The Y

We have been members of our local YMCA for the last several years, thanks in part to the time we spent at the Y's in Florida at which my grandfather teaches. Attending his aerobics classes got us motivated enough to look into joining and starting our own exercise regimens. Of course, this wasn't the first time we had been Y members. When we were younger we had a Y membership which we used mostly for swimming. Our Y has an indoor-outdoor pool that was perfect for us kids at the time. The canopy stays up year-round, but they pull of the sides to open it up to the outside. That way lounge chairs can be placed outside so that the adults can lay in the sun.

Since we started going back a few years ago, I have developed my own work-out routine that I have pretty much stuck to ever since. First, I do a cardio work-out for 30 minutes on an elliptical machine. I set the resistance up to a setting of 8, which over the years I have determined gives me the best work-out without tiring me out too much. The machine takes my age and weight so that calories can easily be calculated, as well as measuring my heart rate and determining how well I am performing cardio-wise. The machine then adds an additional five minutes for a "cool down," in which it drops the resistance to about 4 or 5. In the course of 35 minutes, I usually stride about three miles, and burn about 350 calories.

After the cardio portion of my work-out, I move on to the weight room. I am not too skilled with free-weights, so I choose to use the weight machines that target the various muscle groups. We were given a thorough tour and demonstration of all the weight machines, and since then I have been able to easily set the machines to my specifications. The number of sets and the weight used varies based on what machine I use, but I always use the same rotation in machines: chest (pectorals), triceps, biceps, calves (gastrocnemius and soleus), and abs. Lately I've been doing my sets and then starting over to do one more set on each machine. That way I'm completely maxed out on each machine and can feel it in each of the muscle groups.

One perk of my health insurance (which started in February) is that they will reimburse me for attending a fitness center. I signed up for the Healthy Track plan, which is cheaper and provides this perk, among others. The stipulations are that I have to provide proof of membership payment and a list of the dates that I attended said fitness center, which must both be obtained from the center itself. The insurance company will only pay out anything if I can prove I have attended my fitness center 100 times in a year, or 25 times in a quarter. If I have met those qualifications, I can receive quarterly payments of $25, or a yearly payment of $100, whichever I prefer. Since that averages out to about two visits per week, and since I have been going an average of three times a week, I can easily meet those requirements.

I actually went to the Y today after work. Though I don't usually like to go after work, since I have to work this Saturday, I was needing another day to go this week. I usually go on Saturday and Sunday, and pick a day I get off earlier to go as well. Since my schedule changed due to our hours being cut, most days I get off work at 6:00 or 7:00, and I'm finding it more difficult to get to the Y, though not impossible as can be seen from my trip to the Y today. I find that going to the Y helps me relax and generally makes me feel better, so I enjoy going. Obviously the health benefits are huge, since the insurance companies and physicians so highly recommend it. This lowers one's overall health expenses and helps keep us in shape.

What do you do to stay in shape? Do you have a health membership at a place like the Y, or do you have your own exercise equipment? Do you like to go running, walking, biking, or anything else outside instead of the comfortable air-conditioned room of a gym? And are you given any incentives to work out at a place like the Y, as I am?