Wednesday Workout Women

(Hopefully, my friends forgive me for this post and the photos I am posting of them)

On Wednesdays, the ladies and I rock out at the gym....
of the church.
We bring our kids, our workout attire (i.e. our pajamas...at least for me), and a willingness to do whatever it takes to get those booties in shape!!
Most of the time we have 6-7 women, and about a dozen or so kids, and these photos were taken on a "calm" day.
Our fearless leader, Kari, never takes it easy on us. She is the inspiration behind these workouts. She works at some local gyms and decided to give us all the benefit of her expertise. I have trained and ran 5 marathons...but there is nothing that exhausts me more than this woman's routines. I literally cannot help from letting out tribal growls of pain.
But I think Kari is superhuman, because she has frequently come out with me on an 8-9 mile run AFTER she has taught one of her kick-butt classes.
Everyone brings toys for the kids and then we borrow some from the nursery room. For a long time I was bringing our portable dvd player and setting Anna up with an Elmo movie, but then she began getting really territorial and possessive and riots were erupting. Since I didn't want to have to bring out my police academy skills on the toddlers, I just took out the volatile element.

At any given time during the workout, about half the women are carrying their kids and doing the best they can to modify the workout to accommodate carrying an extra 28 wiggly pounds.
This weeks workout happened to incorporate the usage of white paper plates....which were surprisingly effective.
Anna is unpredictable. I have found that if I change my expectations...i.e., if I plan on carrying her for half of the workout, then I won't be disappointed when she refuses to be entertained any other way. And when you do endless repetitions of squats carrying a kid...wow....
these workouts have also proved that you don't need a fancy gym or fancy clothes or a personal trainer to get a great workout. All of the moves that Kari forces us to do are things that I can do at home, and can be done without weights or armbands.
I can't say that I look forward to these workouts... but I do look forward to seeing my friends, and I have to admit my backside is looking awesome!
This was Anna telling me that she was done. And I have to admit, I was done too.