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Health & Fitness

Week 11: 24 Hours at 24 Hour Fitness

Have you ever wondered who works out in the middle of the night? If the gym is open 24 hours, it would be safe to say there are people working out all 24 hours, right? Well, I always wondered... so I thought, what the heck -- I would stay 24 hours hours at my 24 Hour Fitness gym.


I am already a member, so that wasn’t a problem. And when I told them what I was doing, it didn’t seem like a big deal, they would just note it on my account so that the staff would know. Okay, I thought, now it was up to me.


I’m not a big fitness, workout everyday type of person. I usually go twice a week for the morning yoga class, sometimes I’ll take a Zumba or Pilates class, and sometimes I’ll use the machines or weights. But primarily I take classes, I need someone to tell me what to do. And I love those walks around the neighborhood and at the beach.

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So, on the 24th of January (get it - 24 hours at 24 Hour Fitness on the 24th), I pack my backpack with extra workout clothes (I have to look good), gatorades, water bottle, snacks, sandwiches, toiletries, my journal, and a Travel & Leisure magazine. My friend Gigi picks me up to start the day with the 8:00am Yoga class at the UTC 24 Hour Fitness. I don’t want a car there just in case I get tempted to leave. Here we go.


8:00 Yoga - my usual class which relaxes me and gets the day off to a good start, Gigi takes the class with me and my EdUCate! board buddy Tim comes by to give me an encouraging high 5.

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9:00 Zumba - my first time with this instructor. I love Zumba but I feel like a little lost learning the steps each time with a new teacher. Some in the class look like professional dancers. Showoffs. Even the one guy in the class knew the moves better than me, he even had that S-move torso thrust thing down.

10:00 Core Workout - tough workout and I’m getting tired already, yikes.

10:30 Pilates - okay I’m really tired now. Instead of doing things double time, I’m doing them at negative double time, I would repeat the movements every other time and just lay there in between.

11:30 Silver Sneakers - I decided to skip this class. I’m not quite a senior yet. Actually I was afraid of those folks. They came in early and started talking during the wind down period at the end of Pilates and the instructor asked them to quiet down and they were arguing back. Those cranky seniors. Well, I know I’ll be one of them eventually.

Lunch - I find a comfy bench and eat my egg salad sandwich and drink gatorade. I plan to be snacking a lot to pass the time. Dave, one of the Little League dads saw me and gave his encouragement, what does he do to workout in the middle of the day? There really are lots of people there in the afternoon. Not as packed as it gets in the morning or after work hours, but a good steady group of people. Well I walked on the treadmill for hour, had another snack, bought some earphones since I forgot mine, bicycled for an hour.

I watched some awesomely built guy exercising and jumping all over the place. He was hanging from the bars and did reverse sit ups, and then got on top to stretch. Who was he? I tried to take pictures of him for my friend Lacy, who was sick in bed and couldn’t join me for the day, because he was definitely her type. But he kept moving around and it would look stalkerish if I tried to follow him to take pictures. During this late afternoon period, I notice quite a lot of young (for me that’s late 20s/early 30s) dudes here. And I don’t mean to be a creepy cougar lady, but wow, these guys are some great eye candy. I can sit in this bicycle for a long time, and I do.

To continue reading, go to: http://jemmasamala.com/2014/01/30/week-11-24-hours-at-24-hour-fitness/

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