Stretched to the MAX!

Elastic Man...Rubber-bands...Stretch Armstrong...Me...I know I don't really fit in with this group of over-pulled, flexible objects, but I feel like it this week.

I started working-out a couple of weeks ago. Let's face it...I am way out of shape and way overweight, so I decided I better do something about it. For the last few weeks, I've been doing the elliptical machine and the doing some strength training. Crazy me decided that I should do a session with our gym's personal trainer. WHAT WAS I THINKING?????

So, Wednesday evening, I met with the trainer for our first consult. We started with several simple stretches which lulled me into a false sense of security. Here I was thinking, "I got this...Bring it on!" You know, your normal stretches to warm-up before exercising. Before I knew it, he was stretching me in ways that I'm sure God never intended for my body to stretch. And just when I thought my legs and arms couldn't be pulled any further, you guessed it...miraculously he'd push me a few more inches. OUCH!!!!

After the stretching, we began the assessments. WHAT??? I didn't sign up for a fitness test... I just wanted some help knowing how to lose weight. For a moment I felt like I was in 6th grade all over again doing the President's Fitness Test. How many push-ups in a minute? How many sit-ups in a minute? How many squats in a minute? When I did the sit-ups, I knew it would be bad. I have not done a true sit-up since maybe 8th grade...you know, crunches are much easier. I told the trainer not to expect much and that I would probably not get into the double digits. Well, after I did those tests, he said, "Okay, now for the mile run."

WHAT? RUN? Does he know who he's talking to? I started looking around for the hidden camera hoping this was all someone's cruel idea of a Halloween prank. Much to my disappointment it was no joke. He did assure me that I was only doing this to set a starting point for my road to physical fitness and that I was only competing against myself. He also told me that as long as I began the mile running, I could walk when I needed to and it would still count as a run. So, off I went. Because the indoor track at our gym is really short, it was going to take 18.5 laps to equal a mile. I actually ran the first two laps and then about every other lap I walked. He was nice enough to keep count of the laps for me. He updated me every five laps. And, he was very encouraging...as every trainer should be.

After it was all said and done, we put the results in his fancy computer program and got the instant grade. I did "excellent" on my push-ups, "poor" on my sit-ups, and "fair" on my run. Then the really bad part came. You know, the Body Fat Test, where you hold the little machine in front of you and it reads your body fat percentage...NO SURPRISE there! Let's just say, I knew I needed to start working out way before that test.

The next day, I was in so much pain, I really wanted to stay in bed for the next three days. Instead, I fought my pain and went to work out for another hour. Then, that night, I aired up my bike tires and went for a ride. Then, at last, thinking I would define all odds, I got up Friday and went to a Cardio Fusion class. I met a girl at the gym that had encouraged me to try it. It is a class that uses jump-rope, step aerobics, weight-training, an exercise ball, and stretching. I'll admit, I couldn't keep up, but I tried everything. For a moment, I felt like I was on Candid Camera when we got on the exercise ball. Let's just say...it takes some practice.I will probably go back to the class. It was a great work-out.

Fitness is something I didn't have problems with when I was young, but in the last ten years, I have become extremely out-of-shape. God desires for us to take care of the bodies he's given us. I am only sorry that I have failed so miserably at that command.

God, please give me strength to take care of my body, especially when I don't feel like it. You created me for your work, and I can't do that work well if I am not well. Thank you for loving me enough to protect me from my laziness.