Some random training and exercise updates. Got a 7 day trial pass at All Star Fitness yesterday and have been twice so far and I can already say I like it better than Gold's. For one they are open later and have three locations within about a five minute drive (one being only 3 blocks away). They have all the required equipment and even have a pool should I feel inclined to make swimming part of my cardio. The Alki Beach location has a climbing wall which I hope to check out Saturday.

Tonight I tried out a new gymnastics club: Gymnastics East. It's about 10 minutes away and has an adult class from 9-11 on Wednesday nights - fits in perfectly after my diving. Most of the people in the class have a gymnastics background it seems but there are a couple beginners like myself. It is fairly structured but there is open time at the end where you can work on anything. They have a fast track, a sprung floor, and a pit among other standard apparatus.

Last training related thought -- while talking about running and using the elliptical trainer with Rida, she suggested using the unarmed elliptical vs. the one with arms. Her reasoning was that by using the arms, you are supporting your trunk taking your core muscles out of the movement entirely. Sure enough when I switched to the unarmed version I could feel my abs and lower back tightening to keep me upright. I think I may be a convert.