Sunday, January 16, 2011

I like to move it move it

So. I did a workout video this week. 10 minute workout solutions - the perfect amount of time for me. I decided on the Dance Moves Fat Burning something-or-other series and began to follow the instructor.  But silly me, I thought it would feel more like dancing.  I thought it would feel more fun.  Instead, it felt like aerobics, the kind where my uncoordinated self is five steps behind and looks like a certified dork.

In college, I took an aerobics class with Dottie Haugen, one of the physical education professors.  Dottie was in her 60's and had been teaching at my college for quite a few years and she was AWESOME!  She had such a passion for physical activity as a way of loving our bodies, as a way of staying healthy in all ways (physically, mentally, spiritually).  And Dottie's enthusiasm was contagious - you couldn't help but feel positive and excited in her midst.  Her aerobics class was a hit and she just exercised circles around all of us 20-year-olds.  But I loved this class because the aerobics routines weren't so complex or challenging AND she used a lot of Christian songs from the 80's and 90's.  Now, I don't LOVE Christian music, much less from the 80's and 90's, but these songs were so fun and the aerobics moves were so easy to get, that I could just move.  I could just exercise and it felt like dancing.  I didn't have to think, just move.  I could even sing along.  I think I even remember some of the moves to one of the songs (Lift Up the Lord).  I'm positive that in this class, I looked, yet again, like a dork.  But it was such fun, felt so uplifting, to use a kind of corny word.

So, after this week's aerobics workout that just felt like aerobics, I went ahead and ordered some Sweatin' to the Oldies.  One of my childhood friends had these and we would "workout" to them in 5th grade.  And while Richard Simmons is a fruit loop of the first order, I thought this might be as close as I could get to good ol' uplifting, dancing, singing along exercise fun.

It also, most certainly, solidifies my status as dork in the realm of exercise.  So be it.

3 comments:

Olivia Hein said...

You know what else you could do, have a dance party! Download a 15 minute playlist of fun, upbeat songs (Walkin' on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves is a great song!) and just dance around the house! It doesn't have to be specific dance moves, you just gotta jump and wiggle around and your heart will get a pumpin'. Calories burn whether you're dancing around your kitchen or following a DVD instructor. :)

Anonymous said...

Haven would LOVE a dance party I'm sure!!!

WanderingellimaC said...

i cant wait to sweat to the oldies with you!