Day 30 ! willPower and grace

First came the socks with individual toes (I used to have a pair, they were short-lived - it does take some time to get each toe in its allocated place, not like an glove which slips on easily. And the socks freaked out one of my flatmates) and then came the toe running shoes (which I admit freaks me out a little). And I’m pretty sure I saw someone run the Brighton half marathon a few years back barefoot. I can see the logic of this emerging barefoot trend – man, nature, natural movement etc. And I can also see logic in the argument that decades of advancing support technology in trainers have meant that our feet have become weak and reliant on cushioning (like lipbalm – if you never started using it you wouldn’t need to now). So a cardio class that is also a “foot-fitness conditioning programme” sounds interesting doesn’t it?

And it was interesting. I was kind of expecting a barefoot aerobics class but it wasn’t as straightforward as that. We started with wiggling our toes, trying to lift all toes except the pinky, then same except big toes and finally trying to lift middle three toes and the outer two on the floor. This was quite tricky (for me) and I shamefully couldn’t do it without using my hands and force lifting the middle three. After some more feet balancing exercises (including standing on one leg and swinging the other leg around whilst trying not to fall), the cardio section started.

Cardio in the class was relatively fast-paced with exercises led by Instructor Lourdes which included moving-body-left-to-right-squats (I don’t know what its official name is – it’s when you are pretending to sit on your right heel with both feet flat, then alternate onto left. Is that even a better description? Anyway.), lots of balancing exercises on one leg, balancing exercises on tippy toes and some twisting exercises.

It’s difficult to describe the moves – it wasn’t just your average star jumps, squats, lunges nor just the average dancey grapevines, hopsteps nor the average yoga downward dogs or tree positions but an eclectic mix of them all (and all those moves were in there in one form or another. Except starjumps. There was no jumping). And added to the mix was balance – because you were moving from e.g. a side squat to a yoga tree-like position (hands touching stretched out above your head and one foot flat against your other thigh. Like a tree. I’m going to stop describing moves, you can google “I am a yoga tree” and it comes up), you did need to be constantly aware of your core and balance. It was interesting!

Also worth noting, the music – it was specific music tailored for the class but had a tinge of light house and pop. Interesting!

I’d try this class again (though not in the 80 days) – it was a refreshing new style of class and whilst I’m not sure it the best for specific cardio or specific toning (or strength), it will help your balance and help you find your inner (feet-) self. 

The Need To Know:

- Where: Aquaterra’s Highbury Pool and Fitness Centre

- Nearest Station: Highbury and Islington (1min)

- When: willPower and grace only on Tues 12.45pm!

- How Much: Drop-in around £7.50 for single class

- Special Note: The aquaterra website has an exercise class finder which lets you search classes across all their venues by day, venue, times and even for women-only classes. See Day 9 (Reggae-less) Aerobics for another class at the venue

The Want to Know:

- Who’s it For: For those who are unbalanced.

- Sweat Scale: 6/10.

- Strength / Cardio / Flexi / Tone: Light cardio

- Complexity: 7/10

- Fun Factor: 7/10

- Changing Facilities: See Day 9 (Reggae-less) Aerobics

- Instructor Inspiration: 6/10. Friendly and with motivational phrases  

The Stats:

- Total Time: 44mins

- Calories Burnt: 144 (3.3cal/min which is better than I would’ve guessed)

- Average Heart Rate: 101
- Max Heart Rate: 136 

With Flexi Instructor Lourdes