I have tried pole dancing (which was when I was my fittest and most toned but I kept falling off of the pole when it came time for the fancy upside down stuff), pogo stick hopping, spinning (or hell, as I think of it), boot camp, Bollywood dancing, boxing (30 Minute Hit is the best!!), yoga, hot yoga, yoga with wings, yoga-ballet, yogaltes, pilates, pilates with props, hot pilates, hoop pilates, powerball pilates, personal training, hula dancing, hula hooping, 80's style jazzersize, and even aquasize.
It's no wonder that in exploring Toronto, I have sought out some fun fitness trends. Especially with the size six wedding dress that is sitting in my closet.
Well friends, I believe I have done well.
First 'Wacko' goes to Witty Workouts.
The gist is that you do a circuit workout twice and in between sets (is that the right word?) you play a game. And you know I like games!
But that's not all! Oh no - it's all done with a . . . . THEME! THEME! I am queen of themes! I love themes. I theme everything! I even theme Christmas presents.
Therefore when I was told this was a workout with a theme I nearly peed my pants with excitement.
I happened in a few days after Halloween. Therefore the theme was, yup, you guessed it! Halloween!
Firstly, the trainer was wearing a Jack-o-Lantern costume complete with a hat. Secondly, our warm-up was the 'pumpkin twist'. Literally. He found a song called "The Pumpkin Twist" and we followed along. Pretending to be pumpkins and twisting around. Thirdly, each station had a fun name. So twists become 'Witche's Couldron'. Some of the stations even had hats! The games included beer pong that had me laughing so hard I didn't notice I was doing crunches for three minutes.
I give Witty Workouts an A++ on the scale of not noticing I worked out until I got out of bed the next day and couldn't walk.
My second 'Wacko' goes to Zumba. The Latin-inspired workout that is spreading the world like wildfire.
It might just be the funnest dance party I have ever experienced. I love trying to dance. I stress 'trying'. I am one of the most unchoreographed people ever. In Brooklyn, I always wanted to go to African dance but, if you recall I looked like a monkey on speed, therefore was always too scared to go back.
Zumba is no exception.
As soon as the uber fun and sexy music starts playing, you can't help but start to dance. It is the funnest dancing ever!
Our instructor was this sexy Latina girl with long flowing dark hair who could move her hips at breakneck speed.
Do you ever watch instructors and think you look exactly like them, then catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and realize you look like a drunken chimpanzee? It's like the time I had to wave at myself in yoga because I didn't realize my butt looked so big from behind. The sudden realization that you are a terrible dancer hits you like a ton of bricks.
Whatever. I am the whitest person I know. I cannot be expected to be a super dance star.
I tried my best to follow along. Shaking my butt with the beat. Waving my hands in the air. All the while doing mambo steps. Luckily I was in loser corner. The guy next to me was a three-hundred pound Indian guy with a beard (I LOVE the fact he even was at this class!) and a gal who had even less coordination than me! We banded together in our inability to turn around and cha cha at the same time while Shakira sang 'Wacko Wacko'. And when I crashed with Mr. Beard during 'espenza' (I think this is what it is called - hard to know. Basically you shake your bum while sticking it out and waving your arms like a washing machine in front of you) it was no big deal because we were in unpretentious and awesome zumba!
Unlike African that was full of people who were taking it a bit too seriously, it doesn't matter how sucky you are in Zumba. I will not be too scared to go back.
The more you mix up the fitness fun, the more likely you are to stick to a regular routine and see results. That's what I have learned anyways. I know it's time to move on from a workout when I have to drag myself away from Golden Girls or I stop seeing changes in my body.
But I'm fairly certain that mixing up tossing a jack-o-lantern and shaking my booty will last at least until I have to zip that wedding dress up!
No comments:
Post a Comment