I am always working on my fitness. Well, let me correct that… I am SOMETIMES working very hard on my fitness, and other times completely ignoring it. But, I’d say that my efforts average out to a… MOST of the time, I am working on my fitness. My go-to cardio has been running since my college days at SFA, when I finally discovered the track on campus. I used to despise running, and I guess to some degree I still do, but it’s easy, I can do it anywhere, and I can set easily definable goals for myself to help keep me motivated. While I have enjoyed becoming a better runner and I’ve felt accomplished as a runner, it does get boring after a while and the training can be limited. Boredom then leads to even MORE boring hour long punishments on the elliptical and finally, long stints of no cardio at all. I have longed for more FUN ways to get my workouts in — something to entertain me and keep me motivated to work out so that I don’t face these peaks and valleys of effort on my part!
I chose to include this item on my 30 Before 30 list so I would be forced to broaden my workout options and hopefully find my new cardio love! I, of course, will never abandon running, but when it inevitably gets monotonous, there must be a suitable backup. My gym offers many classes to choose from, so I’ll be checking out 5 of them and giving you my reviews.
Class #1 – 11/27/12 – Zumba
I have been working up the courage to go to Zumba for MONTHS. For a while, I would go to the gym in the morning with every intention of warming up on the treadmill for 10 minutes, then catching the Zumba class at 9:30am. Without fail, I always chickened out and spent a boring 40 minutes on the treadmill watching the class from the outside looking in. I saw there were a lot of women of different ages, a few senior citizens, a couple men in the class, and it was very dark in the room with just a few glam club lights. Logically, I knew my fear of the Zumba class was completely irrational, but I couldn’t make myself go. I know I’m not good at quickly catching on to dance routines, and knew how silly I’d look, and while I also I knew that NO ONE ELSE CARED, it was like I was standing on the edge of a cliff and willing myself to jump. My body would just freeze and scream, “GIRRRRL, you crazy” in protest.
Last night, a friend went to the Zumba class and had a great time. This friend is a professional dancer, so not-at-all concerned about catching onto the routines (hell, she could teach the class), but her positive review (and my pressing 30 Before 30 list), nonetheless, gave me the courage to check it out. SO, I finally mastered my fear of Zumba this morning! I admit I have been so silly avoiding it for this long. I was SUPER awkward, as I knew I would be, and for the first 10 minutes of the class I was self conscious and wondering if I would survive with any dignity, but, once I looked around, I relaxed a bit. The class was a great mix of ages, skill levels, and even of men and women! I was not the only one botching the moves and looking like a fool, but I was the only one that appeared to care; everyone else seemed to be just enjoying themselves and getting their sweat on. I took a cue right there that I needed to check my anxiety at the door and relax. Relax, I did, and then I was able to laugh and have a good time. It also helped that I can be very competitive at times. The thought of letting the silver-haired man across the room or the middle-aged lady in front of me out-dance me sparked the competitor in me and made me forget my nervousness and focus on my moves!
The teacher, Lacey, was absolutely adorable and seemed like she would be a blast to go salsa dancing with (some place where there were no mirrors, for my sake). Most of her class was latin-based, so we did a lot of meringue, salsa, and cha-cha, however, we did also get our “wobble” on and got to do some belly dancing as well. I got a decent work-out, which could likely be improved by less focus on the accuracy of my dance moves and more focus on the fact that I’m moving to get my heart-rate up, not look like a latin dancing queen. It was really fun and I will go back… mostly, so that I can show-up the older lady that danced circles around me this morning. I’ve got my eye on you, lady!
Class #2 – 12/06/12 – Kick
After biting the bullet and going to Zumba, I was feeling more confident and excited about trying other classes out. I saw that my
gym offered a “Group Kick” class and the description made it sound much like kickboxing, so I was intrigued and targeted it next! I took a kickboxing class in college for an easy A but found that I absolutely LOVED kicking an imaginary enemy’s behind for cardio! I had since forgotten that passion, so I was hoping this class would reignite it.
My friend, Amanda (the dancer), joined me for this class. We met at the gym a few minutes before the class and got to meet the instructor before class began. The instructor, Konnie, explained that she had been on a long break and was just returning to teaching the class, so there weren’t many in attendance. She also explained that she is a fighter and not a dancer so the class was going to be strictly fighting moves. I let her know I was 4.5 month pregnant (at that time) so I’d have to avoid laying on my back and may have to do lower intensity moves if I felt over-exerted. She was very understanding and throughout the class, she offered alternative moves to either ramp up or tone down the intensity. The last 15 minutes of class focused on core exercises and I simply did alternative moves when the rest of the class was on their backs. I really appreciated how encouraging she was and that she asked how we enjoyed the class and how we felt after the class was over. Overall, I thought Konnie was a GREAT instructor and if she teaches any other classes, I’ll be hitting those up as well! I’ve been back a few times to her Kick class and she remembers me every time and is still just as encouraging. The attendance is way up since that first class I attended so I guess others enjoy the class as well!
I LOVED the class in general. It was a great work-out; I got a good sweat going and I was sore for days. To my surprise, my upper-body was SUPER sore from all the jabs and uppercuts! My lower body was sore as well, though that should be no surprise in a class called “Kick.” So far, this is my favorite class!
Class #3 – 12/06/12 – Groove
Immediately following Kick, there was a class called “Group Groove” starting. Amanda was feeling ambitious and wanted to stay and do another hour workout, so I followed her lead. Why not? I was already there right? Kick “KICKED” my butt, but I figured I could take it a little easy in Groove since it’s more of a dance class, similar to Zumba, but with more urban & club dancing.
I did NOT enjoy my first Groove experience. There was a substitute instructor for that particular class and I wasn’t feelin’ her AT ALL. She was an abominable combination of Steven Tyler looks (sans-plastic surgery) and Richard Simmons personality. She was an older lady and I didn’t catch her name. I could have gotten past the annoying personality and the awful headband had she not been RUDELY pointing and calling me out on not going lower during my squats and not “twisting” enough during the imaginary “Twist” contest during the class. I am all for pushing people to work harder, but POINTING at me was not at all cool. Did no one teach her that it’s rude to point??
In her defense, she did not know that I had JUST completed an hour Kick class and that I was 4.5 months pregnant, but in a way, that’s exactly the thing that enraged me… how could she point and call me out like that when she had no idea what my situation was? I think a lot of people feel silly enough in these classes as it is and encouragement rather than beratement is much more likely to get people to return to the class.
The class itself has potential to be fun, and I think Amanda enjoyed it. Actually, I KNOW Amanda enjoyed it because she found it hysterical that I was loathing this woman and shooting her dagger glances all through the class. I did become hilariously combative near the end. In my head, I was daring this lady to point at me JUST ONE MORE time as I prepped the perfect word selection for a verbal bashing. Now that I think about it… we could probably blame the pregnancy hormones for the irrational rage-fest. 😉
I will go back to this class when the regular instructor is present and try again.
More review to come!
