Death by Cardio

Live Healthy Iowa!

In a moment of temporary insanity I signed up to be a Live Healthy Iowa team member with some co-workers.

Determined not to let them down, I then signed up for a circuit training class at the gym. This is the same gym I let my husband talk me into joining. He loves the gym, he goes 3-5 times per week. He lifts weights and runs like 30 minutes. He sweats and breathes heavy and everything. I was completely happy doing my fake work-outs to humor him. You know EXACTLY what I'm talking about - walking on the treadmill, working up to a jog for a minute or two, gingerly riding the stationary bike, and jumping on the dreaded eliptical contraption for up to five entire minutes. Let's be realistic, the only reason I consented was to catch 30-60 minutes of HGTV as we gave up cable at home two years ago (OMG has it really been two years?!).

The first night I showed up for circuit training only one other person showed up. He was a gangly 50'ish guy who apologized for his wife's absence on the first day of class. The perky personal trainer assured him that she could join us next week along with another missing classmate. She then proceeded to walk us through the "circuit" of machines that we were going to utilize during our training. She briefed us on the concept of combining treadmill work with quick spurts of weight machine work. Thirty-two seconds has never felt so long in my entire 35 years of life! By the time we had worked through nearly two circuits and were one machine away from our cool-down, I nearly passed out - LITERALLY. I was sitting on what has quickly become my least favorite machine. Just as the trainer shouted "switch" the world started closing in and I felt like I was on the verge of spewing. As "Tom" comes over to take my place on the machine, I can't get off - the world has started to spin at this point. He's all "Are you alright?" All I could do was shake my head. As I slinked my way off the machine so he could finish his workout, the trainer walked over to ensure I was okay. I looked up in horror to see 10 people standing there waiting for their circuit training class to begin. The trainer grabbed a garbage can and told me to stay put. She then added that I got a good workout in as I pushed my body to the limit. WHAT?! Was she crazy. She nearly killed me! As I sat against the wall for the next 20 minutes she kept checking in to encourage me to come back next time - she didn't want this to discourage me. Now why on earth would this near-death experience discourage me? I just got my butt kicked by the old guy I was working out with. How humiliating.

Determined to not let my Live Healthy Iowa team down I returned to this class I now lovingly refer to as "Death by Cardio" and have made it through all three circuits without dropping dead. I'm still relatively certain the perky trainer and my overly supportive husband are in cahoots - it's an evil plan to kill me!

If I drop dead, promise me you'll have the cops question both of them!