A woman in my water aerobics class suggested I blog about my exercise classes. I was amused, and while I suspect her of some well-meant tacit body-shaming, the idea itself – apart from the motivations – is good. After all, I run into exercise challenges all the time. Some, like the Sun Salutation in yoga, happen because my belly prevents me from doing that lunge. I also really – really – hate how many beginning yoga classes do nothing but that damned Sun Salutation.
Since I’m trying some new workouts this year in addition to my combination of water aerobics and bellydance (when I can get to the class!) I thought I’d share my process. I am not going in with goals for altering my body. I realize that many people find measurable goals helpful. I do not. I am going in with a look at the experience, and how the experience changes as I repeat different workouts.
For the first such adventure, I gave Crunch Fat Burning Ab Attack a try. Why?
- Netflix Instant had it
- It was 32 minutes
- It was 32 minutes AND I had ballroom dance classes with my husband that night, making a longer workout unappealing
The first part, a low-impact cardio series with squats, went pretty well until the instructor broke it down into something samba like that seemed unnecessary. For the most part, I could do it, and I generally pick up choreography after 2-3 tries. The floor work portion was fine right up until a section where you prop yourself up on your arm to “test” your core. My core not only failed, it closed for business.
Rather than lie on a crumpled heap on the floor, I opted to keep doing run-of-the-mill crunches until the video moved on to something my body could do. Fortunately, I didn’t wait too long.
As far as big person exercising issues go, there were none for me. It does require a lot of squats and knee bending, however, so if you have knee or leg injuries you may find the first part of the video a problem.
The crux of all exercise programs of this nature, is that it requires repetition. I’m giving it 30 days (with weekends off unless I really have energy to burn.) I’ll let you know how it goes, perhaps not daily, but often enough that you get the idea.
In terms of my first experience? Only 3-4 “Oh good Gods the pain!” Mostly I feel like I have better posture while sitting at my desk now.
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