I’m not the world’s most flexible gal. This is nothing new. The “sit and reach”portion of the President’s Fitness Challenge in school was always a sad joke. And in yoga class I’m usually apologizing to the instructor after like 15 minutes. Luckily in yoga they’re like, “Whatever you are, it’s perfect.” Whee!
But I recently took a fitness test as part of my new (already under-used) gym membership. In most areas, even though I could only squeak out a few push-ups, the trainer remained objective. But she truly went eye-poppingly amazed when I couldn’t touch my toes. Like, not at all. Like, my fingertips and toes were like feet apart. Really? No, just reach a little harder there… Seriously? That’s all you can do? Yes, lady, shuddup.
So I’ve been practicing a little each morning, thirty seconds at a time, and today the very tips of my fingers curled over the very bottoms of my toes. It felt unnatural. Like waving a third arm out of my spine. The bottoms of my toes were rougher than I remembered. (I guess I don’t spend a lot of time on my feet…) But in the tiny universe of stretch, reach, stretch: a victory.
You joined a gym? This is even funnier than when my brother joined a gym. (But not as funny as it will be when I join one.)
Yeah I know. I have no idea how any of the machines work. I almost fell off one of those stair-climber things. It’s pathetic.
oh my god sis – this just really made me laugh. President’s fitness challenge – I forgot how much I hated that! That stupid wooden block we had to put between our feet and attempt to touch. I never did reach it, but one time I cheated and wrote down that I did 🙂 It was a great day.
So yeah, what is wrong with our family’s limbs?
I FORGOT THE WOODEN BLOCK!!