gym feeling worse than when I went in. Now, I know a lot of people who also love to go to the gym, but I know a lot more people who do not like to go to the gym; they're prefer the solitude and privacy of working out at home. Not only do I love going to the gym, but I FREAKING love fitness classes. I don't even care what kind it is. I could read a sign that says Fitness Class: Pogo Juggling with Kettle Bell Burpee Sprints with a Concentration in Spaniard Flambe Twists, and I'm like, "SIGN ME UP!!" I have no idea what that sign would even mean; I could walk in and they could be beheading grasshoppers for a sacrifice to the goat gods but I would show up because of the sign...I don't think I'd stay, though, for that anyway. And like going to the gym, I know a bunch of people who are also fitness class addicts, but I also know a lot more people who stay away from them. "I'll be too embarrassed; I don't know the moves; I need to lose weight first..." (that last one always seems a little ironic to me), but I've heard all of the reasons. If there is one place in life you should not care what you look like, it's going to the gym!!!
Think about it: One of the reasons people go to the gym is to change their life for some reason. No one is in the gym because they think they are perfect. Yes, it looks like some of them are trying to maintain perfection, but that's how we see them. They see themselves as someone who is trying to better their health just like everyone else in the room. There's too much self-conscience thoughts in the gym, and these thoughts are what keeps a lot of people from going to the gym in the first place. Well, this made me start thinking about all of the times I did something stupid or embarrassing at the gym, and ya know what? Had those moments kept me from going back, I would feel a lot worse now than what I did on those certain days. But the gym is also one of those places where I genuinely don't care what I look like...I really don't. I have no make-up, my hair turns into a different texture of brillo pad mixed with hay, I sweat like a werwolf in the sauna, and I will do anything that gets results. "Hey, Abigail, swing upside down from the light while holding thirty pounds and singing God Bless America for two minutes..." Done, son!! I'll do anything, I don't care how it makes me look. I do not/will not let self-conscience thoughts get in the way of productivity.
I asked some of my fitness friends via facebook about some of their embarrassing moments. They were more than happy to share. These are individuals, despite having been embarrassed, who returned to the gym, no worries. I'm gonna start things off with something that happened just a few months ago...
Having participated in Crossfit in Korea with my awesome coach Norelle, I was thrilled to get back in the scene at the Crossfit Gym in Haywood County. I knew I was going to push myself--jump higher, lift heavier, go faster--because that's what I was used to. Emily, my little sister, went with me. As we were doing box jumps, I looked over to tell her how to do it, and bam, I caught my shin. I didn't even know I was bleeding until two stations later when the instructor called me out. I was embarrassed because I knew better, but I kept going. Silly, Abigail, never look away from your box!!
"Well, Abigail, it was one of those days where you just feel great and feel like you could lift anything. So I proceeded to do my leg workout, which I love doing by the way. Anyway, so I started on the leg press and started with 5 plates on each side; I did my set and then went up. And by then, there were quite a people there. So I get to my last set of 10 and still felt pretty good, so I put 10 plates on each side. I got in and did my grunting the whole time. I got done and jumped up, and felt darn good that I just did 900 lbs 10 times. I started talking to the people who were watching me, and then started taking the plates off. Well, I took too many plates off, and the machine tips over on its side with all the weights on the other side. It took like 8 guys to get it back up right. Needless to say, I felt like I was the new guy at the gym that day."
Submitted by Mark Hyman
"I decided to teach myself to do a handstand. During my cardio class, I would practice my handstands in the corner when the instructor was picking new music. So a break comes, and I start to do my handstands. I get my legs up, and I start to fall on my back. As I'm falling, I see my feet getting caught in the stack of chairs they kept in the corner; they started tumbling down on me. Then I see these two big arms grab them and hold them up long enough for me to get up and help him push them back. Needless to say, everyone in the class was laughing by then...oh, well."
Submitted by Ken Kladnik
"One embarrassing thing I can remember, while not thinking between Zumba routines, is when Ken caught me drinking his water. We could embellish the story and say that later I got sick from his germs and had to go to the doctor. However, it is good that Ken caught me and didn't drink afterwards. He would have gotten sick from my germs, and they would have had to airlift him John Hopkins Medical Center...lol."
Submitted by Al Rowe
"During the mid 1990's, this Jersey girl moved to L.A. to attend school for Occupational Therapy. I was an avid step aerobic enthusiast. One August afternoon, one of my besties from NJ was visiting and we were taking a class. Doing an "around the world" movement, my left ankle came out from under me, and I fell on the floor in front of the class. I was so embarrassed. After all, I was not a novice to this class. Bearing weight on that ankle was pretty painful, so after all the stares and people asking, "Are you okay?" my friend, Debbie, and I gathered our risers/steps. We were going, I was hobbling, out of the aerobics room, trying not to draw attention to ourselves. I could feel the flush in my face from embarrassment and was mad at myself for being such a klutz!! I was mad at myself for cutting the class short because of my stupid, stumbling escapade. I can remember thinking, "Will I ever be able to do step again...a class I really enjoy without fear of my ankle buckling and Big Nanc falling in front of this large, seasoned group of fellow step enthusiast?" About a month of strengthening my ankle, I entered a step class and grabbed one rise for each side instead of two, and I watched the instructor. I got into the hang of the familiar steps, didn't stumble, and made it through class. I was not going to let one moment of embarrassment and a few days of pain interfere with my need to release endorphins working out."
Submitted by Nancy Gluck-Coleman
The moral of these stories is that no matter what happens that day or in that moment, you literally brush yourself off and keep pushing forward. Unless you walk in with a picnic basket and a cell phone to set up shop in the middle of the free weights section, no one cares what you do or how you look in the gym. If anything, when someone goofs, it should make you feel more comfortable. If you went to the gym with me, you'd feel perfect. Seriously, I'm massive treadmill dancer. To me, the display and side rails are merely my drum set.
I would love to have some more stories. Please, if you have a moment that you'd like to share, hit me up with a PM over the FB...haha...all those letters. I'd like to do a few segments of this because I have way too many moments to share. So again, I want to hear your "survival" stories!! Send them my way, homie!
