TRY IT: STEP-CARDIO
YMCA STAFF SHARES EXPERIENCE TRYING GROUP EXERCISE CLASSES FOR THE FIRST TIME
It started off a rainy Saturday morning. I drank my coffee on the drive over because I needed as much energy as I could muster for a Step-Cardio class. Cardio isn’t my strength, but how hard could it be?
The answer is hard. Wow. Both the instructor and members said to me that it will be a ‘doozy’ my first time. But Freida, the instructor, was so encouraging and kind. “Just keep moving” and “give yourself some grace” was her advice heading into class and I held onto that throughout the 45 minutes of Step.
I may not have known ‘exactly’ what I was doing, but I still got a GREAT cardio workout. Seriously, as long as you keep moving, you’re getting a workout. When I got lost or off beat, I just went back to the basic steps – up, down, up down. I’d watch the instructor for a few rounds to know what to expect. I got the hang of a few of the more complicated steps, but it’ll just take a few more classes to really get it down.
When I left the Y, it was still a rainy morning. But it didn’t feel as dreary as when I first got there. You’ve probably heard that ‘endorphins make you happy.’ Those endorphins were really doing their job after a Step-Cardio class.