Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t actually have anything clever to say about boxing. I thought about it for awhile, but my brain quickly informed me that we’ve got about enough mental capacity today to keep the lights on (i.e. my faculties). Last night I signed up for a boxing class membership–well, it’s a little more than that with all the kickboxing and MMA classes available. For the sake of argument, though, I’ll just call it boxing.
Anyway. Yesterday was the first time in my life that I worked out for more than twenty minutes at a time. Every bit of it was intense because I had a coach working with me and teaching me proper form and movement. No one ever said there would be so much thinking involved. If I had to say which of my muscles hurt the most today, I’d have to say my brain. Boxing and kickboxing are not mindless the way getting on a treadmill is, it’s very ordered and specific. You cross with your left hand and you need to twist your left foot, which connects to the leg, which connects to the hip until you’ve got yourself a powerful punch.
For the past year I’ve been thinking that a boxing class would be the place for me because it’s a workout with a purpose. I’ve tried and failed so many times to workout at a gym, cycling and cycling on a bike and hoping that I would change. It never lasted more than a week because I was just so fucking bored. This though? It’s different. Someone is talking to me through it and pushing me just far enough that I’m sweating and red in the face, but not so far that I feel demolished this morning.
It was a unique experience and I find myself very lucky to have a workout partner to get me out of the house at the right time. I mean, yes, the gym fee is steep: $120/month. That’s a lot of money. But not if you go a lot. There are gyms out there like LA Fitness that only require, like, $30/month, but there’s no one there working with you specifically. When I go to these classes, I’m getting very specific attention. It’s like having a personal trainer. When you look at it that way, the classes actually aren’t that expensive.
The plan now is to make this membership work for me and go, at first, two times a week for two classes in a row. Then, three days, then four. The ultimate goal, for me, is to work my way up to five nights a week. It seems like an impossible goal right now, but I will get there eventually.
As some of you know, I’m going to Paris at the end of July. My short-term goal is to look really good in a summer dress and know that walking the Parisian streets isn’t going to destroy me. Long-term I want to be healthier and know how to throw a solid right hook. In both instances, I took the first step.
bam