Coffee, Cake and Crunches

I don't know about you, but I really enjoy going to the gym. I like what I get out of it – strength, a toned body, energy, fitness and especially that ‘great’ feeling that comes at the end of a big workout! You know, that energised ‘I‘m ready to take on the world’ feeling! Even if you don’t feel like doing your workout, you are always happy that you did at the end of it... not to mentions the surge of natural endorphins that are flowing. So I love all the regular things one gets from frequenting the gym on a consistent basis. Daily movement is one of my non-negotiables. And that can be a full on workout, or simply a beautiful walk.

The other thing I love, is the connection and camaraderie with like-minded ‘gym junkies’. A ‘hello’ here; a ‘how’s it going’ there and of course the occasional ‘are we insane?’

But one of the best times, the best day at my gym is Thursday! Now Thursday is past hump day, and for me I know rest day is coming! Thursday mornings at my gym are a motivational, fitness, education, counselling, problem-solving, recipe-sharing, comedy class all rolled into one! It is the absolute best!

It is the morning-tea after the workout that is the weekly bonus. Along with conversation and laughter, we share coffee, fruit and cake! Yes, my gym serves amazing cake (all very health conscious & tasty) – all appropriate after a good old sweaty workout of course. Here that need to connect with others is met. Here we can be certain that what we contribute will be heard and acknowledged. Here we can explore the wide variety of knowledge, opinions and thoughts of women coming together under a common umbrella of fitness, and in actual fact can leave with so much more.

And it is during these Thursday morning chats that solutions to all the world’s problems are highlighted, insighted and settled. Whether it’s a discussion on ‘bobily bits’, or the sophistication of tech savey teens and their ‘I think I’m cool ‘cos I’ve created my own texting code' Dad (oh and by the way, it doesn’t matter to said cool Dad that he is the only one able to decipher newly developed texting code and what he is actually saying); the latest must try recipe; or if it's solving the complexities of men and women or the trials and tribulations of raising children (regardless of their age they’re still our babies), the topics discussed, debated, solved, and humoured in this hour after class are priceless.

The morale of the story is this – exercise is a life-style choice that creates fitness, health and great feeling (even if the feeling is being totally whacked after your workout or class) and the bonus that the benefits of connecting, laughing and sharing provide, are the icing on the cake that will absolutely set you up even better for the day.

In today's busyness, we still need to have that connection with our own. Women are talkers, we don't necessarily need for the listener to fix things, we sometimes simply need to talk. To have a conversation at our own level, to connect with like-minded women and to laugh. And let's face it, regardless of what is going on in each others lives, a good does of belly laugh is going to reduce any stress even if in that moment. What that then means is that cortisol has dropped, and endorphins have risen, so dealing with the stress stuff becomes easier, or at the very least you can look at things from a different perspective perhaps.

And so each Thursday I leave the gym with a spring in my step, a smile on my dial, a body full of flowing happy hormones and I know that it will definitely be a good day. And this is contributed not only to the workout, it’s also because of coffee and cake and conversation with my delightful funny and sometimes twisted (in the best possible way) gym jammers.