TheBanyanTree: Race for Action

[Margaret R. Kramer]

I read an article in a fitness magazine that stated if someone wanted to
look good, especially if they have a big bottom, they should lighten up on
the weight work for their legs.  Then their bottoms won’t be so big.



My legs are worked HARD in my exercise sessions.  I do squats, lunges,
extensions, curls, and I always use the max resistance on the cardio
machines.  I climb stairs at work.  My legs are so big that my logic in
working them hard is to reduce the fat and build up the muscles.  Well, they
still look like big fat legs to me.  I know they’re smaller than they were,
because I wear a smaller size, but when I look at them in the mirror, they
look like tree trunks.



My butt is massive.  No matter what butt exercise I do, it stays HUGE.  My
butt gets in the way of wearing smaller sizes, because as the rest of me
shrinks, my butt stays the same.  My butt’s only hope is liposuction.
However, I don’t have the money for it and I also read even if someone has
liposuction, the fat will come back.



So after I read this article, I thought maybe this is the way to have a more
balanced look with my bottom matching my smaller top.  I’ll lighten up on my
leg work and lessen the resistance on the cardio machines and see how that
goes.



I used lighter weights for about three weeks.  It was nice not to work so
hard, but it felt weird.  It felt weird on the cardio machines, too.  I
could do a lot of rotations, but I wasn’t burning as many calories.  I quit
doing the stairs at work.



Three weeks isn’t enough time to evaluate any exercise program.  It seems it
takes a body at least a couple of months to adapt to something new, but this
way of working out didn’t seem right.  And my butt certainly wasn’t getting
smaller.



During this time, I signed up for a 5K and it was race day.  I don’t
actually race and I don’t run in these things, except a little bit.  I just
walk really, really fast.  Race day turned out to be perfect, lots of sun,
comfortable temperatures, and the course went along the banks of the
Mississippi River.



I stretched out.  I soaked up the energy of the participants.  I already
spotted the Kenyans that would zip along the course and win it in about 5
minutes.  Their bodies are built for running.  My body is built for farm
work.



I’m a walker, so I stayed at the back of the pack.  I’m also a slow starter.
It takes my body about 10 minutes to realize that it’s OK to be working
hard.  My body tries to fight me on that.  But I usually finish strong.
Perhaps all that excess fat gives me the energy I need at the end.



I moved along the course, glancing at the river shimmering in the sun, and
picking out people ahead of me that I could pass and keep up a good pace,
too.



About three quarters through the race, I made my move.  I passed a bunch of
people who had been ahead of me the whole way.  I was kicking it good.  My
arms were moving, my legs were churning, and the sweat was pouring down my
face.



But about 20 yards from the finish line, I had to slow down.  All the people
who I worked so hard to pass were passing me!  I had no kick at the end.



I felt bad as I walked back to my car.  I’m not a competitive racer by any
means, but I want to do well.  A heavy guy with an ace bandage on his knee
and who limped most of the way left me in the dust for gosh sakes.



I’ve done other 5Ks and I always had juice at the end.  What happened here?
Then I realized it had to be those lighter workouts.  Sure, they were
supposed to balance out my body, but I lost strength.  At my age, muscle
disappears very quickly.



When I went to the gym the next day, I grabbed the heavier weights for my
legs.  I upped the resistance on the cardio machines.  I started climbing
the stairs at work again.  It was hard.  I really had lost muscle, because I
struggled with the old routine for about a week.  But my strength started
coming back and my workouts became challenging again rather than struggling.



I feel back in tune again.  I need my strength.  When I do my next 5K, the
walkers better watch out (The Kenyans have absolutely nothing to worry
about).  The woman with the big fat legs and the bubble butt is going to
kick some . . .



Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at earthlink.net

http://www.polarispublications.com
Be a star!

http://www.skywaybpw.org

Skyway Business and Professional Women

Working women connecting.



http://www.bpwmn.org

Business and Professional Women of Minnesota



Bush is a "President who has no foresight, who cannot think properly, and
wants to plunge the world into a holocaust."

~Nelson Mandela



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