I have always been fascinated with pole dancing. I am too chicken to try it out myself. Maybe some day I will. Now it has become a legitimate sport or form of exercise. I say legitimate only because it those day not even a mere 10 years ago, it had a whole different connotation. So I follow a blogger called Kim quite by chance actually. It was because I was following the Olympics and her husband is on our Malaysian cycling team. Being away from home for so many years I am quite behind in a lot of local news. Since I was always interested in pole dancing, (so far only watching :P) her foray into pole dancing caught my attention. While recently trying to catch up on all the blogs that I follow, I saw this on her blog.
I never knew that Malaysia had a male pole dancing of quite an international reputation too! The man has some moves! 🙂 He has added even more flavour to my enjoyment of pole dancing!
THIS is what I want to do now. I dragged myself to the gym today and sweated it out for more than an hour tucking a cool 8.2km under my belt. I am not only feeling damn good but also darn proud with myself. Considering I had to drag myself in the first place. *beaming*
But as I was surfing the net, blogs and my photos and posting a photo in “Life in Photos” series I realised I have been very hardworking! I have been posting a post everyday from the moment I broke my “no blogging” streak. To keep up with this (as long as I can :P) I am going to schedule this post for tomorrow. It is September 12th already. That would prolong my streak by another day! 🙂
I just had to write this down a put it out in the world to mark this day. When you read this it is the 13th. Another day, another post. Hopefully another fat busting run in the gym. Oh, wait! I booked a TRX class. Got to work them muscles for a lean, trim, mean machine!
Goose night people!! Good morning to the other side of the world!!
Okay, I have used up ALL of my computer battery just browsing the net and procrastinating on a post. So much so, it took me a whole 2 mins to remember what it was that I wanted to blog about. I still don’t remember exactly. I have a moleskin notebook just for this reason and yet I don’t use it. I carry that moleskin for the added fun of carrying around added weight. Whee!! 😛
Anyhow, I wanted to update everyone on my last frustrating post regarding Nike+Ipod. In the end, I finally figured out why it did not do what I wanted it to do. This, is after a sleepless night (not from thinking about this) of tossing and turning in bed from the extreme heatwave hitting us here in Italy. I suddenly thought about checking the settings on the app. Right at the bottom, there is a “send to Nike+” button. After clicking on that, it sent! I didn’t realise I had to do that each time I want the details sent. It used to do that automatically. Something has changed.
Then, I was wondering why my runs didn’t show up on the history part of the app. I am thinking it is because the history part only holds the runs that I did with my Nike sensor. Since all the rest that I did with the treadmill in the gym is all recorded but not shown. The last run shown on it was the one that I braved the summer heat here (not repeating this performance!) with the sensor tucked into my shoe.
So, here it is my revelation! and the update on my debacle with the Nike+Ipod app on my Ipod. 🙂
Now I can rest in peace. 😛
Shop is closing for the night. It is almost 1 am here. Goose night people!!
I have discovered to my dismay that my “Nike+Ipod” app is not working well on my Ipod. 😦 Since I started exercising (OMG, you can’t imagine how long it took me to spell exercise!! I really need to brush up, man!) again, I have been monitoring my running with this app. So far so good. Once, my data was not updated on the Nikeplus site because it was missing. I didn’t know what happened but the next day it was back and updated.
So this time I thought it would be the same. How wrong was I!! It has updated only till the 7th of August but since then I have been back at the gym at least 5 times and not once was it recorded at all! Dang it! Even today’s run was noted on my Ipod but after the run I went to check and it wasn’t there! How frustrating!! *_*
Is this normal? Is it normal for the Nike app to do this? Anyone knows?
I have reset the Ipod to their factory settings and restored everything. Fingers crossed, it works.
All my hard work down the drain. Well, not exactly. The hard work should technically be showing on my body but I want to track my progress! 😦
Luckily I didn’t sign up for one of those Nike+ weekly or monthly challenges. I would have failed miserably and not even due to my own laziness! Technical fault and through no fault of my own.
So, I signed up for Virgin Active Genoa gym about 3 years ago. Well, maybe 4. I have not been consistent in going there as I was a lazy ass. Oh, wait…I still am. Which makes my trip back there today monumental. I am going to list what I like about the place and what I dislike about it.
Like
1. It has 2 pools, one indoor and another on the roof equipped with deck chairs for summer,
2. football pitch,
3. children’s nursery for mum who want to work-out
4. bar area for smoothies, coffee, lunch, dinner, fruit salads or just drinks
5. Spa onsite
6. Sauna and tanning area
all this besides the normal gym equipment. And all on 3 floors!
The best part is that it is very near my office and home. Which makes it inexcusable for me to NOT go to the gym.
