GEORGIE - Gym Machine Nemesis!!

So I have a Nemesis in my new gym. I am at a loss to describe how in 3 visits I have managed to make myself an enemy of a piece of equipment - but I HAVE!!

Let me explain. After nearly 6 months of exercising at home to avoid a 8 mile drive to the gym (which was expensive) in favour of cycling everywhere and doing DVD workouts at home I have finally got back to London, started my new job and signed up to a local gym. HUGE excitement.

Then, on my first trip around the gym, I came across a new piece of cardio equipment we didn't have in my American gym. The best way I can describe it is cross trainer (elliptical) meets speed skate trainer. It has pads/pedals to put your feet in but instead of cycling, or climbing, your feet push out and back in a skating kind of motion. Its fantastically good exercise, and you can squat as you exercise to work out your buns and quads better, or let go of your hands altogether for a massive and gruelling work out. I love it!

Then I set myself a cross training programme on this funny machine and off I set. Level select? 1-25 so I picked 14. I am not really fit at the moment and killed myself last week when I thought I was so easy does it here - when the machine goes onto a high intensity segment it sets you a target step rate per minute as many machines do - but this was IMPOSSIBLE!!! I ended up laughing at my pathetic attempts to reach my target as I felt like I was either going to fly off the machine (like a jogger who falls off a treadmill) or I was sure steam and smoke was going to start coming off the pedals. I kid you not, what the machine was asking me to do was IMPOSSIBLE and I was only on level 14 out of 25!!!

Nothing like a seemingly impossible task to get my blood flowing...I've been back to that machine EVERY time I have been in the gym - and I guess if nothing else, then in my quest to reach the require leg rate per minute, I might get myself some buns of steel!!

We can but dream! I can however recommend finding a machine that you either hate or grudgingly admire as you aren't able or fit enough to do it justice. A few weeks of patience and I bet you anything you like you'll be fitter!!