Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Burned out

For months I've been fighting the feeling like I'm beating my head against the wall. Yes, I can see slow, steady improvement, but to what end?

Okay, exercise. But it's mostly anaerobic exercise (meaning it's short bursts of activity that burns oxygen stored in the body) rather than longer-duration, continuous aerobic exercise that enhances cardiovascular fitness. And it's the latter I think I need.

And it takes a lot of time. To attend a 90-minute weekend class at 11am I end up with this schedule:
  • 9:45 am Pack bag; change into dance gear
  • 10:00 am Drive to the studio
  • 10:45 am Arrive at the studio; warm up
  • 11:00 am Class start
  • 12:30 pm Class over; change clothes
  • 12:45 pm Drive home
  • 1:30 pm Arrive home
That's basically a half a day spent on a 90-minute activity. A year ago this was very important to me. Now? I have other things I'd rather spend that half day on.

I'd also like to lose some of the accumulated aches. Some are just a consequence of getting older, but some can be traced directly to class activities.

 So... I think I'm going to back off my dance schedule. I don't think I'm going to abandon it entirely, as I don't want to lose everything I worked to achieve. But maybe one evening a week for a while. In its place I need to introduce more aerobic exercise. At least that's the plan.
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2 comments:

  1. Frank TobinNovember 17, 2015 at 2:08 PM

    My studio puts on community performances for schoolchildren, and I play roles in it (tomorrow I'm the wolf from "Peter and the Wolf". I'm certainly not a great dancer like some of the younger students, but being more mature I can bring acting and perform partnering decently. Being part of a performance, being able to move with skill on stage is a nice skill to learn. You might find that ballet can help you expand into other forms of dance, such as ballroom or hip-hop, etc. with ease.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ReeceDecember 4, 2015 at 4:12 PM

      Yes, I've thought about this. My current studio has quite a few adult men who have appeared in the studio company's performances, most of whom are far above my skill level.

      I had the last week of November off work and I dropped in for a class at a small studio up the road from me. The instructor for these classes also taught the classes I took when I started again back in 2011, and she'd been inviting me to visit for a while. They might be interested in getting me involved in their productions, but the studio is the opposite direction from work which makes their classes damn near impossible for me to get to due to traffic.

      I keep telling myself I need to get back to class. I'm thinking of taking the Beginner II class Sunday morning, but only time will tell if I find the motivation to get there.

      Delete

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