“No one can arrive from being talented alone. Work transforms talent into genius” -Anna Pavlova
Tough workouts that push you to achieve your personal best leave you with an overwhelming feeling of achievement.
What is a “tough workout?”
Many will argue that masculine type workouts of heavy lifting, cross fit, competitive sports such as running or swimming are tough. Often the more artistic disciplines such as; gymnastics, dance and ballet are considered feminine and not “tough.”
This perception is unfounded; at the University of Hertfordshire in 2008 researchers questioned who was fitter; a Professional Ballerina or an Olympic Swimmer?
In this study the surprising result was, ballet dancers out preformed the swimmers in all seven fitness areas tested including; strength, endurance, balance, flexibility and psychological state.
One of the reasons for the better performance is that ballet skills are directly relevant to everyday life. Posture and confidence, with balance and flexibility, are essential to well-being.
Recent trends in fitness have incorporated ballet training in “Barre Workouts,” which is a perfect example of how exercise is a form of self expression.
More important these workouts are tough and should not be downgraded because women predominately choose to do them.
The toughest exercise by far is exercising the excuse to exercise, instead of worrying about what is a tough workout, work out what you love to do and go for it!
Anna Pavlova, perhaps the most famous ballerina, started as a poor and awkward dancer, with the ambition to share her love of ballet will all, both rich and poor, worldwide.
In fact, in 1962 Anna came to Australia, which at the time was the end of the earth and inspired my all time favorite dessert – the Pavlova!
The moral of this story is – if you exercise like a ballerina, you will have your “just deserts.”
Live well and eat well
Anna
Recent Comments