Friday, June 27, 2008

Burn Baby Burn

I have always considered myself an athlete! I played soccer from age 4 up until 18 years old. I stayed pretty active with running, hiking, and other activities up until the conception of my first child. Then I gained a whopping 60 pounds with her, wow! I lost a big chunk of that (but not all of it) partially because I got introduced to step aerobics. I didn't know if I would be able to get the moves down but I was happy to find out that I could because of a great instructor (thanks bleu) . I even continued taking classes during my second pregnancy!

I moved away from the town I was living in shortly after my Ike was born. The first year in my new town was hard. The first week after moving my appendix ruptured and I was down and out for a month or so. Then it was winter and it was cold and no friends and lots of eating and no exercising! Waa Waa. Anyway, spring came and I could get outside. One reason I picked my house was because I have a big chunk of land to play on. It is a lot of maintenance but I see that as playing still! Now I had my exercising again. I enjoyed mowing and weeding and picking up a million sticks but I needed something more. I couldn't see myself driving 45 minutes one way to take step aerobics with my favorite instructor :) but I needed to find something! I found it, an activity center 12 minutes away that has step aerobics, yay, yippy! So now I am back into the swing of things! I take aerobics 3 times a week and the center watches my kiddos for free. I love it! I think why step aerobics and myself jive so well is because I feel like I am dancing (not that I am any good) Well, it is more like me and a group of women 35 to 65 years of age dancing but it is still fun! What is your favorite way to exercise?

4 comments:

Kelli said...

I took step for a while in Jan. & Feb. but for some reason it didn't stick with me. BUT, I found a class that I LOVE! It's called Zumba. It's all the rage right now. Ever heard of it? It's Latin style dance aerobics. At first I thought this is not challenging enough - it didn't seem as challenging as step. But, let me tell you, I'm dripping with sweat by the end of every class. And it really works your core, hips and thighs. It's like step in that you don't feel like it's such a work out but more like a dance party! :)
I'm also teaching a Body Pump type class on Saturday mornings. I think of all the workouts I've tried, this one has changed my body figure the most. Lifting doesn't show on the scale but it shows a lot in how your clothes fit and how strong you are and I can see that I have a lot more stamina in my aerobic workouts as well. I also like to lift because it's a really focused workout requiring concentration to push yourself through that last rep or two and keep your form. Great on a Saturday morning - low key but definitely a work out.

Anonymous said...

As long as I'm able to play, I think soccer will be my favorite way to exercise. My knees are already getting pretty old timey though. Who is big chuck?

Bryan

Jenna Jean said...

I am still giggling over that one Bryan! I meant to say "big chunk" I fixed it now. I wish we could play soccer together still :(

Kelli, I had no idea that you taught Body Pump, that is really cool. I have heard of Zumba and it sounds fun.

AfricaBleu said...

Jenna-girl,
For some reason, I only see weird characters on this post--and I so want to read about your exercise thoughts (it being a subject near-and-dear to my heart and all). Is it just me? What is UP?

I thought about teaching Zumba but got no support from our coordinator so I let the dream die. Sigh.