Life’s a Workout: Dancer’s adventure into the world of working out

Exasperated, I staggered to the side of the dance studio. I had been learning dance for eight years, and I was to graduate from the art form with a final debut performance in June of 2013. As the performance date neared, my dance teacher insisted I come to class to tweak my dance routine and to practice it over and over again.

Post practice, I felt as though I couldn’t feel my legs. I doubted if I could even make it to the side of the room to get water.

And the worst part was I had only been dancing for two hours.

Observing exasperation and my lack of energy, my dance teacher suggested I start a workout routine to improve my endurance.

A workout. Why would I even attempt to workout when dancing for two hours leaves me this dead tired?

My definition of workout all this time had been going for a run or swimming. My teacher, on the other hand, proceeded to pick out a set of exercises that I’d follow for a week, designed to increase my stamina.

As the alarm rang on Saturday morning at 7:30 I was tempted to shut it off and continue sleeping for an extra hour.

Instead, I sludged out of bed and in the early dawn of the day trading my soft pajamas for a pair of workout leggings and headed downstairs to my gym room.

First step: stretch out. This should be easy, I thought to myself.

Second step: bike for 20 minutes and my teacher warned “make sure you start off slow!”

Wait, biking is fun. How hard can this be?

I chose to ignore my teacher’s advice and as I hopped onto the bike I began pedaling at an incredibly fast speed.

Ten minutes into the 30-minute workout, my teacher’s words resonated in my head — actually more in my legs.

As the timer rang for 20 minutes, I sprang off the seat and crumbled down to the ground from exhaustion.

After taking a 30-minute break in which I succumbed to the comfort of my couch, I regained the energy to begin the third task: treadmill for 30 minutes.

This proved to be not so bad, as treadmill running is something I’ve done in the past. The painful workout seemed to actually make me stronger and help me endure the pain. I was surprised by my ability to continue despite the burning feeling in my quads.

After the 30-minute treadmill run, which was followed by a 15-minute break, I proceeded to the final step: working with weights.

Since I have a petite frame just shy of 5 foot 3 inches, my teacher felt that benching was not the ideal choice for me. Instead she recommended exercises with leg weights.

Ordinarily jumping onto a two foot high box would not have been a problem for me. But with these weights on my ankles, gravity’s effect seemed insurmountable.

Despite these struggles, I was set on finishing the workout, with a slight alteration.

Post workout I crashed to the ground and again succumbed to the comfort of phone, Snapchatting the world proof of my attempt at something I thought was impossible.

In the end, I realized that the workout was indeed a test of my endurance and my persistence. I learned that despite the sore ache in my quads, despite my constant urge to ditch the stationary bike and cave in, I somehow fought through.

Through this experience, I learned that in life although initially a situation may seem daunting, much like the workout schedule presented by my teacher, throwing everything you have into it and enduring through it is key. Without trying, you’ll never know what you could have done or what benefits the situation has in stake for you.