# 1: My number one TIP is simple: COME TO CLASS!!!
Chances are that if you are not at class you are not exercising. I know that we all have good intentions to exercise 3, 4 or 5 times a week, but how often do our good intentions turn into playing hooky? How often have you signed up for 3 times a week for a 12 week session and come to all 36 classes?
Make a commitment and follow through. Here are some thoughts on how to help with the follow through part.
1 – Write it on your calendar.
Block out time by physically writing “class” on your calendar. Just making a mental note in your head is not good enough. Writing it down makes it official, important and an obligation.
2 – Lay out your workout clothes.
By laying out your workout clothes the night before class or packing your clothes to take to work helps. This simple action shows that you are committing yourself.
3 – Make exercise number one.
Make regular exercise your number one priority and work everything else around your number one priority. Exercise should be at the top of the list because if you don’t have your health – you won’t be able to do anything else. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure or ……… 3 classes a week is worth a lifetime of health.
When scheduling appointments, lunch/dinner dates or trips, work around your classes. Never miss a class for hair appointments. The hair can wait, the body cannot. Fitness cannot be stored. Health first, everything else second. (When I book a trip, I look for flights that allow me to go to class first and then catch a plane.)
4 – Be accountable.
The buddy system works well if you have a friend to go to class with or meet at class. If not, tell somebody that you are going to be at class. Tell your instructor, a fellow student, friend or significant other that you are going every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Verbalizing your intentions helps make you accountable.
5 – Don’t become a vacation victim.
Often students who enjoy class and have been coming on a regular basis will go on vacation for a week and then we won’t see them again for months or years! Going on vacation can wreck your routine, get you off course and leave you with a new routine that does not include exercise. “Whack”! — Aerobic Fitness class has been cut from the schedule and other things have filled in. You have become a “Vacation Victim”. A well deserved trip will get you “off schedule” and it is hard to get back “on schedule”. So – before you go on vacation……. follow steps 1 – 4 above and you are sure to be back in your fitness routines ASAP!
6 – Better late than never.
Have you ever said, “I’m too late for class, I just won’t go?” Forget that. Come late. A little exercise is better than NO exercise. Plus, you are reinforcing a positive action (exercise) and keeping a spot for exercise in your daily routine.
7 – You are not too tired.
Sometimes you may want to skip class because you are just too tired. I guarantee that if you “just go” to class, you will be glad you did. The hardest part of an Aerobic Fitness class is getting from your home/office to Wills Park. The rest is easy once you get there! I can honestly say that out of the over 10,000 classes that I have taught, there was only one class where I did not feel better afterwards. (I was pregnant with my third child and started having contractions during the donkey kick. I finished class, drove home and delivered a 9 pound 14 ounce baby girl the next day.)
In short, come to class – you will feel better physically and mentally and be really glad you came!
#2 Tip: STRAIGHTEN UP!
When I say “Straighten up” I am referring to three things:
1 – Good Posture
You can look 10 years younger and 10 pounds lighter, if you have good posture. Keep the abdominals tight, shoulders back and head straight. Elongate the spine and get tall.
2 – Straighten your legs
When doing Step Class, the most important step is the first step which is lifting your entire body weight up off the ground. You want to work through a full range of motion by COMPLETELY straightening your leg on the step and tightening the quadriceps (front of the thigh) EVERY TIME you step up.
It is natural to take the path of least resistance and make things easier. It is less work and easier to keep your knees bent when going up on the step. However, you want to lift your weight ALL the way up on your 4 inch, 6 inch or 8 inch step by straightening your knees and tightening the quads. If you are on an 8 inch step, don’t cheat yourself and do a 7 inch workout. Every inch counts. Straighten up and you will get a better workout, recruit more muscle fiber, burn more calories and make your instructor very happy.
It is also beneficial to straighten your leg and point your toes with the leg that you “lift” as in a side lift, glut or kick.
3 – Straighten your arms
Every move has a purpose – even the arm movements. Straighten and tighten the arm muscles throughout your workout. The triceps (back of the upper arm) are responsible for straightening your arms. Develop more tone in your triceps and get a better workout by completely straightening your arms and tightening your triceps.