No Men, No Mirrors, No Makeup!
Posted By Phylicia on December 30, 2009
“No men, no mirrors, no makeup”: that is a mantra I can believe in! For the rest of the month that I am home, my mom was given four free month-long trials at Curves for two of my sisters, me, and herself. I was curious to see what a Curves would be like because, as my sister Autumn speculated, “I thought it was going to be a bunch of old ladies from the Red Hat Society.” I didn’t exactly think that, but I was interested in an all-female workout option.
At college our gym is very nice, but I never really liked doing my crunches next to a floor-to-ceiling mirror that just emphasized the fact that my makeup was smeared or absent, I was covered in sweat, and I wasn’t accomplishing as much as I wanted to. The cardio room irritated both me and my roommate, who said she felt like a deli ham behind the glass window — everyone looks in when they walk by. And my last bone to pick with LaHaye (or any gym for that matter) is the sweaty, grunting, weight-hefting guys. How nice to work out with just girls!
My sisters, mom and I went to Curves this morning for our first actual workout. I ran for 15 minutes beforehand for extra cardio, but the workout at Curves — combining cardio and strength training — lasted a half hour and accomplished a lot. The fun of it is the socializing along with the exercise. It makes it go faster. In addition, the whole facility is very feminine and relaxing, unlike many gyms that are more masculine in nature.
If you have a Curves near you (which you probably do!) I would suggest just trying it out. I have yet to see the results of the workout, but right now I think when I return to Lynchburg I will be looking into a membership!
Hey Phylicia!
We have Curves gyms here in Canada as well – I joined just over a couple months ago with my sister-in-law, who wanted to lose some pregnancy weight. My intention was not to lose a lot of weight, but tone up and just be healthier. I love the workout! The atmosphere is fun, the staff are motivating, and the results are really pretty good, if you put in the work. (Working out 3 times a week, I lost over 4 inches in just the first month, two from my hips – not bad!) I would definitely suggest the Curves Smart program, if that’s an option for you. Basically, you plug a card into each machine before you use it that tracks your progress – you have to work hard enough to keep the little light on the machine “in the green” and it will progressively increase the intensity over time. It’s a great motivator!
Anyway, I hope I don’t sound like some sort of rambling advertisement, I just love Curves and wanted to say so!