KEEPING FIT : For Some, Solo Workouts Are Just Right

Before Deborah Bauer of El Toro got married and became a mother, going to the gym was “one of the social structures that kept me going,” she says.

But since her daughter, Jennifer, was born two years ago, Bauer’s workouts have taken on a different meaning. Now the former aerobics instructor exercises solo, and she can’t bear the thought of doing it any other way.

What with a husband, a daughter and a full-time job in software sales, Bauer says she can manage “one hour--if that--to spend on me.”

“I have all the social experiences I need,” she says. “Let me have this time for myself to get in touch with who I am.”

Rebecca Arvizu of Cypress is still single, but she also prefers working out alone.

“I used to go to a gym but gave it up because of the distractions, especially by men who tried to show me how to ‘pump right,’ ” says 27-year-old Arvizu. “When I got to the point of really taking my workouts seriously, I didn’t want anybody else around,” she says.

Both women say one advantage of solo workouts is the logistics. “You don’t have to get in the car, drive to the gym, change your clothes, do the exercise, change back, get in the car and leave,” Bauer says. “I just don’t have time for that anymore.”

And if you have to get up and go somewhere to work out, you might not get around to it as often as you should, Arvizu says. “I paid for the (gym) membership, but I just wasn’t going regularly.”

In her family room, Bauer, 36, still uses some of the same aerobics routines she once put together for the classes she taught. Now and then, she changes the music on her tapes to keep her workouts more interesting.

Bauer works out three days a week, usually. She says she’d like to do more, but there just isn’t time.

Sometimes, little Jennifer comes out and tries to follow along with the exercises, but Bauer says that even then, “she knows this is my time.”

Bauer begins with stretches and warm-ups, then works up to calisthenics and faster aerobics and jogging in place before she reverses the sequence. While her body is working, she says, her mind has a chance to think more clearly as well.

“It’s sort of like a meditation,” she says. “When I’m jogging, I’m concentrating on the exercise, but then at the end, when I’m relaxing and stretching, I’m constantly thinking. It really helps.”

Arvizu became serious about fitness a year ago, after she saw the photos her brother took of her during a trip to Knott’s Berry Farm. “I weighed 133 pounds and felt really terrible, but I didn’t realize how bad I looked until I saw those pictures,” she says. “That’s when I knew I had to do something.”

Her workout begins at 5 a.m., when she gets up and does a series of sit-ups and other exercises for her waist and hips, a particular problem area. “I’m a waitress, so I do a lot of walking on the job. On me, all the fat stayed in the middle.”

After the stomach exercises, she steps on the scales, then heads to the kitchen for breakfast, usually a piece of dry toast. “I read the newspaper and work on a story--I’m a writer--for about an hour to an hour and a half to digest my food. Then I either jog for 30 minutes, walk for 40 minutes, bike 30 miles, or do aerobic dance for an hour.

“I do this every day, religiously. I give my workout routine the same priority as washing my face. Sure, I need a rest sometimes. My body lets me know, and then I may just take a leisurely walk.

“I don’t want to hear about people’s problems with their kids or their lovers while I’m working out,” Arvizu says.

What she does want to hear is rock music, so she also has put together a personalized workout soundtrack. Although she had no formal training, she also developed her own aerobics routine, based on what she learned from reading fitness magazines and other sources.

She also lifts light weights several days a week. “I don’t want to be like the studs at the gym,” Arvizu says. “I worked too hard to take it off, and I want to keep it this way.”

Now Arvizu is down to 105 pounds, which she feels is ideal for her small-boned 5-foot-5 frame.

Both Bauer and Arvizu acknowledge that solo workouts aren’t for everyone.

“I think it depends on where you are in life,” Bauer says. “A single person would benefit from having a place to go that offers a dual opportunity--to get in shape and to meet others that are interested in the same kinds of activity.”

And some people need the support of other exercisers to stay motivated.

“Not me,” Arvizu says. “I don’t need a gym or other people for motivation. I just look in the mirror.”