We went to Tomoko's TRX class.
In hindsight, this was probably a mistake. The class starts at 5:10am, and it was daylight savings, so when I got in Goldie's car, the dashboard read 3:48am. And, the clock in the TRX room read 4:08am. And, our bodies were like: "wtf?"
In case you don't know what TRX is, here's how they sell it to unsuspecting fitness seekers:**
**Full disclosure, I did TRX way back in the day with Gwyn and I couldn't walk for three days.
What they don't tell you is that T.R.X. is sooo hard. It is like Cirque du Soleil, only you are not a cir-performer. You are just a regular schmuck. And even just getting into the damn straps at 5:10/4:10 in the morning is a challenge.
(Masinga gets extra shout out because she did something similarly challenging on Friday night: pole dancing--for fitness, not for dollas. Masinga, you rock.)
The Good: I like using the T.R.X. for my squats and lunges. I have a hard time keeping good form and balancing, so having the straps to hold me up lets me get a deeper and more effective movement.
The Bad: I don't think Tomoko is super good at keeping track of time, so she would set us doing one-leg lunges, and we would just keep doing it for some seemingly arbitrary amount of time. Then she would tell us to stop, but there didn't seem to be much rhyme or reason.
The Ugly: Push-up with a pike. Your feet are suspended in the air. You do a push-up, then you do a pike. This is pretty ugly on my end of the gym because I have a hard time holding a plank for more than about 15 seconds with my feet in the air. The push-up with pike is particularly hilarious.
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| Me, Tomoko, and the straps of torture in the background. |
Tomoko even came over to check on me last Monday. "Are you okay," she asked.
"Yes," I replied, face flat on the mat, "I am just really bad at these."
T.R.X. is so hard that I think I have a hard time getting a good workout because I am just so bad at the movements. It would be like trying to get a work out while riding a bike, while you are still learning how to ride a bike.
But, I am accepting that there is a learning curve, and it is going to be particularly steep in this case. And I am trying to remind myself that hard, super-stupidly, disgustingly hard, is probably good. It is a sign that I am challenging myself.
Of course, Goldie loves it.
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| Goldie loves hard things (twss) |
Last Monday, I felt infinitesimally better at T.R.X. I could feel my ads working like crazy. Maybe by the next day light savings, I'll be able to do the "human saw" for more than 30 seconds. Low expectations!
My hope is that we can add T.R.X. in once a week to our strength training regime.
Monday: T.R.X.
Wednesday: heavy weights
Fridays: Masinga's magic body weight strength training
Post Script: The Extra Ugly. Don't get me wrong. I love the YMCA. I love their facilities. I love their members. I love their workers. I love it. But, I have to say, that asking for service beyond the swipe the card/pick up a towel at the front desk rarely goes smoothly.
Maybe it is because when I got to the gym, early in the morning and on the weekends, they don't have their A-team working behind the counters. You'll remember the incident of Steven's spin class?
Well, in order to attend T.R.X. you have to pay a bit extra. There is a punch card system. You buy a punch card at the beginning of a 6-week period. You have to use all your punches by the end of the six-week period. The punches are like 5$ a piece and include things like kettlebells, T.R.X. and hapkito.
We tried to buy our punches before class last Monday, but the system wasn't working, so they said we could do it after class. We went after class and it was a hot mess. First, they had to put everyone's name in the system. Then, they couldn't figure out how to do two punches. So, I got one punch on my name and one on the Tiger's name. (wtf?!). Masinga and Goldie both paid cash for just one punch, but that was still pretty confusing. And it took about 20 minutes. We were promised that they would figure out how to do it so we could get our punches the next time we come in, but I have my doubts.
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