Are YOU a Weekend Warrior?
I have recently found a sport that is perfect for my age - or your age! Catch your interest? I will tell you in a minute.....
For years I have been involved in sports - basketball, baseball, soccer, ice hockey, lacrosse, track, cross country marathon running. For those of you with attention to detail, or if you know me, you would realize I just said "involved in" these sports....as a spectator, manager, or carpooler, definitely not the athlete! There is something in my DNA that indicates a desire to play sports, but then an equal part of my DNA realizes it just isn't going to happen. I was the high school basketball bench warmer, never to score a point during my short career. I was the cheerleader who needed to be towards the back so I could watch the other girls in front and follow along. Flash forward to adulthood, I basically became the adult who would try running and end up in an MRI machine. However, over the years I knew I had to try different things as this body needed to move, especially given the sedentary medical transcription profession I found myself in. I joined our community gym and started trying different things, hoping nothing would prompt an emergency room visit. I did find myself taking muscle relaxants after yoga sessions, but that did seem like progress as I did not need a neck collar, cast, or even an Ace bandage, and over time I actually saw some benefit of those classes...and graduated to Pilates! Several benefits to these new activities - my body felt better and I could almost feel the endorphins running around my body. An added bonus was that the lights were off and I did not have to try to keep pace with the beat of any music. I found my niche!
The weekend warrior took hold of me and I signed up for a spinning class. What really caught my eye in the flyer was that it burned over 700 calories an hour - hmmmm, I did know how to ride a bike so maybe this would work! Well, it was not quite like riding a bike as a kid on the flat sidewalks of Buffalo. This turned out to be riding a specialized stationary bike through various speed and tensions for a workout that is, to say the least, difficult for even a physically fit person, a category I most definitely do not fit in! I was beyond a doubt the oldest person in the class, could not do some of the moves, was out of breath and looking close to an MI or stroke for most of the hour, but I did manage to keep my legs moving. It is an understatement to say I was out of my "comfort zone" but I did keep coming back week after week. After all, the music was great, the lights were off, and it turns out each person spins at their own level, adjusting the workout individually. Here was a sport I could do! I found myself moving to two classes a week, buying special biking shoes and a cushioned seat for my behind, sleeping better, eating better, concentrating at work better, and I found the "daydreaming" part of spinning (I have to daydream to get my mind off my muscles and joints asking me just what am I doing!) a good time to help me organize my thoughts and manage my stress. I am almost always still the oldest in the class, but I have enjoyed the company of younger women and an occasional brave man, most of whom are actual athletes, or at least regular exercise demons - and no one makes me feel I do not belong there. Just hearing their stories of races and 40-mile bike rides on the open road inspire me to stick with my little stationary bike and try to at least make it through the hour without either falling off, crying, or quitting....and I have never needed to return to the MRI machine! I love being able to adjust the tension of the bike or the position of this middle-aged body to focus on what I can do, and no one knows or cares what I can't do, including me! Ahhh, I can be a weekend warrior after all!