If you asked me when I started this blog if I would have a post about exercise – I would have laughed at you. Me? “I hate the gym.” I’ve said that so many times over the years. Now, if you happen to see me during my morning drop off rush, you’ll see me decked out in work-out gear.

 

So what happened? How did this anti-gym rat turn into a lover of exercise?

 

I always loved sports and dance. I played on sports teams in school and was Sports Staff at camp. When I started working and said goodbye to the student days of daily team sports or “gym class” I found that everyone around me would go to the gym. I tried it but I really would dread going, so I didn’t go. One of my co-workers started to offer a Zumba class after work so I signed on for that and loved that! It felt good to move again. My fate was decided – I like cardio and dance classes and strength training just isn’t for me. When people talked about their gym adventures I always said, “I hate the gym” and that was how it went.

 

I had my second child at the end of 2014 and in June when he was 6 months old I decided I needed to work out even though I “hated” it. I was playing basketball once a week but I wanted more. My husband and I had a great trainer over the summer, and she started to show me that I’m stronger than I think I am. But then the holidays came up, and scheduling training sessions became difficult, and after a long day with the kids the last thing I wanted to do was work out at night. So even though I was finally starting to feel confident and strong, it all fizzled out.

 

In February of this year, I started Kayla Itsines BBG workout with friends. The app, Sweat with Kayla, is what changed my outlook. I didn’t have to go to a gym. I could do the workouts in my home, or a friend’s home. They were short – 28 minutes. And I was very quickly seeing that I could do more than I thought I could. I couldn’t believe that as I continued to work, I could do things that I couldn’t do before. I started to realize that maybe I didn’t “hate the gym” and it was more that it’s not fun to go somewhere where you feel weak or “not good at it.” I think in the privacy of my own home, with the social aspect of doing BBG with friends, (and with millions of people on the app) I slowly gained the confidence that I COULD do it. When I was in Florida for vacation, I found myself completing my BBG workouts at the hotel gym. Was I on par with the other people in the gym? No. But I knew that I was stronger from where I started and that was great for me.

 

I continued BBG from February through May. In the app, as you continue through the weeks, the exercises get harder. That coupled with the fact that my BBG partners were pregnant and no longer doing it with me, made me stop. It got too hard for me, I no longer was enjoying it, and I fell into a work-out rut.

 

On June 14th, I was having a catch up phone call with my friend on a Thursday night and she was telling me how she goes to classes early in the morning before her husband goes to work so that she’s back home to watch her daughter. She totally inspired me. I told her how I stopped doing BBG and just felt lazy to do the workouts. She encouraged me – “sign up for a class!” So I hung up the phone with her, signed up for a Class Pass membership, booked a class for the following morning, and I haven’t looked back.

 

Class Pass allows me to visit gyms all over the city. There is a ranking/review system so I can read about the teacher/class before I sign up. Since June 15th, I have gone to 24 classes! Yes, this is the “I hate the gym” girl. I’ve tried a variety of dance classes, barre, pilates, strength training, hiit, boxing and more. I decided this was the summer to try new things in the work-out world, even if they are outside of my comfort zone. My cousin has a fitness instagram account, kale_and_krunches, and I’ve been taking her advice of classes to try, she posts great daily fitspo – check her out.

 

I started class pass on my own. I went to classes by myself, in gyms I never knew about and I had a blast! I’m never the strongest or best in the classes but that’s really not what’s important and not my goal. I feel strong for myself and I feel that I gave something a shot that I didn’t think I could do or like, and that feels good. I hope if you’re in a rut maybe this post can inspire you to try something new and give it a chance.

 

I went on and on to my friends about class pass and they’ve since joined and now I get to do class pass with my best friends. There’s excitement in picking which classes to explore and it’s a lot of fun going together.  I know that it’s summer and this will probably be short lived, but either way, I can officially declare, “I love gym classes.”

 

P.S. There’s a current promotion with class pass – it’s $30 for 10 classes for the first month. Make sure to cancel if you don’t want it after because they will automatically re-charge when the month is up to the regular price. The only catch is you can only visit the same gym 3 times a month. If you want to go more than 3 times to the same place, you can purchase the class at a discounted price. I love that on the app you can search by type of workout, time, location etc. If you sign up after the promotion is over, sign up with my code to get $30 off.