Jodi Speaks Her Mind

Kick, punch, flail, flop 3/31/2005

Yours truly got brave on Tuesday evening - or perhaps it was just stupid. I tried something I’ve wanted to try for a long time - kickboxing. I happened to be at the gym just as the class was starting. I’m not usually there at that time, but I’ve always wanted to try it. It just looks so energizing and “whole-body”. Since I did gymnastics for 16 out of the first 20 years of my life, I am familiar with both the agonies and benefits of full-body workouts!

Sadly, it would seem that the years are catching up with me, and I’m simply not the same fit, limber person I used to be. It was really a lot of fun at first and quite energizing and challenging. It felt good to discover that I still have some of my coordination skills. However, two problems presented themselves which combined to frustrate my efforts only halfway through the class. First, my arms and legs tired pretty quickly from this new form of exertion. They just aren’t strong or conditioned anymore. My quickly wearying arms and legs started feeling a bit like jelly. The problem with jellylike limbs is they don’t move, go, punch, or kick where they’re supposed to, and I think I began looking a bit like a raggedy ann doll being tossed about by a careless child. The second problem, which was the clincher for me, presented itself as soon as we switched from focusing on our right side to the left, which was unfortunately the same time my arms and legs decided they were pretty much done for the day. Evidently the coordination skills I mentioned before do not apply to the left half of my body any longer. My left arm would NOT go where it was supposed to, no matter how hard I willed it. So at this stage in the class, I’m a cross between a limp raggedy ann doll and a drunkard - not a pleasing combination at all! If everyone else hadn’t had to focus so intently on what they were doing, they could have paused and watched me long enough to enjoy a pretty good laugh! (Who knows, maybe they were all secretly laughing at me. Good for them, for they know good entertainment when they see it! LOL)

Ok, thankfully, I’m exaggerating a little, but it was definitely a humbling experience, that’s for sure! By this point, I’d made it through 30 minutes of intense cardio and muscular exercise and I determined that was quite enough for one day. I left the class, walked it off on the treadmill, and headed home for a soak and a good laugh at myself with Steve.

I do hope to try it again - soon even, only next time with a bit more knowledge up front for what’s in store for me. I’ll try to reserve more energy for the left side, so I can concentrate on getting the signals from my brain to my muscles at the right times. First, however, I must recover from the soreness I’m now suffering. Ah, yes, the benefits and the agonies…