my love: on feeling strong

I just have a few words to say to y'all:

I love weight-lifting.

Like a lot. Not that I've just started weight-lifting, mind you, its beginning goes back to the good ol' high school days. The days when I didn't want to lift more than 30 lbs x 3 sets per weight machine for fear that I would begin to look like a man. Which is totally impossible, by the way. That's what steroids are for, which are no where near my bod. I don't know what high-school-me was thinking.

Anyway, since my transition back into suburbia, I was unable to run during the daylight hours since I was at my rotations during the few hours of sunlight that we get in the oh-so-lovely Mitten winters. Leaving me with a few solutions:

 1. Running in the dark alone after work. (not happening. I is a scaredy cat.)

2. Running in the dark with my man after work. (sometimes happened, but I couldn't see him everyday, so what's a gal to do?)

3. Becoming a gym rat.

I chose option 3 and tried out a slew of gyms before settling on Planet Fitness. And that's when I began to fall in love with weight-lifting those fateful, bleak December days.

Weight-lifting is awesome - especially when you've been at it for a few months - because you can see such measurable changes in how much more you can lift, the tone of your abs, your legs, your arms, your boo-tay, THE IMPROVEMENT IN YOUR RUNNING!!! (most important measurable change, in my opinion), the list could go on and on. Way empowering, my friends, for real. Do be warned, however, that if you take up weight-lifting, you may gain a pound or two or three or a few more. But do not fret, for these are muscle-pounds! Pounds that make you feel strong and go RAWR!

I love feeling strong, and I encourage you to feel and be strong, too.

Also, apparently pure barre is all the rage these days. And apparently there is a studio in Ann Arbor. I'm contemplating on trying out a class for kicks because it sounds like a pretty intense cross-training workout. However, as I watch the testimonial video, I hear words like "pilates" and "yoga"...two things that I cannot tolerate...or perhaps I never gave them a fighting chance. Regardless, I think I will give pure barre a try because it sounds pretty swell. If anyone out there has any pure barre testimonials of their own, I'd love to hear 'em!

Photo creds: Rocky