We joined Life Time Athletics in Folsom in 2018. Of course we had the shutdown in 2020 and we didn’t go back until early 2022. Dave likes to go upstairs to the real gym; he uses the elliptical, treadmills, weights and stretching aides. I have been upstairs a few times but I spend the vast majority of my time in the warm water pool. It stays about 88F and feels nice for my left hip. I talked Lori into coming some days even while she was still teaching. I feel like I have gained a lot of stability and stamina but not a lot of strength. It also helps when I lose my back pain caused by muscle tightness! Mostly I run back and forth, stretch and swim just a bit for the 1.5 hours I usually get in.
After September of this year, I noticed that Life Time started an “Arora” group for those 55 and older. It included an aqua class, which we tried and disliked. AND they meet from 9-10 right when we would like to be walking in the pool. It is a massive group with over 40 in the pool. I don’t mind going earlier, but Lori loves her morning beauty sleep! So we meet at 7:30 until we get pushed out around 8:45 ( they are actually quite rude about getting into the lanes and crowding us out before removing the lane lines.) Ugh. But I was thinking about going to work with weights and then LifeTime expanded their Arora offerings. So up we went.
Lori and I started with a Tuesday Arora strength class and chair yoga. It was sadly pretty tough with so many repetitions of arm and shoulder exercises. And leg lifts- Lori really struggled but I wasn’t much better! I was wondering if they remembered this was for us old and less conditioned folks. People came out of strength whining and several left early. Christian (leading the class) was good about saying to modify as needed, but I felt like I was modifying quite a bit (dang left shoulder) and I did better than most. Actually the worst part was I signed up to be in the very front of the class. DUMB! To say the least. Thank God for chair yoga right after and she was so gentle and we stretched and relaxed. Phew.
Then Thursday I tried Total Body with Christian, mostly to work out the kinks from Tuesday. That was a much better class. Again followed by Chair yoga. Lovely. Then the yoga instructor convinced me to try Social Dance the next day – what a blast. We learned the foxtrot and East Coast swing. Her name is Allison, and she was a professional dancer and then dance instructor for many years. She’s fairly young but understands body “reminders” – that is what she calls the aches and pains of activities. She is pushy in a very gentle way. I have continued with both social dance and the chair yoga with her. I feel very accomplished and relaxed when I leave.
I also decided to try Slow Zumba, another Arora dance class on Mondays. It is Zumba but with less transitions and 70-80s music. So still with a beat but slower than most salsa music. Brittany is the instructor and she is great at helping people modify. I should say, I am probably one of the youngest in these classes. Most are 70s to early 90s! They are very social and constantly introducing themselves to everyone. Life Time also started a coffee hour for people to meet. I have seen Eskaton vans dropping people off. It is becoming quite a big group.
So now I swim 2 mornings with Lori, take 2 dance classes, 2 strength building classes and 2 chair yoga classes. Christian has turned out to be very good- he listened to feedback and has slowed down the repetition rates. But he still pushes but gently. I am still avoiding the Arora Fitness classes ( require floor exercises- nope) cycle classes and the gentle yoga ( also on the floor). I am not so sore and hoping to be in great shape when we leave for our big trip to the east coast. And I have made some new “could be” friends. But I am not going line dancing at the bars with the group. Nope.
All in all I feel like I spend a lot of time at the gym these days, but feel better. The aches go away with a good dose of ibuprofen and sleep so that is good. Who thought I’d be a gym rat this late in life???