Dislike
1. Even after going there for years, you are still required to get a medical certification every year or they will deny you access but you continue to pay. You have to go to their doctor too before. Now we go for our own. This adds costs on top of our monthly subs.
2. They don’t provide towels, so I have to bring 2 with me all the time which makes me go through all my towels so fast and the amount of laundry just for towels if I go there 3 times a week is 6 towels just for gym days.
3. No toiletries provided. So on top of the towels, I have to bring my own shampoo, soap, conditioner, cream, make up remover, cotton pads, tissues…everything! Which weighs down the bag and makes things so difficult. There are already so many things to bring. They can even provide the minimum?? Fitness First provides both towels and basic amenities, ie. shampoo, soap, cream, cotton balls/pads even slippers for the shower stalls.
4. They don’t have that many classes to take. Limited timings too. It could be because they are the ONLY Virgin Active in Genoa which doesn’t have enough members maybe for more classes. That could be because on average their subscriptions are really expensive relatively to someone’s pay here.
5. The toilet in the changing rooms are really dirty looking most of the time. I think the Italians are really bad at keeping it clean. The gym looks beautiful inside and out except for their toilets. I blame the people using them. Can’t they throw their tissue papers properly? Today, the papers were all over the floor in all 3 stalls. The sink area was all wet everywhere. Not just around the sinks but on the floor. Not just drops but puddles. So so strange. Such bad etiquette.
Actually these are really big reasons that outweigh most of the good things. Because it really weighs one down having to carry all of these.
But, I could be so picky because I am comparing it to other gyms. I am a Fitness First member as well in Malaysia and was a California Fitness member in Thailand. Though these other gyms did not have swimming pools, spa, bar area and sauna they had everything else which made things easier for me. I don’t have to lug so many things around with me. I could pare down my bag to just the exercise attire and shoes. It was most helpful when I was in Bangkok because I had to take public transport to get to the gym. A small bag would do.
Now here it is like taking everything from home just to go for a run. In the end it is better to just run around the office, go to the mini gym in the office and then straight to the showers which already has all the necessary items. Which leads to me becoming too lazy to get to the gym.
What has changed? I tried to cancel my subscription more than a year ago but the contract was already renewed and I couldn’t cancel till mid March this year before the new contract starts again in April. So we decided to suspend it for 6 months. Now, after that 6 months have past they started to charge me again for the suspended 6 months and then the contracts end. Since I am active now, I decided to make the most of it by attending some classes.
Today, I tried a strange class. Something In never heard of before. Nike Fusion. I wanted to go for a V-mat Pilates class but we had someone who came to show us some bikes that we were thinking of buying. I made it just in time for this Nike Fusion class. Interesting and strange at the same time. It says it is a amalgamation of different workouts. It uses a step board and some weights. It started of almost like a step aerobics class, then there was a lot of jumping, skipping all over the room with all the participant’s step boards all lines up. It felt like my athletics training. Running from end to end touching the boards, burpees, hopscotch up and down boards moving along the row of boards. There was also some capoeira moves. I was sweating and my heart rate was up throughout the 45 min class. All very confusing but very interesting. I will just have to wait for tomorrow to see if I touched any muscle that I have not used for a long time. I think it will hurt tomorrow. 😛
I want to lose weight. Something I struggle with since I came to Italy. You will see me blog about this occasionally. On top of that, in tandem with my paradigm shift in my mindset, I have decided I want to have “un corpo strepitoso” for this summer. A swimsuit worthy (not a six pack but maybe just a slimmer toned body) body by the 2nd of August 2012. Then continue to exercise and reach my goal of 10kgs off by end of the year.
I am using self realisation and envisioning myself in that ideal body that I have in mind for myself. Every toned body I see on TV, commercials, posters or even around me, I remind myself that that is what I want. So get my lazy ass off the couch and work at it!
Time for bed! And for my body recover. To feel the prepare myself for the pain tomorrow. 🙂
Spring is in the air and it has been ages since I last roller-bladed. I am not good at it but I can go straight, swerve to avoid people, stop and do a turn-a-bout, albeit a little big of a circle to achieve it instead of the graceful ala ice skaters’ jump and twist. M is amazing at it. He went to the USA in his early 20s with a bunch of friends and discovered roller blades. Something that was new at that time, we are talking about more than 20 years ago. The irony of the situation is such that, roller blades could not be found in Italy yet but it was made by an Italian company. So, the business man in him decided to contact the manufacturer upon his return and set up a roller blade rental kiosk here in Genova way ahead of everyone else and he gave lessons. This little business actually sustained our present main business while in its infancy.
