Workout at (my) home!
A couple of days ago I came across this Reuters story on a UK gym that has replaced traditional dumbbells with... (wait for it)...PEOPLE! Instead of lifting or pressing metal weights, this facility offers a number of actual human beings who have their weights emblazoned on their T-shirts. The idea is that having real people to lift creates "a mental image or intention of what you want to happen...the ultimate embodiment of visualization theory," according to the gym's owner, Richard Hilton.
I just want to put it out there to all those embarking on new fitness regimens (including healthzone.ca fitness blogger David Bruser), that this type of workout is available at my house for free. In fact, if you play your cards right, I just might pay YOU to come over and hoist my offspring (just as long as I can leave and go to the mall).
And with the economy the way it is, why not sideline in babysitting? The world needs more babysitters, especially the type who are available to come on short notice so that overworked moms like me can get out and aren't, say, stuck at home writing their blogs on Saturday night.
I have recently decided not to feel guilty that I only get to a couple of yoga classes per week (if I'm really organized), and that I'm waiting for the sidewalks to be a little less frigging icy before I start running again. This is because -- between the endless threading of legs through snowpants, lifting of kids into car seats and dancing like maniacs in the living room after dinner -- my two boys help me burn big-time calories.
Case in point: The other day, my five-year-old, Cameron, wanted me to hold him upside down by the ankles and tick-tock him like a grandfather clock. Now, I am 5'3" and a bit of a lightweight and he is 4' something-or-other and 40-ish pounds. We were endeavoring to do this in front of the mirror that's on the front-hall closet door (I guess it wouldn't be getting tick-tocked by your mother like a grandfather clock if you couldn't gaze at your crazy hair in the mirror). I could only do this a few times before I started to worry that I would drop him, head-first, on the hardwood.
"That's OK," said Cameron, "you can try it again when you're bigger."
Great article! It brought back memories... child on one hip, loaded bag on the other; "airplane" swings...
And getting out in winter - oh, yeah! Don't miss that part at all, LOL!
Posted by: Tammy MacKenzie | January 25, 2009 at 09:46 AM