DAY 19

DAY 19 - Monday

Monday, Monday!  Ba-da... ba-da-da-dah.  (great song by "The Mamas & The Papas"!)

As the lyrics go: "But whenever Monday comes, you can find me crying all of the time!"  That pretty much sums up Monday night's intense leg and abdomen workout at Nick's Pro Fitness.  It was brutal.  We did a lot, and then some more, and finally a few more - just to make it BURN - leg exercises!  Throw in the sit ups and planks in between for a good abdomen burn, and you have yourself a swell Monday night workout.  Just what everyone wants to do on a bone-chilling Monday night in Evergreen.

I have not sweat that much in the three long weeks I have been going to Nick's Pro Fitness!  He really knows how to hurt his members.  And it always cracks me up when, immediately following the last set of a brutal exercise, Nick will ask someone in the front row: "Are you feeling that in your legs? Are your legs and lungs burning?", as if he isn't really sure because it is obvious that HIS legs and lungs aren't quite burning!  The man has been doing high-intensity workouts 2-3 times a day, for the past 29 years!!  Of Course he as to ask everyone else if they are feeling it, because he isn't!  The man's in the best shape of anyone I have ever met.  And as I lay there, on my back, trying desperately to catch my breath and minimize the uncontrollable shaking in my thighs, all I can think of is: "How much longer until I can actually make it through one of Nick's Conditioning Classes without missing a beat? I can't keep up!" 

And the answer is this:  Soon.  Very soon.  Don't get me wrong, the classes will always be challenging and difficult and everyone in the class has to constantly push themselves past their own breaking point to make it to the end.  But it is possible to keep up!  I just need to continue to go to class, every day, and do the best that I can to do the exercises right and build the muscles in my body.  All of the "veteran" or "senior" members of the Conditioning Class (those who have been doing this for more than a year) are in great shape and they can keep up.  They have the commitment, and the muscle power, to endure.  I have been there for three weeks!  And already, I can feel the change happening.  I find myself doing more and more of each exercise before muscle fatigue sets in and I crash.  It's a small victory, but a victory nonetheless.  Nick's Fitness Challenge is working.  And I do notice a change.  I am cautiously optimistic about my individual results, as I still have three weeks to go! 

Tomorrow, I leave for a trip.  I will be away from Nick's for exactly seven (7) classes.  Rest assured, Nick and fellow "senior" member Lou Applehans have provided me with a week's worth of exercise sets to do everyday so as not to miss a beat. I will continue to do my daily postings in order to share my experiences of doing these exercises in a foreign place and on my own, without Nick's razor-like gaze upon me!  Nick has threatened, though, that for every pound I gain while I am away, I will have to answer with 600 mountain climbers per pound. My goal:  NO weight gain!  Stay tuned...

Thank you for reading.
Jeffrey Bowers
Director of Sales
Denver Life Magazine