A very enthusiastic couple in my studio had recently moved up from the Beginner to the Intermediate level class. They were definitely ready and capable of handling the difference. A few months after their transition from one level to the next, I asked if they could tell me about their experience. I am very excited they said yes! I want to share their experience and comparison with you because it’s a real experience – not just what I think, but what they actually experienced. Enjoy reading about Marge and Ron.
Marge writes . . . Why go from the Beginning to Intermediate? To answer this, we have to start at the beginning. Why go to 30 Minutes of Everything in the first place? We have thousands of dollars of exercise equipment in the basement (hooked up to Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.) which was faithfully used on a regular basis. One day aerobics, another day weight training… treadmill, rowing machine, recumbent bike, weights, the whole gambit. We both exercised religiously (almost… Ron was much more disciplined that I was… once spring came, the garden called and that became my exercise.)
Never one to sign up for exercise programs or gyms, we relied on our inner discipline to keep us going (understanding that exercise is good for you… and feels good after you are finished). In addition, living 15 minutes from a major road meant any outside program involved a commitment in travel time. Really, why spend 45-60 minutes in travel to do what we could do at home? Because it was getting harder and harder to do the same thing over and over again. I felt like I needed a kick in the butt to get inspired again.
So I took the plunge and based on overwhelming “enthusiastic recommendations” by a variety of friends, decided to try 30 Minutes of Everything. Being in my 70s, the Beginner class was the way to go. And I got hooked. This was not a buff group, nor a slouch group. It was, pretty much, a supportive group of my peers (who else has time free at 11 in the morning?), who were concerned about their health and wanted to do something about it. Matched up with a Coach and Assistant who could not have been more supportive. AND music I could sway to and keep the beat with.
The extremely crowded entrance forced you to chat away and get to know each other. Never, never, never hearing anything negative about the program or the instructors…almost unheard of in this type of a situation. After a few months, I knew I had to convince Ron to join me. He had always been extremely disciplined, 3 days of aerobics (treadmill) and 3 days of weights and strength. But it was the same thing over and over, and with age, it was time to worry about balance and limberness as well (and some different muscles). He too got hooked.
We continued on with the Beginner group for more than a year enjoying it, but sometimes feeling like the workout for that day could have been harder for us. At the beginning of one session, Tanya passed out a questionnaire, which made me think about what I really wanted to get out of the program. That’s when I realized I needed to start pushing myself more and not just go with the flow. Ron was even readier than I to try something harder. So we decided to try a few Intermediate classes to see how they would be and ended up doing a mix of classes for an 8-week session. As an Economist, if you are going to spend the money and time, you want to maximize your benefits, which means full steam ahead and go for all Intermediate classes on the next round!
So this is what we thought about the transition from Beginner to Intermediate:
- 20 people is a LOT of people in a class (smaller class size in the Beginner level). You have to be much more careful about where you stand and move… and sometimes that bag/kettlebell size you want just got picked up by your teammate.
- These are no longer our peers. Some of these folks could be my grandchildren.
- No more “oldies” music. Sometimes I hear a song I know, but most of the time I feel like I’m in the Marines.
- The entrance in the morning is a lot less crowded (the early class moves on out quickly).
- The exercises PUSH me. No more sluffing off along the way.
- My expectation that I wouldn’t get as much personalized attention with 20 people in the class didn’t materialize… somehow the Coaches find time to give us lots of help.
- I feel good about being able to do a harder level of exercise.
- The exercises are more intricate in Intermediate. Not just making one think more, but making your body move in different ways. The exercises seem more disciplined.
- There seems to be more variety in what we do.
- The age difference is a lot greater, which is wonderful. I love watching the 30-40 year olds excelling.
Do I have any new goals? – not really. Same as always “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone” (Neale Donald Walsch)
Being ready for a change isn’t just about challenging your body to do something different. It’s also about challenging your comfort with being uncomfortable at first. If you’re wanting to make a change somewhere in your life, do it. Realize you’ll be uncomfortable at first, but after time you’ll develop a new routine and skills for your new life.