A place to burn off those frites

I love having the gym right around the corner from our apartment. The place is called World Gym, and is very similar to a gym from back home. There's a cardio section, a weight room and then cardio classes. I'm especially liking the cardio classes, they are all taught in English and have been a fun way to burn all the calories from my frequent snack of frites. I've been taking zumba, body pump and step. Steve's been spinning as well.

I've noticed a couple of things about going to the gym. One thing is the decor. Back home advertisements and imagines in the gym or of the gym are all pictures of smiling 20 something year olds with super tight and toned bodies. Its the same in this gym except they don't have any clothes on and have no faces. You only see the body. Now these are not the same type of pictures that came up in my Google search for a massage in Brussels(those were a lot more scandalous), but it was still a little surprising when I got on the elliptical and noticed I was working out next to a man's butt. From what I can tell Belgians are more comfortable with nudity, it just part of normal culture.

I also very quickly realized that if I wanted to blend in, I could no longer wear my big bright yellow "I survived the Inca trail" t-shirt. All of the women wear "proper" work out gear. Tight spandex pants and tank tops,   coordinating outfits that even go with their shoes sometimes. A lot of the men wear spandex as well although not as much as the women.

A big part of the motivation during these classes are the instructors. Each has a different personality and body shape that seems to match the class they teach. For Zumba my instructor reminds me of Beyonce. She's curvy with big hair, she makes you want a bigger butt so you can shake it more. My body pump instructor makes you feel like you are working out with Arnold Sschwarzenegger. He's one of those men who also wears spandex. He's really muscular, body builder type muscular. He also has a strong Dutch or German accent and yells during class. Lastly there is another guy with a nice French accent who teaches the a different cardio class. All I know is when a guy with a french accent tells you to feel the music and roll your hips, you get motivated to keep rolling your hips.