In that whole time, he lived, breathed and ate roller blade. He is so good at it that he was asked to do an ad in a volcanic crater. Sounds far fetched? I thought so too at that time. He had photos as proof!! So I had to zip it! 😛 Actually many know him as the one who roller blades around town and also one of the few crazy ones to ski in the historic centre 20 years ago. This stunt was recently replicated when we had an unusual snowfall earlier this year or as it end of last year. There is a youtube video floating around on this.
Anyway, today while running outside, he must have seen a little boy trying out his new roller blades and he excitedly came back into the office (yes, we are sad that way..in the office on a Sunday. We are perpetually here!) and said “let’s go roller blading!!”. We have been talking about it for some time. I do prefer roller-blading to running. It seems less tiring. It is. I like the wind in my face and when I need to rest, I just glide. So much easier! But, one thing for sure, my back and leg muscles were aching! It works those back and thigh muscles I never knew I had! Which is a good thing! So many exclamation marks….hahahahaaha! I am excited!
I am writing this while cooling down. Stretching the back muscles while typing this. How? you say? My keyboard is wireless…so easy. Bend over, and leave the keyboard on the floor. Or sit on the chair, with wheels of course, and push it back and forth. Well the lazy man’s stretching. Guilty as charged!
I had a good workout! Though it was a wet and lazy Sunday earlier on, I am now geared up for the rest of the week! Bought some new knee guards as my knees are aching like a 70 yr old and I am all ready! After the accident, my knees have never been the same. It can give way while walking, or climbing up or down stairs. Come to think of it, roller blading would be THE best exercise for my knees.
Because it was such a beautiful day, warm and sunny, I decided to run outside today. My first in at least 6 months. The last time I tried, I nearly froze my brain from the icy sweat enveloping my head. Oh, boy was it hard!! Ok, I have been out of action of sorts for some time now. I had a really good momentum going for a while and then I went on treatment. Which meant I had to be really careful not to jump, run or over exert myself. So, out the window my momentum went. But I was still motivated enough to keep my spirits up and the moment the treatment ended, I jumped on the treadmill and ran for the next for days before I had to be back on treatment. Dang!! I was so happy to, to be back running. I didn’t want to be away too long before I lose my new found motivation.
Again, the whole cycle started. No running, jumping or over exertion. The best part of the treatment this time was an allergic reaction to one of the meds prescribed! I started having rashes under my breasts and it slowly and surely crept all over my body and eventually giving an almost first degree burn. Okay…it may be exaggeration on my part but my skin was like scales on fire, rough and itchy and patchy. It really looked and felt like I got a sunburn in the middle of winter and only on the parts under cover!! Oh…it was no joke! I don’t want to put my picture up here but if you saw it you might even be shocked! I looked like a huge, red chilli tomato if there is ever such a thing. I am also peeling like a snake changing its scales. So much so, that M says there is skin everywhere!! I am like…what can I do? It just falls off. I am like a shedding dog too. 😛 The treatment was more injections and a cream that made my itch so bad I couldn’t sleep. Before it, I could for 2 whole weeks when I had the rash.
Anyway, I did get back on the treadmill when the treatment ended last Wednesday. Wanted to run another time on Friday but we had family and clients over till late in the office. So there goes the running. Weekend was family dedicate time and we also took my MIL to the nursery to buy new plants for her amazing balcony. I sneaked in some of mine too and now my balcony is back to beautiful flowers! I just need to re-pot them soon. 🙂 I went to run outside and being the sudden genius that I was, I decided to run along the road and not just around the office. Expand my running area. NOT A GOOD IDEA! First, there were cars everywhere. It didn’t help that the smog and dust didn’t help with my laboured breathing. Next, because of the cars, I could not get my momentum going. I had to constantly watch out for cars and scooters weaving in and out! I gave up running on the road and went back up to around the area of my office.
By then, I was not really enjoying my run anymore. I ran and walked the rest of the 4.5k but I was constantly feeling out of sorts. I think I have been running on treadmills too long and need to get out more often and hit the pavement. It could also be because of my inactivity that is causing this. I am determined not to let this bring me down. I shall try to run outside again tomorrow. Do you think I can manage a weak 5k?
Since the weather is getting better, I am thinking maybe I should take the niece and go swimming or get her interested in tennis. Hmm….I do feel like I would like to start playing tennis again. No tennis partners here though. The tennis courts with a wall to practice with is on the other side of Genova. At least the ones I know of. There is a tennis court right behind where I live but you need someone to play with and I don’t know anyone who plays tennis except a 7 year old. One day, if I pick up enough courage, I might just walk in the guys who play there sometimes and ask to join them. Someday…for now, I have to continue running outside. 🙂
mouseytong 