Karina has taken up Circuit Training to get herself fit. I think you'll get a kick out of it or perhaps exhausted from just reading about this hobby.
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Circuit Torture…er Training
By Karina Fabian
Here’s a simple fact about me: I am a sedentary creature. Inertia and I are best buds, and as a writer,
I’ve got more push to keep my fingers moving and my butt stationary in the
chair. I’ve kept meaning to get in
shape, and I even took haidong gumbdo lessons (Korean sword martial arts), but
a couple of hours swinging the sword each week just didn’t do the trick. Even worse, I am an indifferent cook who does
not much care to give up her sweets or go on a diet of any kind, no matter how
popular. So it’s no surprise that at 45, I weighed 169 pounds and had the
muscular consistency of a bag of pudding.
That’s why, in January 2013, I took up a new hobby—circuit
torture. The premise is easy: you put your body through unnatural movements
bearing as much weight as you can for as many repetitions as you can until you
make noises similar to those of childbirth…but only for a limited time, after
which you move on to some other new and unusual punishment. In order to make your Experience of Pain
complete, you alternate exercises with aerobics activity. Since running gives me shin splints, my
cardio pain device is the Jacob’s Ladder.
Imagine, if you will, a treadmill made of rungs and set at a 45 degree angle. The faster you climb, the faster the rungs
move out from under you. Kind of an
analogy to my life, come to think of it.
It doesn’t kill my shins—after all, circuit torture is supposed to hurt,
not damage—but my muscles feel every session!
The owner of this demonic health club is Ryion Butcher, who
recently won not one but three awards at his first bodybuilding event. He’s got the perfect personality for a
personal torturer: upbeat, competent,
and always glad to push you further.
He’s even got the perfect laugh: encouraging, without belittling. You can barely hear the Bwa-hahaha
undertones. I think there must be a
school for it. (Seriously, though, he’s
a terrific guy, willing to work with you to modify the workout if needed, and
he doesn’t push me nearly as hard as I push myself.)
Why would I choose such a diabolical establishment? Inertia.
I’m a lazy person. If I’m
sitting, I’ll stay sitting, so if I want to work out, I need to do it when I’m
already up and about. The gym is in my
neighborhood, on the way home from dropping the kids at school. I drive by it every morning, so why not just
stop in and get the torture done? I’ve
gone 5 days a week every week since I joined.
I still don’t eat the best, though I’ve cut down on sweets
and sodas, but as of the 3-month point, I’d lost 14 pounds and 23 inches. Plus, I’ve got muscles again. I won’t be participating in any competitions,
but I don’t completely wobble like a Jell-O mold anymore.
Plus, it’s fodder for stories. Someday, I’ll have a villainous personal
trainer with a gym of EVIL. The Jacob’s
Ladder will be suspended over the piranha tank.
Of course, you can stop any time you like…
Looking Good!
Bwahahaha!
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About Karina
Winner of the 2010 INDIE for best Fantasy (Magic, Mensa and Mayhem), Karina Fabian has imagination that takes quirky twists that keep her--and her fans--amused. Nuns working in space, a down-and-out Faerie dragon working off a geas from St. George, zombie
concerned with supporting her husband, Rob Fabian as he makes the exciting leap from military officer to civilian executive, getting her kids through high school and college, and surviving daily circuit torture…er, circuit training. Read about her adventures at http://fabianspace.com.
Find Karina at:
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