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So I've joined an old ladies' exercise class. Believe me, it wasn't my first choice. I had previously signed up for a zumba class at the most popular athletic club in town. The membership was free with my health insurance. Why not have fun while trying to get in shape, I thought.

Little did I know that I would be the baby boomer trying to keep up with millennials. First, I discovered that my active wear wasn't skimpy enough. Maybe a trip to the mall to buy a couple of really stylish outfits would do the trick. Even the salesgirl was impressed with my purchase. "You will look fabulous," she said.

Looking around at the others in the class, however, I realized that a bare midriff is a must. Nobody told me. I'm trying to get rid of my middle, not expose it.

And then there's the music. I'm used to songs with a "beat" that they used to dance to on American Bandstand. Blaring loud, electronic dance club songs certainly got my heart pounding, but I couldn't hear anything for at least an hour after one of these sessions.

"What did you say?" I replied when my husband asked me how I did. "My ears are ringing."

Plus my knees couldn't handle the jumping, twisting and gyrating. I had to look for a less strenuous class.

Fortunately, our active adult community offers several different exercise classes. You don't even have to get off your behind in one of the classes. It's called "sit and be fit."

I decided to try the body sculpting and muscle strengthening class. Using dumbbells, body bars, balls, tubing and bands I would get my body back in shape. That was my plan.

Our fitness instructor, Charli, is enthusiastic and energetic. She turns up the Motown classics playing on the speakers and gets us moving and kicking and bending and doing bicep curls. She encourages us as we do push-ups and squats.

"Smile," she yells as we gulp water from our bottles. "Are we having fun yet?"

Oh, yes, so much fun!

Just like Richard Simmons, I'm usually sweating to the oldies by the end of the class.

But, I found out that the real challenge is at the beginning of the session. As we line up to enter the gym and collect our equipment, it's every woman for herself. There's a stampede of women elbowing their way into the room. They are all trying to stake out a space on the floor for our workout. That's when the gloves come off.

"You're in my spot." "Your body bar is in my way." "I'm going to trip on your dumbbells." "You've got to move."

That's when I take a stand. I am not moving.

I feel as if I'm on the "Survivor" TV show. And I've just won the first challenge.

This is the old ladies' exercise class.

This is survival of the fittest.

- Natalie Cinelli

Natalie Cinelli is a freelance writer who has had articles published in the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald and American Baby magazine. She wrote a humor column, "In a Nutshell," for the Suburban News in Reading, Massachusetts. She also worked as a lifestyle editor and columnist for the Lawrence Eagle Tribune in Lawrence, Massachusetts.