I have to admit, I wasn’t sure about this one as I drove to the Youfit gym on 107th Avenue in Miami. After all, I had done the whole strength training thing and though I liked the results, I got tired of it. I stopped going to a gym over a year ago, so now, driving to a gym while working on a blogging campaign for #FitFluential I shook my head and asked myself “why on Earth did I do this?”
This campaign is about a transformation and how Youfit can help me get it. Because I am in the ramping up stages of Ironman Lake Placid, I can’t go too nuts … but the truth is that I have no upper body nor core strength and having some will certainly help feel stronger at the Ironman, especially as I get tired towards the end of the day. So I told myself, makes sense to work on this program and be transformed after all.
I’m not a gym person, I get easily intimidated. In fact, that Nike commercial going around the internet where the women are judging themselves and the other women around them … well that is me. But I got to Youfit and something was different.
Heading up the stairs was an older couple, in their 70s. They were walking up the stairs (!) holding hands. They were going to the gym for a Silver class together with at least twenty other senior citizens! Nothing about them was intimidating, in fact, they were one heck of an inspiring bunch.
I met Adelina and Renata who showed me around, and there were a lot of things about the gym that I really liked.
First Youfit markets itself as a Green Gym. Green is their color. The floors are made out of recycled tires and sneakers, while heating, water and power systems are all energy efficient. I happened to go on Earth Day and they were having all sorts of promotions and activities to celebrate. I live in a town which barely acknowledges Earth Day so this was a pleasant surprise.
The people I saw were not your stereotypical gym crowd. Maybe because I went on a weekday morning I got the older crew, well a lot of women who looked like work-at-home, or stay-at-home moms like myself. There wasn’t loud annoying music and since I had some time to kill before my appointment with a YouCoach, I jumped on a treadmill.
Again, I haven’t been to a gym in a while, so it was nice to see that each machine had it’s own television and there was no time limit. If I had to do a twenty-mile run on a dreadmill, I could (though in truth, I probably wouldn’t choose to do that … ever.)
On the treadmill I looked around and observed the gym. It wasn’t trying to be pretentious or fancy. It was more of a socially responsible ambient … which goes really well with my personality. The month to month fees are low (as low as $10 per month) and you get a great gym but without a pool or track or things that bring the price up but that you may not use. This was a keep it simple, keep it green, kind of place.
Soon it was my moment of truth: I had to meet with a YouCoach. I have until early June for some sort of transformation and I wanted to do something that could potentially be achievable. I phrased it to Mike, the YouCoach, like this:
“I need to find a goal that you think you can get me to.”
Much to my surprise he said: “No, this is about you. What do YOU want?”
I kid you not; that’s what he said. I began to explain my training schedule and he was admittedly a little wide eyed by the sheer volume of it. Again, I am in the period where my Ironman training is slowly starting to increase. This is not the time to try to lose weight. On the contrary, the period of insatiable hunger is upon me.
What I could think of was working on that upper body strength which has been pretty much forgotten. This could work in line with my training instead of being something that could interfere with Ironman.
We talked about push ups, and I told him I was incapable of doing one. I could manage a few but on my knees. He explained the muscles needed to do push ups correctly are exactly the muscles that I am weak in. But those will help me not slouch on the run of the ironman as I begin to get tired. Upper body strength will give me a better posture which in turn might help in the marathon.
Deal.
My goal is then set to being able to do push ups on my toes and not on my knees. Much to my chagrin, here is my “before” video. The only good thing for me is that the quality is terrible … but you get the gist of where I am at.
I’ll be working for a month so that my “after” video looks rather different. Nothing like a little public announcement to keep you committed.
So here we go … want to come on this challenge with me?
Throughout the month I will be at the Youfit on 107th Avenue in Miami, but because I got the Lime Pass, I can actually use any of their locations. You can follow my progress on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook with #TeamYoufit.
To check the Youfit location nearest you (want to bet there is one? They have 100!) go to Youfit or visit them on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for inspiration, healthy recipes and workout tips.
This post is sponsored by FitFluential on behalf of Youfit.
