Since retirement, I have focused on getting more exercise. I post weekly updates here to hold myself accountable and see my progress.
I'm pleased I've been keeping up with this exercise effort for the last two months. However, this week, there were two times I had plans to go to the gym but made up excuses and didn't go. I made up for it in other ways, but I know that feeling of not wanting to exercise all too well, and it's taking more effort to get past it. But this week, I managed to compensate in other ways.
Saturday, April 5, 2025
Ballroom Dance: Ward and I went to a ballroom dance sponsored by USA Dance, which has the goal of making ballroom dance more accessible. The local chapter hosts two monthly dances, which start with a lesson followed by two hours of dancing. We learned two moves for the West Coast Swing during the lesson hour. We didn't know all the dances, but we tried the ones we knew. And sometimes, that meant hovering in the corner, trying to remember steps. All in all, it was a decent aerobic workout.
Sunday, April 6, 2025
Free Day: We practiced some for our ballroom class tomorrow, and that was about it for exercise. There was no yard work, as it was a cold, rainy day.
Monday, April 7, 2025
Strong and Balanced: This was becoming one of my favorite classes, but today was grueling. The class is meant to work on strength and balance, i.e., a lot of standing on one foot and using weights and squats, among other things, to strengthen muscles and balance. Each person has a chair if needed for balance, but generally, we don't sit. Today, there was a sub, and while she said all the right words about doing things at your own pace, she didn't lead that way. We spent about 1/3 of the time sitting, mostly doing weight and shoulder exercises with weights. My shoulders were definitely feeling it, and so was my back. In fact, that's the most weight work I've done in any class of any type.
Ballroom Dance: Ward and I practiced this week, so tonight's class went better than last week. This is a new session, and we will focus on quick step, cha-cha, and jive. Tonight, we worked on the quick step and a bit of cha-cha and reviewed the samba routine we were working on last week. While I was sometimes confused, I wasn't totally lost like last week, and that felt better. We did a lot of fast-tempo dances, and I got a good aerobic workout.
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
Line Dancing: I had been exposed to all the dances we did today at least once before, so I was never totally lost. Yay! However, certain sideways movements bother my knees, so I'm trying to figure out how to modify them. I've been telling people about this class, but I'm going to stop. If there are any more people, it will be crowded. I continue to enjoy this class and get a good workout.
Wednesday, April 9, 2025
Free Day: I had intended to go to Tai Chi today, but when it was time to go, I was doing other things. And I convinced myself that it wasn't worth the drive to go to 1/2 hour class. I did some yard work, but not enough to count as a workout.
Thursday, April 10, 2025
Dancing: This morning, I had planned to go to a Zumba class but decided I wasn't ready for that intensity yet in my day. So, instead, Ward and I practiced ballroom dancing for 20 minutes. Then we went to a line dance in the evening. We went to this venue a couple of weeks ago and liked it, so we tried it again. Over the evening, I'd say that I got about 1 1/2 hours of vigorous exercise. At least the amount I was sweating suggested that. :)
Friday, April 11, 2025
Strong and Balanced: In this class, the instructor says to get a lighter and heavier set of weights. I have only been getting a lighter set. Today, I actually took two sets and used the heavier set when appropriate. Still, much of the class has heavier weights than I do, but I'm improving. I have said before that I like this class, and one of the reasons is that they pay attention to most parts of the body--more than just the major muscle groups. Today, we exercised for the arches of our feet.
Until next time...
