Introduce yourself
grassette
Posts: 976 Member
Please tell us a little bit about yourself, how often you do aquafit, at what level, and the benefits you are finding with its practice.
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I'll go first. I have been doing aquafitness for the past 10 years, usually in a twice-weekly class. But with the opening of a new indoor pool in my community, I am now doing it 4 to 5 times per week by myself. I love it as an exercise because it makes me feel like a kid again. I can do things in the water that otherwise would lay me off for weeks. It is keeping me young, and I emerge from the pool feeling strong and fit. It helps me with a bad back, and completely gets rid of back muscle spasm. Other ladies in my class have found that it helps them to keep their mobility as they age. We have a nice group going, as most of us work out together. We get together twice a year for a Christmas and Easter brunch. That helps us to recognize each other with our hair dry and in our regular clothing. (lol) I love working out with our young instructors, who are frequently holding down their first job, and who communicate their enthusiasm. I am hoping to learn from others in this group.
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Hello! My name is Rae and I love aquasize. I started about 6 months ago and I go to classes anywhere from 2-4 times a week. Our local pool used to only be open in the summer until a couple years ago when the community decided to put a winter cover on it (like a gigantic tent). That allows us to use the pool year round. The only problem is that the pool tent and the locker room are not connected and you have to walk through the often frigid or raining weather to get from one to the other. Not a huge issue, but often quite breathtaking!! LOL
I'm getting to know a lot of the regular ladies and have really been enjoying it. It is really helping me with my flexibility and I feel like its a good cardio workout, as well. Since I live in a smallish town, the classes are often pretty small (5-8 people), but that is perfect for me as I find it more pleasurable when the pool isn't too crowded. I normally stay in the pool at least another 20-30 minutes after class to swim laps and do additional strength and flexibility movements. Sometimes I'm the only one in the pool (lifeguard on duty, of course). Pretty cool to have an olympic size swimming pool all to oneself!
I also do a lot of other types of exercise throughout the week. Walking (outside and treadmill), aerobic dance, strength training with weights and bodyweight exercises, and flexibility workouts including yoga and Qigong.
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Interesting Rae, I do Qigong and Tai Chi as well as aquafit. I find that these are a nice compliment, and serve to keep me mobile.0
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I've been wanting to start Tai Chi. They have classes at our local Senior Center, but I'm not old enough to go. They are very strict that it is 60+ only. Kind of annoying, but what can you do? YouTube, I suppose!
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I started doing Tai Chi with a friend who grew up in Hong Kong. She wanted the perfect master and tried every tai chi master in Montreal. It took her two years. I went along for some of her search. A good tai chi instructor will let you take the first class for free, to make sure that his/her style of teaching goes with your body. There were some that you knew right away that they were not for you i.e. too martial, too hard on the knees. When Margaret found the ideal master, a woman from China who was a champion in her own country before coming to Canada. I have been with Qian for 5 years now, and have learned a great deal from her. Don't limit yourself to the Tai Chi offered by community organizations, but venture further afield to see if there are Masters that are a fit for you. There are different types of Tai Chi. I do Yang style. I've tried Chen style, but I have herniated discs that are aggravated by the spine-supple moves of Chen. Chen form is quite lovely. I suspect that the senior tai chi is a modified form for the elderly. As a yoga practitioner, you won't need anything that is toned down.0
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I'd probably have to travel a ways to find another class. I live in a pretty small town and I doubt there's one nearby. I know that in the summer they do teach the Tai Chi class one evening a week in the city park, but I never made the time to go. I might ask my acupuncturist. She seems to know about every alternative practitioner and Eastern focused teachers and classes around. I think mostly they are in Portland (which is about an hour or so away from me).
I do take some yoga classes locally, but a lot of my yoga and all Qigong has been self-taught using DVDs and following along with videos on YouTube.0 -
There are good Tai Chi videos around, and I've used them before. I use a few on Youtube just to refresh my memory as to the sequences. But I find that following a master makes a big difference. When you start, there are aspects of technique that you just can't do because your body is not in shape. In my case, I had severe back pain, so I had to modify some of them. But as I got stronger, I was able to do them. I also found that my tai chi master would teach us the outline of the move, but when we mastered that, she would go further into the technique. And I find that she does that constantly. If there is no Tai Chi master near by, and you have to drive into Portland, you might see if you can have a monthly private lesson. Or, if you find people who want to take lessons locally, maybe an instructor from Portland might be willing to drive out to give you lessons. And you could look for a tai chi instructor that also knows Qiqong so that he or she could incorporate qiqong practice into your tai chi lessons. I wonder if there are any tai chi groups on MFP?0
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There are good Tai Chi videos around, and I've used them before. I use a few on Youtube just to refresh my memory as to the sequences. But I find that following a master makes a big difference. When you start, there are aspects of technique that you just can't do because your body is not in shape. In my case, I had severe back pain, so I had to modify some of them. But as I got stronger, I was able to do them. I also found that my tai chi master would teach us the outline of the move, but when we mastered that, she would go further into the technique. And I find that she does that constantly. If there is no Tai Chi master near by, and you have to drive into Portland, you might see if you can have a monthly private lesson. Or, if you find people who want to take lessons locally, maybe an instructor from Portland might be willing to drive out to give you lessons. And you could look for a tai chi instructor that also knows Qiqong so that he or she could incorporate qiqong practice into your tai chi lessons. I wonder if there are any tai chi groups on MFP?
Great suggestions! There might be a tai chi group here. I haven't seen one just in passing (and MFP search feature doesn't work well, if at all, for groups), but no harm in looking! There might be a post about it somewhere.0 -
I was totally bummed today. I didn't go to aquasize class yesterday because I had too many other things on my plate for the morning. I went today, but then turned right around and came home. The pool was closed because the power was out! We've had stormy weather for the past week with more to come.
I came home and baked banana bread for Christmas gifts (14 mini loaves so far). That WAS on my list for today but for AFTER the aquasize. Now I'm feeling tired and uninterested in exercising.
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That is the way it goes. If you exercise, you have energy. But if you can't make it, you get tired and miss out on how it wakes you up. I try to go first thing in the morning, so that it does not get in the way of my day.0
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