After buying a fitness pass I was able to make an appointment with a trainer (at no charge) to walk me through using the machines safely and effectively. My appointment was this morning with Brien, who turned out to be a really sweet young man who looked like an 18 year old Ashton Kutcher, with the puppy-dog eyes and the floppy hair. He set up a circuit training schedule for me, and helped me get the right settings and weight levels. He stood by with advice while I worked through my circuit for the first time. The machines are really pretty cool. They keep track of your repetitions and sets, remind you to slow down if you are going too fast, and give you a report at the end to show what you’ve accomplished. I just totally enjoyed myself. I’m not too strong, yet, but I know that will improve. I plan to go back on Thursday to do it all again.
I didn’t really have a poem for strength training, so I am sharing a poem titled “The Courage of Women” by Jane Glazer, a poet born in Iowa who now lives and writes in Oregon.
The Courage of Women
I think of the courage of women,
how they endure,
how they walk miles to carry back water,
silence their pain, apportion
what’s left of the rice.
Keepers of eggs without shells,
they know how fragile the days are,
how hope can spill into the ground.
Jane Glazer
