Thursday, January 20, 2011

The Royal Exercises

The Royal Exercises, otherwise known as PE, range from simple to intense. My children are enrolled in the Presidential Active Lifestyle Challenge. Participation is free, self paced, and one may sign up online. Tarja won't be able to participate until after her third birthday, which is very soon. Melody and Abbey earned their first award last semester, and now are working toward a second. Right after my recent diagnosis of diabetes, I signed myself up for the challenge along with a friend. They have options specifically for adults. I am actually well on my way to earning my first award. HOotie hoo!

What do the Santiago princesses do for exercise?
The majority of the exercises logged for Melody and Abbey are walking, and household tasks. Melody has a housekeeping job for a neighbor, and both girls help me with chores around the house. Also, they walk almost everywhere that they go, and Abbey is in Upward cheerleading. In addition to that, I teach baton twirling, so they get credit for those practices as well.

For myself, I have been doing the Mama Wants Her Body Back program. It's a grueling 1/2 hour of cardio, strength, and core. I really don't enjoy it very much, but each exercise is done quickly, and furiously, which means that by the time that I think that I can't handle it anymore, it's already time to move on to the next thing. Like all exercise, it gets easier, so I may decide that it's my favorite before it's all over. My actual current favorite exercise is Callanetics. I'm not flexible enough yet to get beyond the beginning stages, but I can do the exercises in a short amount of time, and can really feel my muscles working hard while I do it. The instructor claims that her only competition is plastic surgery, and that her exercises can shave ten years off of a person. I'll let you know when I've lost my ten years, and million pounds. I might even show you a picture, but right now, I'm keeping my roundness off camera.

If you are interested in any of the programs that I have cited in this post, please visit:
Active Lifestyle Challenge
Callanetics
Mama Wants Her Body Back

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for posting the links. I was interested but probably wouldn't have taken the initiative to go look for them. You have inspired me already! :)

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  2. Let me know how Mama does. One of my problems is that my knees aren't good, so I need something low impact at least until I can get some of my weight off. I really wish they had a swimming pool here. Even a gym with an indoor pool and I would join. Water aerobics are so good for people with bad knees. Keep up the good work!

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