Back in the workout swing

I have managed to get myself back into working out at least four days a week lately. For about the past month or so, I have made sure to have around four days of a workout that lasts at least thirty minutes, usually closer to an hour. In the afternoons, I walk from my house to the Brandeis gym, which takes about fifteen minutes. When I arrive I stretch my knees, hips, and Achilles tendons, and practice ballet in the dance studio, or in one of the racquetball rooms if it's taken, for about thirty minutes. Then I either run on the elliptical or do a circuit in the weight room for fifteen minutes. Then I walk home for another fifteen. That's a lot longer than any workouts I ever managed to get in the habit of doing in the past, so I think I'm finally really challenging myself.

One day a week I got to the little gym on the corner of High and Newton street in Waltham and get run through a real circuit workout by a trainer. For one hour they switch you between cardio and and an intense weight routine with one-minute breaks between intervals. That is very challenging, and I usually leave pretty ripped up and exhausted. It's a little more expensive than I would like, but I really think its helping, so I'm sticking with it even though it's kind of tough on my budget. (Also the only feasible per-session price for me required committing for a year.)

I think I must be progressing, as the trainer has been pushing me lately. I'm not sure I feel that different, but I've never had very good perspective on my physical state. I am lucky that my body is always in at least decent condition; I have no real chronic pain and few physical limitations. I don't remember any real difference in how my body felt at my physical peak compared to the lethargy of a few months ago, or when at a depression-induced all-time-low weight versus lately at the heaviest I've been since high school. Not sure I see anything, but Bernie says he thinks my arms and legs look stronger, and when I flex my thighs they feel firmer than I've ever noticed them being before.

I went to the gym in the morning before work today. Unfortunately as I drove, it cut out the two fifteen minute walks there and back, but I still got in dancing and elliptical. Through most of college I got up early to go exercise, and the most consistent workout habit I've ever been in was when I did workouts five days a week in the morning before 9AM class with an additional workout on Saturdays. Maybe it'll be good for me to make this a habit again, especially since it'd be nice to not lose that chunk of time in the afternoons when I usually do chores, errands, and homework, but I am a little sorry about the abbreviation necessitated by having to get to work on time.

I'm also determined to progress in ballet, even without having classes to attend again until September. I've been getting in at least a little practice three or four times a week. I'm worried of getting into bad habits without a teacher watching, but I'm doing my best to remember what I've learned. I'm not sure my technique has improved, but one thing that does actively seem to be better than before is my balance. I've elected to practice off the barre in the interest of challenging myself to not depend on it, and I find I have become considerably less wobbly as I go through the steps. Maybe it's just because I am in fact getting stronger rather than becoming a better dancer, as holding yourself in the correctly balanced positions demands a lot of muscle control, but it's encouraging. It makes me want to keep at it, and I kind of hope that somebody who saw me before will notice and confirm that I have in fact improved in that department.



I have become obsessed with this video of ballerina Polina Semionova. I love the way it's filmed so that the camera follows her and focuses on the positions of her body, it allows you to really appreciate her technical perfection and just how lovely her dancing is. I love how long her legs are, how toned and strong she is without having that creepy pulled-tight look. My favorite parts kind of surprised me, as they weren't any of the big impressive things, but I really liked where she's just doing developpe over and over with one leg as she perfectly balances on the other with not a ripple going through the rest of her, and when she marches backwards on point in time to the music with her hands at her sides. It's a really lovely dance, very joyful and athletic. Makes me wish I'd started doing this younger, so I could have progressed with it more.