ONE advantage of joining Zumba classes is the chance to learn the choreography for the latest hit songs from “Apt.” to “Breaking News.”
For someone like me who didn’t even know who Mary Grace Piattos was, and why Atty. Zuleika Lopez was refusing to be transferred from St. Luke’s to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center, and had no idea Donald Trump and Kamala Harris were running for U.S. president, at least I’m updated on the latest hit songs, with much thanks to Zumba instructors.
The gym usually has cool music once the Zumba classes are over. This provides background Muzak for the gym rats like, hmmm, me while we’re lifting weights and using the exercise machines.
The group exercises—Fit Punch, Abs Workout, Fitness Strength Training—also have their own music, depending on the respective coaches’ preference. The Abs Workout, for example, usually has Coldplay’s “Yellow” for the cooldown.
The Fitness Strength Training is a new addition that began in October, with its coach introducing the “Bring Sally Up” Muzak for the pushups and squats. We now call him Coach Sally because of the torture—hehe—that “Sally up” and “Sally down” have given to our muscles. He uses the same Muzak for the Abs Workout finisher when he’s assigned as its coach on Saturdays.
If you think Fit Punch is a fruit juice with some alcohol, think again. Like the other group exercises or GX, Fit Punch is also a kind of circuit training but with boxing as part of the exercise.
The more participants, the merrier for the GX, since each participant is assigned one exercise station for a minute or two, and goes to the next exercise station for the same time limit. That’s why on Fridays after the Zumba, I now have this hard habit to break of inviting Zumba classmates to join the Abs Workout on Saturday. Unlike the Tuesday and Thursday morning GX classes which are scheduled after the Zumba, there’s no Zumba on Saturday from which we can invite classmates to join.
Missing a day at the gym may lead to the blues for one who’s already fully adjusted to going there daily. But a rest day is a must and I’ve chosen Sundays as my time to read books and write this column.
There are people who love to exercise alone, and that’s still possible at the gym—just wear headphones and a hoodie. That’s enough to subtly send a message of, Leave me alone.
I, on the other hand, am the friendly gym rat. Which I wasn’t planning to become. I joined the gym at the height of some personal struggles, with the hope that the gym could help me overcome them. There were times during my first month there in February that I’d stare at nothing in between sets.
If there’s one thing I learned from my low-carb community, it’s this: I need a community to help me stick to the low-carb diet. Thus, the gym for the workouts.
