Get Curvy

Curves came to Ireland a couple of years ago and like its US counterparts, it seems so far to be a roaring success. The concept is no frills - all Curves gyms consist of a circuit with 16 stations, 8 of which are strength and resistance machines, and the other 8 are recovery boards on which you jog, march or walk. You spend 30 seconds at each station, before a voice orders you to 'move to the next station'. The Curves programme requires you to go for three 30 minute sessions a week for it to work. It's women only and that for me is a huge part of its appeal - I just didn't fancy getting red faced and sweaty in front of a bunch of men. And after a winter of excess, I decided something radical had to be done, so I went off and joined my nearest Curves - which handily happens to be located right next door to me.

I paid my initial €99 plus a my first monthly payment of €39, with a further €39 to be debited from my current account each month. After the ritual humilation of being weighed and having my body fat and BMI counted, I was taken through my paces. Each machine focuses on a different area of your body, so there are machines for squats, back, arms and legs. The recovery boards are used for whatever movements you want - exerting yourself is a good idea though, you're paying for it! I regularly see people doing kick-boxing, starjumps and boxing movements, but I'm boring and generally use the recovery boards for jogging.

I've been going now for about 3 months and I'm starting to wonder when the miraculous transformation will take place - I'm being good, not eating (much) crap and going my allotted 3 times a week, and....nothing. NOTHING! So I decided to do some sleuthing on-line, and I Googled 'does curves work'. The results were interesting - it seems that recently the American Council of Exercise (ACE) investigated the Curves program and found that 'the 30-minute Curves workout, including five minutes of stretching and cool-down, burns an average of 184 calories making it a good 'moderate-intensity' workout for those who are not very active'.

I'm not very active. In fact the most active I get is lifting pints and walking to the bus stop in the morning. Apparently Curves doesn't suit everyone though, and typically I appear to be one of those people. I'm going to continue going though because it's at least gotten me into a routine of taking exercise, which I badly needed. And it's only 30 minutes out of my day. And of course, there's nothing I enjoy more than jigging about to bad euro-pop.