Joining the gym is not as challenging as one may think it is. At least for me, joining Virgin Active Kyalami has been a great experience so far. I love my gym and the way it’s set up and the cool mini Kauai restaurant. I love the smell of the swimming pool when entering, walking through the small barrier knowing I am here to improve myself, for myself.
The most exciting and intriguing part to me was the gym classes that came with my membership. I swore I was going to do pilates three times a week, take a swimming class at least twice a week, as well as go on the stair master and do my weight training by myself.
I have only managed to book one class since signing up about three weeks ago; the pilates class. I went one morning feeling happy and “important” because I had booked a class I needed to get to at the gym. This was about a week ago.
The yoga (which I was also excited for) and the pilates take place in the same zen room. I call it the zen room, not sure if that’s it’s actual name (it should be) because it feels so peaceful and makes you want to drift off into a mindset of tranquility.
My pilates class, however, did not make me feel at peace or tranquil. I felt imbalanced, silly and like I was the only one in the room of twenty people who could not balance a soft block atop their foot while their leg was in the air.
It did not feel as glamorous or as life changing as I’d hoped it would be. But I guess that’s the point of pilates, right? To go once, go again and keep going until you get better and stronger and until you begin to feel and see the changes you were hoping for when starting out. I just felt the class wasn’t as long as it should or could have been. It was very good, but it only lasted for thirty minutes. I did expect for it to be about an hour, as stated when booking, but stretching afterwards began after half an hour and that’s when I knew the class was wrapping up.
I realized a lot about myself and my physical strength or perhaps lack of. I want to be able to withstand balancing light blocks on my feet without struggle, to be able to tighten and strengthen my core as recommended.
I have not made an appearance since my first class but would like to in the future when I find a gap. Maybe each class is different and targets different areas of the body. Maybe some classes are naturally more intense than others and I happened to book a class for one of the intense ones. So I shall be returning and definitely will make a plan for yoga and swimming. I do love swimming and especially now that I am not near the warm sea anymore, I can no longer swim as often. At least there’s the pool at Virgin Active, right?
