Jeff jumped the gun last week and asked how Body Pump went, but the first class was held this week (as far as I was aware). There were a bunch of us first-timers at the compulsory Body Pump Clinic (compulsory for first-timers, that is), showing that new year’s resolutions are still having an effect*.

Our instructor was, as I suppose all gym class instructors are, cheery as a beaver who’s found a previously-uninhabited river next to a forest. He asked if I knew much about the class, and I responded with, Not more than what I’ve read on Wikipedia. He then proceeded to tell me how good it was for the body, and how it really helped weight loss and calorie burning. Now, those of you who’ve met me know that if I lose any more weight I might actually vanish if I let out a fart by accident, but I didn’t apprise him of my goal to build fitness and gym muscles (as opposed to muscles one actually uses, I’ve got Neil for that).

And yes, there was some banging techno, as I feared, even a duk-duk cover of The Sun Always Shines on TV (bring back A-ha). But then it moved on to something that sounded suspiciously like The Prodigy, so our instructor has been temporarily forgiven for his taste in music.

At the end of the class, the instructor came up to me and encouraged me to come back for another class (I’d told him about the innate klutziness and lack of co-ordination — he said I did fine, I saw him watching me during the class while I was trying to hide amongst the other first-timers and more experienced attendees), and I will. Not just because I’ve already paid for the next class, but because it’s extremely clear to me now that I do not have much, if any upper-body strength. Having done stomach crunches and loads of squats and lunges, my legs, buttcheeks, and stomach aren’t really feeling too sore, but my arms are pretty useless today. The pain basically starts at one end of my arms and ends at the wee muscle in front of my armpit (part of the pectorialis major? It hurts when I do pretty much anything, but definitely not in a “I’ve injured myself” way. It’s more in keeping with “God, I’m a weakling”.

So PUT mission #1 has had its goals refined. It is an upper-body strength-building exercise. Wahey! Focus!

* Since I decided I was going to do more exercise before Christmas, mine isn’t a resolution, it’s a project.