Anybody remember the Roger Rabbit? Running Man? Cabbage Patch? Electric Slide? Good stuff. I mean really, those were the days. No grinding and creepy creepiness happening, just actual dancing. You know, to a beat. Like on purpose. I love to dance. I love it even more than solving crime, wearing cute shoes, and drinking wine. And that's saying a lot. My sleuthiness with regard to true crime is legendary. Ever since I was in elementary school and would trade Nancy Drew Mysteries with my next door neighbor Ellen Rasp (She was an albino with an afro and a more than passing interest in Alice Cooper!) I have been the go to gal for any neighborhood whodunit. This talent has followed me through my adult life. Had it not been for a fluke run in with the world of fitness there surely would have been several made for TV movies dedicated to my stellar crime solving achievements. And look, when it comes to wearing cute shoes and drinking wine must I elaborate? The beauty of these things is that they can be done independently or together! I could just march around in cute shoes, or march around drinking wine while wearing cute shoes. Although sitting is always a better option after I have a couple glasses under my belt. Anyhoo, the point here is, that if I could solve crimes, while wearing cute shoes and drinking wine, things would be pretty perfect in my world. There is but one thing that could bring a more sizable grin to my face and that,THAT my friends, is DANCING!!!!!! I will admit however, that at the end of the day I need a beat. Look, I enjoy, no I love the musical stylings of James Taylor. Love the guy! Not so much for dancing though. Alas, In addition to Mr. J.T. I have been known to bang my head to a bit of Soundgarden here and there. However, when it comes to actual dancey dance, you know, like "we got the funk" type of dance, I need a freaking baseline. A Brother's Johnson baseline, a Cameo baseline, okay fine an Usher baseline. You get the idea. A beat is a magical thing. It's like a marker, it's someplace to be, each one has it's own little home and welcomes you with open arms, all you have to do is calm down and accept the invitation. Think of a beat as a choochoo train that says, "hop on! we're havin a ball in here!" I understand that not everyone shares my urge to shake the groove thang at the sheer mention of Janet Jackson, Pleasure Principal. However, if you partake in weight lifting exercise; say Kinesis, traditional weight lifting, running, swimming, cycling, etc. learning how to feel a beat and working within it is extremely beneficial with regard to keeping your muscles involved, and firing throughout the range of motion. That is to say during the eccentric and concentric phase of movement. See, if you can internalize a steady beat, you will actually get a better workout because instead of contracting and relaxing, you will feel that continual loop of movement with no beginning and no end. That way you are just shortening and lengthening the muscle so it is firing the entire time which results in more strength and endurance gains and hypertrophy. With regard to resistance training there is actually a BPM (beats per minute) that appears to be the most efficient, and it is 125 BPM. It is fairly easy to perform reps in single time (one rep per beat) or ½ time (2 beats per eccentric/ concentric.) Also, if you can stay within a tempo or beat try one count on the concentric phase (as in the curl phase of a bicep curl) and 3 counts on the eccentric phase ( as in the release of the bicep curl.) The main idea is to work within a STEADY beat. This same strategy works with running, swimming, cycling as well. If you have trouble feeling a beat try putting music on and literally tapping your foot to each beat. Really concentrate and be patient. It will become more natural as you practice. There are several websites dedicated to fitness music, iTunes has fitness music and you can always just Google “fitness music and you will come up with several sites. Some of them require the user to be a fitness professional, alas it is generally an honor system. I use johnsines. I challenge you to give this a try and bask in the results!
In the meantime I’ll be having a glass of wine, wearing cute shoes,solving crime, and doing the Quickstep;)