I do circuit training on Saturdays at the University Mall location of The Weight Club in Blacksburg, Virginia. The Weight Club has an elevated track 1/9 mile in length.
9:30 AM Arrive
Walk/jog for 5 minutes
Recumbent bike, 5 minutes level 1, 5 minutes level 2, 5 minutes level 3
Jump off bike and practice running with “bike legs”
Stretch
10 AM
Meet personal trainer, Don Belote, at machine #1, an arm press
Do 12 lifts
Jump off the machine, run up the stairs, run 1/9 mile, run down the stairs, jump on the machine
Do 12 lifts
Jump off the machine, run up the stairs, run 1/9 mile, run down the stairs, jump on the machine
Do 12 lifts
Jump off the machine, run up the stairs, run 1/9 mile, run down the stairs
That’s machine #1
1 machine, 3 sets of 12 lifts, 1/3 mile running completed
I scan the room for Don, trying to remember if he has on the grey sweat shirt or the black one today, always the hat, always the massive, muscular frame so he’s almost indistinguishable from the machines. I jump on the piece of equipment by which he stands, by which passersby leave between him and them about a five foot range.
Do 12 lifts
Jump off the machine, run up the stairs, run 1/9 mile, run down the stairs, jump on the machine
Do 12 lifts
Jump off the machine, run up the stairs, run 1/9 mile, run down the stairs, jump on the machine
Do 12 lifts
Jump off the machine, run up the stairs, run 1/9 mile, run down the stairs
That’s machine #2
2 machines, 6 sets of 12 lifts, 2/3 mile running completed
I repeat this for close to an hour.
Total:
6 machines, 18 sets of 12 lifts, 2 miles running completed
Then I run 1 more mile, 9 more laps, for a total of 3 miles completed, which tends to reassure me that I can finish a 5K in at least an hour.
As my speed and endurance increase, we plan to add a 7th machine.
I do a bit more core work, stretch, then done.
11:30 AM – 11:45 AM Depart
I love circuit training. I love its intensity. I feel like a girl again. To reach the stairs, I dart around one or two people and in between two or three machines. The movement reminds me of playing touch football on the street in our neighborhood when I was in grade school. The running reminds me of being on the track team in high school.
And the lifting is a highly focused, inner experience. I’m not young or old then, just myself.
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