Dancing With Myself

Heather over at Crawdads in my Sink made an important point a few days ago: even though the weather might be dreadful, it's not an excuse to skip daily exercise. If the roads are too bad to get to the gym or it's too cold to go outside, one can always turn to Netflix for fitness videos. This was a revelation to me. It had never crossed my mind to look online for exercise instruction. 

Since Netflix doesn't support Google Chrome (boo!), I started looking on Hulu for videos. I have nothing but time at the hotel where I work, so a 30-minute workout is easy to do. I found my answer last night in the form of dance workout videos. I thought they would be a good fit because they don't require special equipment and can be performed in a tank top and jeans. 

I tried out Dance and Be Fit: The Bollywood Dance Workout. A smiling Indian lady informed me I would tighten and tone, all while releasing waves of joy and energy. While I can't say I felt particularly joyful or energetic, the workout was relatively fun and kept me moving and shaking for the better part of 20 minutes. (The video is 50 minutes long, but I didn't want to get too sweaty at work, just in case guests needed to actually see me.) The instruction is clear and well-demonstrated and very positive. As someone who is totally uncoordinated and un-rhythmic, I appreciated encouraging statements like "just do what feels good!" and "don't worry about keeping time!"

For the most part, I felt like I was jiggling around like an idiot, but according to my fitness app, I burned approximately 130 calories. Woohoo! Tipperary vest, here I come.