Fitness Adventures for EveryBODY

What's your personal soundtrack?

I like music. It like it playing in my ears, all over my house, in my car and while I am in the dentist’s chair (by the way, having music in your ears while your mouth is at the mercy of the tooth person is a real fear-dropper)

So, what is playing as you go through your day? Hip hop? A Viennese Waltz? The Titanic theme? Lion King? A country western gut bucket “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy?” (This is the ONLY country song I can listen to five times in a row.)

So, could you possibly change your direction through the day by changing the music you hear? If you are tired, a little John Phillip Sousa might perk you up. Sad from a breakup? Try listening to a string of country or rock ‘he broke my heart into little pieces’ over and over again, until you laugh. You might want to use this opportunity to change your shape, drop a size or two, so you can get something new in a smaller size.

By the way, this is not an ad for iPod or MP3 players. Sing to yourself.

What's yours?

Dirty Dancing, oh my!

So, let’s see. In an effort to get up off the couches – I have three in my house, one on each level, so I am consistently beckoned to ‘come on over, set a spell, take a load off’ – I have often thought of enrolling in a local ballroom dance hall to learn salsa, tango, or even just a few lessons in how-to-follow-a-man-you-idiot.

Bad, Bad Dances for Boys and Girls

There, I blew it. Two flaws revealed in the first paragraph. It’s coming to a decision as to which dances to take up that causes a problem. My inert load – the aforementioned ‘take a load off’ is quite visible – I have researched which dances take the most calories off. And why.

Research these days on the Internet can lead one off in a dithering direction.  A delightful dither, I might add, to anyone who enjoys trivia as much as I do. My research discovered a dance contract from Aliso Viejo High School, in Orange County, California (surprise!)  that prohibits so many movements, I doubt that anyone could possibly get a sweaty palm, let alone any youth taking action of those raging hormones. For your elightenment (or dismay) . . .
“3. Dancing Guidelines (applies on and off the dance floor): Lewd and lascivious dancing such as “freaking” will result in a
student being asked to leave the event and will make him or her ineligible to attend all future dances for the remainder of the
school year. Parents will be notified. Dancing guidelines include, but are not limited to:
• No straddling legs
• No bending over
• No front to back touching / grinding
• No touching of breasts, buttocks, or genitals
• No “making out” (no overt and/or prolonged
public displays of affection)
• Both feet on the floor
Hands on waists or shoulders only”

No Two to Tango

The above list means no tango, or anything south of the border. And, I wonder how one can even walk across the gym without removing at least one foot from the floor with each step? When I was in high school (in the age of stone tablets, yes when there were 20 commandments, not the watered-down ten), this would have been a welcome list, as I never had a date and the fact that others were being prohibited from doing what I wanted to do would have given me a few moments of relief. I made up for it later, however.

So, on with the dance. The dances that burn the most calories? A Google search reveals belly dancing, hip hop and ballet. At Almaden Valley Athletic Club, we offer ZUMBA, which has gotten our members very taught and lean, especially Stacy Farmer, out fearless leader. As for hip hop, we offer that occasionally too. And ballet? Well, a very slow version would be nice, but I enjoy the costumes more.

All of this, just to find out if there is something else I can do besides do the hamster on a treadmill.