Trying new things builds character and makes you stronger. All those things that your parents said when they tried to get you to join a sports team or start a new hobby. Golf lessons or French class, anyone?
(I'm mentally singing along with Kanye West right now...work it, make it, do it, makes us harder better, faster, stronger...)
At work we recently started a partnership with a local athletic club. They have 75 classes each week. It's less than a block from my office, so I felt obligated to try something new. I like Zumba and go on a regular basis. I also see a trainer who "confuses the body" (aka kicks my ass) 6 times a month. It was time to break out of my fitness shell.
Inspired by the Fit Bottomed Girls recurring feature Workout I Did, here's mine....
Why try something new alone when you can try it with your friends?
One of the classes offered is called BUTI Yoga. I've never (ever) been to a yoga class. I know nothing about yoga. Even friends who have gone to traditional yoga had not heard of this class.
It uses the word "booty" (or "buti") so you know it's gonna be fun, right?
How do you prepare for a new class? By researching it on You Tube of course. I'm not sure who produced the video we found or who their target audience was, but we watched it a little laughter and a lot of disbelief.
The sense of disbelief that whispers quietly in your ear, "there is no way that my hips can do that!"
Paired with our collective image of what we'll look like when we try to do that.
That image made sure that we got to class early so that we could lay down our mats in the back corner of the room. The good news? Our office contingent made up half the class.
The class was a combination of yoga, cardio, plyometrics and rump-shaking, hip-rocking, core-strengthen moves. I only felt clumsy and uncoordinated some of the time. Woo! Did I mention I don't know anything about yoga? Child's pose, what? Downward dog, where? I had to pay a little more attention just because I was a yoga virgin.
The verdict?
It was a real workout. The next day at work we were comparing how sore our legs and abs were. I still felt the buti-effect two days later when I was doing crunches on a balance ball.
Some of my friends went again this week. One is going to show me her sweet yoga moves (similar to what I do when I return from lunchtime Zumba). The other said she didn't know if she'd be able to walk.
Just like Shakira, our hips don't lie. They just aren't that fast.
Yet.
****
I felt compelled to learn a little more after my class by visiting the BUTI Fitness site. The creator worked to combine the fitness effects of yoga and traditional cardio conditioning together, along with the hip and booty shaking of dance. There is a video here too. Don't let it scare you. Your hips don't have to move like that to have a good time and get a great workout.
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