So I’ve been working out.  A lot since I’ve been home.  I spend the day cleaning up, cooking, straightening, and then I get a decent chunk of workout time that I may not get when I’m at home.  When I’m at home, it’s just squeeeeeze in my workout where I can, and there’s not a concerted focus on making each workout dynamic.  All that to say, I’ve gotten a lot of time to dynamically werk it owt.

So the YMCA I grew up in was the Siskey Y, this sprawling behemoth of a Y.  It’s gorgeous.  Pools, a waterpark, clean, large facilities, lots of light, and a lot of programming for the community.  The Siskey was kind enough to recognize my employment at the YMCA of the Triangle while my mom’s been sick, and they’ve allowed me to work out – especially helpful on the humid, hot-as-hell days that North Carolina has.

I did my usual.  I ran on the treadmills, which were pretty sick – each treadmill was equipped with its own television, which makes running for an hour or more a little more bearable, minus the commercials.  And then I saw it.

This was the stuff of ‘Biggest Loser’ legend, something I’d only seen Jillian Michaels screaming at, while a poor sweaty workout-newbie cried as s/he climbed to nowhere. I kind of circled the machine for a while, and finally, I dashed in after a sweaty guy stumbled off. I fastened the seatbelt around my waist (the belt controls how fast the ladder moves), and I got going.

So the way it works.  It’s kind of like a treadmill ladder.  The lower you climb, the slower it goes, but the higher you climb, the faster the belt moves.  So I designed a little interval workout for myself.  2 minute warmup, then one minute at a moderate climb, and 45 seconds of a killer climb for 5 passes.  It was awesome.  I was drenched.  My stomach looks like Patrick Schwarzenegger’s.  Wow.  No, but really.  I live for machines like this one, that deliver a pretty hefty punch in a short amount of time.  (The rowing machine is my favorite one in a whole gym usually).  So if you’re looking for a cool workout that’s good for your core, good for hand-eye coordination, good to confuse your metabolism with the old switcheroo, and something that will make you sweat, see if you can’t find one of these.

My only disclaimer? Germs run rampant and unchecked on this bad boy.  You’re sweating, like directly on the machine, and your hands are going where your feet were, it’s all very nasty.  Wipe it down before, wipe it down after, and then walk over to the Purex machine, and go nuts.