This is squeezed, dang it!

Well, so far I've survived my first steps toward fitness: the trauma of being seen by other people, getting myself shoved into a sports bra (much like an obstacle course,) and the humiliation of not understanding the moves (left leg right arm, or right leg right arm?) 

My lovely "beast" of a daughter has kindly dumbed down her workout routine in order to improve morale, (not hers, mine.) She's strong and flexible and capable (did I mention she's also beautiful?) and is my biggest cheerleader in my quest for all things firmer, especially my legs. Well, that's not exactly true -- she's my biggest supporter to a better, healthier, more active lifestyle. She has stayed with me for the first few days, probably just to make sure I'm actually going. We warm up and stretch on the floor, and I watch her like a hawk so I'm able to mimic her every move. This observation is so intense that I find myself adjusting my towel to be in place just like hers! "MOM!" she says ... and we fall to our sides in laughter. 

My trainer (who is also her trainer) calls out two sets of instructions ... one for her (highly-skilled) and another (modified) set for me. It goes something like, "Taylor, stand on one leg, pick up that 20 lb weight, and bend forward at the hip, keeping your body in one straight line ... do that eight times then switch legs. There is a name for this move, but like most of them, I can't remember. Karen, do the same thing, but don't use any weights." Watching my daughter effortlessly bend, stand and bend again looks pretty easy. She makes me want to try harder. I stand on one leg, reach our my arms and wobble like I'm on a tightrope. Looking over my shoulder to see if anyone sees me jerking like I'm experiencing an electrical shock, I try again. Fail. From behind I hear, "Karen, let's move you to the wall ... just reach out and touch the wall with your thumbs." So, we've modified the modified routine. This is about as dumbed down as it gets. Red-faced I move the the wall and pray everyone else is too busy with their own workouts to notice. Six times each leg. Whew -- it's over.

One of the key elements in this training is to improve my core strength. I'm still not exactly sure what that means, but both my trainer and my daughter tell me it's important. That must be the reason for this huge beach ball because hip lifts are so much easier from the ground. Almost every exercise includes tightening my stomach muscles and squeezing my glutes. My trainer, realizing we have a lot of work to do here, reminds me several times to "squeeze." Instead of yelling to him, "They are squeezed!" I pretend I don't understand the instructions.

I close my eyes and recall my body of 30 years ago. I need to keep going.  My goal continues to be wearing a bathing suit in Cabo, and that's enough motivation to bring me back -- at least one more time.