Thursday, January 28, 2010

Corkscrewed

I decided to go to Step class at Bally which has a huge exercise studio. I was surprised that there were only about ten people in attendance but I should not have been since the guy that was teaching the class was dispassionate, detached and barely involved. Honestly, I had to look at other participants to try and mimic the steps. As an added bonus, the routine was way out of my league.

I tried to hang in there because I don't like quitting but the grapevine and marching were the only steps that I could pick up. By the time he called for the corkscrew, I knew that I was done. I was in the opposite direction of the class so many times that it was beyond awkward. I've never even walked out of a boot camp class, but I walked out tonight.

Dude did say that it was an advanced class and that it would be hard to catch on the first time. He was talking to me because everyone else had obviously been to practice. I felt like I was on Dancing With The Stars but no one had paired me with a professional. On the group exercise schedule it said nothing about the class being advanced. The code simply said CWL (Cardiovascular/Weight Loss).

I got on a StairMaster, turned on my MP3 player, hit manual, entered level four then put in 40 minutes. Once I had attained my goal, I just decided to stay on the StairMaster and get the rest of my frustration out. I ended up doing 60 minutes and 157 floors and I can feel it all in my abs.

9 comments:

  1. what a jerk that guy is! My first AND ONLY step class was dreadful. then I started doing it at home.

    Glad you got in a killer workout anyways!

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  2. You are cracking me up! Grapevine and step-in-place are the ONLY steps I can do; I am completely and abysmally uncoordinated with anything resembling a dance step. I can't even mambo without tripping over my own feet, and I am the only person in the universe unable to learn the Electric Slide.

    I kind of like kickboxing-type workouts instead of step; there really aren't that many moves and they are repeated many many many many horrible times, so it's easier to learn. I don't spend as much time just standing there looking baffled.

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  3. @yumyucky

    Yeah, dude was definitely not friendly. That's cool that you step at home. I'll have to see what kind of step-related DVDs are out there.

    @gingersnapper

    I can keep up in most step classes. But Zumba? I don't know if I would try that class. And I know how you feel about the *horrible* repetition. ;)

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  4. That sounds impossible to me. Great job on workout out hard and feeling it!!

    I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

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  5. Ugh! The whole class experience is dictated by the instructor. The reason I got back to Zumba (well, I will next week when it starts up again) is because the instructor is welcoming and made a point of saying that newbies should stick it out for 3 classes at least to pick up the steps.

    Well done for getting the workout in despite the annoying instructor and class!

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  6. Oh no! I am so terribly uncoordinated in those classes it's ridiculous. I'm all on left when they are calling out right. It's awful. I embarrass myself. The corkscrew. HAH! That would have done me in too!

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  7. @Diane,

    Thanks! I hope you have a great weekend as well.

    @Gemfit,

    I remember my first awesome cardio instructor and I admired her just as much as I admired one of my high school teachers.

    @Sara,

    That's why I try to stay in the back for awhile. When I catch on to the routine, I move up a little. ;)

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  8. I have only taken one exercise class that I wanted to leave halfway through. That was this past summer. (I came in the same time as another lady & she did leave early).

    I didn't care for the instructor one bit....her music was terrible, she tried to hard to keep the class 'engaged', and her moves were a bit off.

    Still find it hard to believe that that could happen in a Zumba class (I LLLLLLOOOOOVVVEEEE Zumba). The only thing that kept me in it was that I didn't want to do the treadmill/stairclimber/bike.

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  9. @Ms. Bad MJ,

    I know what you mean about the machines; I'm starting to get tired of them.

    Hopefully, I'll be able to find a balance between classes, machines, swimming etc.

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