AT the gym’s Christmas party, one of the parlor games was “Head, shoulders, knees, and cones.”
Cones, meaning, the small orange training cones that are used to guide gym rats on where points A, B, C, etc. are.
Once I see those cones during training and the group exercises (GX), I know the workout will be more complicated than the usual. Because I’ll be moving from point A to point B while doing waves with gym ropes, lifting weights, doing squats, etc.
In the Fit Punch GX, our coach always inserts more exercises in between the boxing. In other words, there’s no rest for the weary. Haha. Instead, we’d be doing burpees, jumping jacks, and agility-ladder drills, and then back to boxing again until reaching the time limit for the boxing exercise station, after which we’d move on to the next station.
My GX participation has always been modified since the start due to my left knee and my age. In other words, I won’t be doing the usual burpees, jumping jacks, and agility-ladder drills at the boxing station. There was that day when the coach said I could touch my toes instead. But if you know how crazy I could be, of course, I won’t be merely touching my toes. What I did was that song—head, shoulders, knees, and toes, knees, and toes.
So, at the party, when another coach was calling for participants for the “Head, shoulders, knees, and cones” game, the Fit-Punch coach, who happens to be my personal trainer, asked me to join the game. We were both laughing because we knew why. But I said no. I wasn’t in the mood to join any parlor game. But then, the parlor-game coach called my name, and since I didn’t want to make a career out of pakyeme, I decided to join the game.
The game’s mechanics: touch your head, shoulders, or knees, depending on what the coach says. If he says, cones, grab the cone to level up. No cone, no leveling up. I was able to reach the top level. Ahem.
No thanks to my old, cheap, wobbly flat shoes, I almost fell down twice while playing that game. But I won. I don’t know if the other participants let me win because of my age, or I’m simply more fit and agile now, with much thanks to the group exercises and my personal training. I’d like to believe it’s the latter. I can dream, can’t I?
By the way, the shoes quit after the parlor game and the party’s Zumbathon. I had to throw it away.
The next day, I joined Xavier-Ateneo’s “Kuwentuhang Bayan” at the Sta. Rita de Cascia Parish in Balingasag, Misamis Oriental.
“Kuwentuhang Bayan” is the university’s voter’s education program and it’s now working with the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting’s “Pakighinabi Political Education Forum.”
Anyway, the forum’s ice breaker was the “Bato” game—no relation whatsoever with the senator. If the host says, “Bato,” touch your head. If he says, “Bato-bato,” touch your shoulders. If he says, “Batotoy,” cover your crotch. There were some parts of the game where what the host said didn’t match his action: touching his shoulders while saying, “Bato.” So, what to do then?
The game was actually sending a message about the elections: if a political candidate is delivering a particular statement but his actions reveal otherwise, which to believe?
