Movin' and Groovin'

I know I've been bad about posting again this week. I've been crazy busy! But it's a good busy, so I'm glad.

I told you a week or two ago that J and I joined a local gym. I've been sweating up a storm the last few weeks. But, much to my surprise, it's been a lot of fun! If there is a place near you with any of these classes, take them!!! I'm old and fat - if I can do them and have a great time, you can totally do them!


Believe it or not, Zumba is an incredibly popular fitness craze sweeping the nation (and it has been for about two years, now), but I had the hardest time finding a video that looked even close to what we've been doing at the Tri-City Court Club. Apparently, anyone who teaches Zumba gets to make up their own routines, so no two classes are the same! Do a YouTube search for Zumba, and you'll see about a million different routines. Awhile back, Kellog's put together a Zumba video for families that looks kind of similar to what we do, but not exactly.

Though I love Zumba, I don't want anything to get old and stale, so my friend and I are still trying out all kinds of classes. So, last Monday evening, instead of Zumba, we tried out the Group Step class...also fun! I was able to follow that better than Zumba. No matter how hard I try, my hips just don't move like a salsa dancer's. We felt like total wusses, though, because we didn't have any risers under our steps. Even the pregnant lady had a set of risers under hers! But I was glad I didn't about halfway through. That's a LOT of climbing up and down! My thighs were killing me.

There were a few moves that had me stumped, but I just kept stepping up and down on the board until they got back to something I could wrap my head around. I figured that's better than standing still, right?

Here's a video of Step Class.

On Saturdays, I've been going to H2O Cardio. That's a great class. I'm looking forward to summer when I can do that one daily. I can do EVERYTHING in that class! Plus, it's the one class where I am not one of the oldest, fattest people there. In fact, I am the youngest (by a lot of years), and let's just say I'm not embarrassed to be in my swim suit there. Bonus: not even one SHS kid is in the class! It feels good to be back in the pool. I spent almost my entire high school career in the pool. I was on the girl's swim team, I managed the boy's swim team, I was a lifeguard, I taught swim lessons, and every single PE class I took was in the pool. I smelled like chlorine for four years. I love the pool. And I've missed it. J and I have a pool in our backyard now, and we love it, but it's just not quite the same. I even miss swimming laps. J and I have done that once, and I think he's willing to go back with me again. (No video of this one...but that's okay - you might not want to see it!)


Of all the classes I've tried, though, I think my favorite is Group Kick. It's awesome! You totally feel like you're kicking butt. I think the sound effects in the songs really helps that. I found two great clips on YouTube that show exactly what we do in that class. Turn up the volume a bit so you can see what I'm talking about. When you swing your samurai sword, there is a swishing noise in the song...you can totally imagine that sword swinging through the air! When you are punching your "opponent" there are movie-type sound effects in the music. It's kind of corny when you just listen, but when you are in the class it's easy to get caught up in it all and let your imagination take over.