Mall Fitness!

Working out at the mall is probably one of the greatest ideas of all time. I honestly don't know why only old people are doing this. EVERYONE should be doing this! Mall walking has been a favorite workout of the elderly for years. They get in early before the stores open up, and you always see them in their little matching sweat suits and ankle weights power walking the length of the mall...I obviously do things a little differently. 

When I was younger I used to be a mall rat and would walk around the mall with my friends pretty much everyday. At the time it didn't seem like much of a workout, but now that I'm out of high school and don't walk as much, walking around the mall for a couple hours really makes a difference!

Here are a few Pro-Tips: 

*Don't just walk the length of the mall, stop into the stores and walk around, it'll give you extra steps but you'll be so distracted you won't notice! (And you won't get bored, stores change their stock all the time, so you always have new things to look at!)

*If you're like me, you don't necessarily want everyone to know that you're at the mall to work out. The solution is simple: Don't wear workout gear, just wear regular clothes (something comfortable). That way you don't stand out.

*Bring a friend! Having a workout buddy is helpful no matter what exercise you choose, and having a friend to walk around with you will make the experience that much more enjoyable and the time will fly by! 
*Take the stairs and not the escalators or elevators. That one should be pretty obvious.

*Remember you're not there to shop! Looking in the stores is fine but taking time to pick things out, try them on, and waiting in line to buy it isn't good for your workout or your wallet!

*If you really want a work out...wear heels (comfy ones). Your calves will get rock solid!

***The opinions expressed in this blog are only that, my opinions, and should not be considered medical advice. Always consult your doctor before beginning a new workout regimen.***

My Thoughts Exactly!

In one of my recent blogs "Alternative Fitness for Sexy Housewives!" I mentioned Zumba and that although it's very popular and I've heard great things about it, I've never tried it myself. 

This is why:

Alternative Fitness For Sexy Housewives!

(A Domestic Goddess can multi-task!)

As busy women we can't always make it to the gym.  We can do exercise videos but we are not just content with being the "homemaker" anymore. We know that we're sexy, sensual beings, and our Mother's Richard Simmons "Sweatin' To The Oldies" just isn't good enough! So what is a sexy Domestic Goddess to do? 


PLENTY!


I have been amazed at how alternative fitness has taken off the past few years. No longer are women confined to boring old aerobics or  forced to do workouts designed for men. We have belly dancing, burlesque, pole dancing, stripper fitness, dance fitness (zumba, industrial, hip hop, hula, etc), and so much more! These programs are sexy, fun, and most importantly WORK YOUR BUTT OFF! 


Belly dancing and Burlesque are great because they're friendly for women of all shapes an sizes. Anyone who has seen belly dancing or burlesque shows know that they're not limited to "skinny girls". And all of the women in the show are sexy no matter their size! The costumes and the sensual movements are so hot! And of course the confidence it brings them is sexiest thing of all.


Pole Dancing is the hardest thing I've tried. I've only done it once and it was at a party but let me just say that after a few hours of taking turns on the pole (especially trying to hang upside down) the next morning my arms were noodles! Totally useless! Which has rarely ever happened to me and it means that they got a GREAT workout. Needless to say I'm having a pole built for me now so I can continue to get those awesome results! I'll keep you girls updated on how that goes. lol


The alternative "at home" fitness that I'm most familiar with is the "Flirty Girl Fitness" DVDs (you've probably seen commercials for them on late night TV). Flirty Girl Fitness was started by two sisters Kerry and Krista Knee (Yay! Girl Power!) who actually run FGF gyms in Toronto, Canada and Chicago in the US! The gyms are women exclusive and on the weekends they set up the studio with a Coyote Ugly dance Bar, Dance Poles, and Bistro dance chairs and open it up for member appreciation parties, networking events for women, and it can be rented for parties. Which I think is very cool. I like the DVDs because the instructor really makes it seem like you're on the same page. It's not just watching some hot chick bounce around on TV while you're dying. She "talks to you" and the other girls in the video about the moves being hard, acts worn out at the end of certain difficult moves, and encourages you to only do as much as you're comfortable with because she doesn't want you to over exert yourself. That is of course the great thing about doing fitness videos at home, you can leave at any time and not worry about the people looking at you like you're a failure! 


I'm also going to talk a little bit about other types of dance fitness. I know Belly Dancing, Burlesque, and Stripper/Pole Dancing would also fit into the dance fitness category, but I'm more familiar with those types of fitness regimens so I decided to give them their own separate spotlight! The dance fitness that has been really growing in popularity recently is Zumba. It's apparently some sort of latin dance based fitness class...and for some reason I haven't been able to bring myself to try it. It's so popular they even offer it as a class at my university. If you've tried it, let me know how it is, maybe I'll suck it up and actually get to the gym to try it out. lol There's also african dance, fitness ballroom dancing, hip hop, hula, samba, you name it! Don't believe me? Just check out Amazon's list of about a THOUSAND different dance fitness DVD's!


Speaking of working out...it's time to get my Flirty Girl Fitness on! 


LETS GET FIT!