Cheers

The Scot and I do a lot of things that aren’t very ‘LA’ (mainly to do with food and drink I have to say!) So I decided it was time to try something a bit more LA and maybe counteract some of that behaviour. At the bar. A different kind of (not at all happy hour) bar. I saw a deal on Facebook. $100 for a month’s unlimited membership at The Bar Method. ‘Wow that’s cheap’ I thought. I’ve clearly been here too long. My membership at Lifestyles was £15 ($22) a month! 

So what do I get to do with this bargain of a membership? I get to inflict intense pain on myself for an hour mainly. For anyone old enough to remember Callanetics it’s a bit like that. Tiny exercises that look like they don’t take much effort but make you want to scream in agony. There’s a ballet bar and various other bits and bobs designed to increase your strength & flexibility (aka intensify the torture). 

I guess you get what you pay for. Remember the gym with the cockroaches, the fancy dress costumes and the naked pensioners? Its not like that! You’re not even allowed to show your toes (honestly there’s a sign up saying socks must cover toes. Who knew there were socks that didn’t?!) The instructors and members were all dancers in another life, or maybe actually this one. My favorite exercise is where you’re supposed to put your hands on your hips and float your leg into the air and onto the bar. Ha! I need both hands to haul my leg onto the bar. There are stall bars to hang from which are a bit like a ladder attached to the wall and you hang from the top rung. I managed three seconds at my first attempt. 

The instructors are all really nice and they know everyone's name They even say my name right! 'Isn't that nice', I thought. Then I realized that's so they can correct you by name on their microphone. They use my name a lot!  

It is actually quite addictive though despite the pain and the extra wrinkles from the amount of frowning I do for a whole hour four or five times a week. It's probably not a coincidence that there's a chiropractor one side and you can get your botox the other. Now this is LA!