AFTER watching “Jurassic World Rebirth,” I had already left the cinema when I remembered the bottled water I left in its rest room.
What a waste of free bottled water which I could add to my collection of unused free cinema bottled water. And I could use the walking to and from the cinema since I needed 776 more steps to achieve the 10,000 daily minimum.
Walking is not exactly the recommended exercise for me, no thanks to my knee. So, I use the gym’s stationary bike instead of the treadmill as warmup before personal training.
The knee is a favorite topic among people of a certain age as they’re now using a knee pad, cane, walker, or even a wheelchair to protect the knee.
My knee went crazy at a circuit training class in 2016. I gotta feeling that knee was already complaining at the taekwondo aerobics classes way back in the late ‘90s. Tae Kwon Do meant boxing and kicking and looking out the gym’s window for the deep inhales and exhales in between sets. I should have fallen in love with boxing then but I guess I was too young to appreciate Daddy’s favorite sport.
Now that I’ve reached a certain age, I can finally see the perks of boxing. “To everything there is a season,” as the saying goes.
The gym used to have three boxing group exercise (GX) classes for which I bought a pair of pink boxing gloves and pink hand wraps.
It’s back to one boxing class now, Fit Punch, which is actually a circuit training class with some boxing. It was already ongoing when I first joined the gym in February 2024. Led by Coach Jowen Racines, it’s the second in rank as the gym’s most challenging GX classes. The first? Boot Camp, also with Coach Jowen. And he bakes the most delish Basque cheesecake. Talk of contrast.
As the gym’s newbie then, I opted to observe Boot Camp at first to help myself decide if I had the strength for it. While watching my gym classmates, I thought, Oh my, do I have the powers to do that? The week after, I joined the class. Coach Jowen already knew about my knee during my first-day orientation. So, all of my workouts have been modified since then. First and foremost — no jumping.
And no treadmill, no running, no real burpees. I’ve become the epitome of modification for the newbies in the GX classes, with that class’s coach telling them to follow my modified moves if they’re still not able to keep up with the Joneses, er, the GX experts.
And who are the GX experts? They’re the ones who can lift a 10-kilogram plate while jumping. If you’re the kind of newbie who believes you have to keep up with them, good luck na lang.
I’ve learned to smell the roses during GX classes. Because what matters most is how I feel at that moment, right there during that GX class.
I’ve also learned how important core strength is. It can control the world and even the universe. Hehe.
