Confession: I'm a Two-Timer!

It's been a really long time since I've done a blog post, and unfortunately that's because I haven't been doing too many exciting things. This is my last semester of my MBA, so all of my time has been eaten up with work, school, and working out. Fortunately for anyone reading, this post isn't going to be about work or school.

Chalene Johnson is a motivational speaker and fitness guru, creator of several workout formats including my favorite, TurboKick. Chalene preaches that it is imperative to find your "soulmate workout." This is that activity that you really can't live without. You schedule it into your day, and it becomes like a hobby. It could be a group class like boot camp or Zumba, a solo activity like running or strength training, or even a new sport like tennis or hiking.

Much like real relationships, there really is a workout out there for everyone, but sometimes it takes "dating" to find it. I hear so often, "I just hate working out." There's no way you will ever stick with something that you don't enjoy, nor will you put the energy into it that is required to really see great results.

All the way through college, softball was my soulmate. As I entered the adult working world, I unfortunately had to break up with softball, as it was no longer conducive to my lifestyle. Of course I still love the game, but it's not feasible to play and train for softball every day. When I graduated college and began working full-time, I joined a gym and started taking group fitness classes. Classes appeal to the social aspect I loved about team sports and that concept of "teammates" pushing each other. There's always that person in the class who inspires you to work harder. I tried step classes, boot camp classes, lifting classes, even an urban rebounding class, which uses trampolines.

In all my group class experience, I never found my soulmate until 2 years ago when Adam and I joined 24 Hour Fitness and I was exposed to TurboKick. This class combines kickboxing (I LOVED TaeBo back in high school) with plyometric intervals, dance elements and really fun music. I drove all over the metro to various 24 Hour locations just to find a TurboKick class (I don't recommend the Olathe class, but Karen's class at the Shawnee Mission Pkwy location is the best by far!). I've obviously spent a lot of time in the gym over the years, and my weight always lived in a 5-lb window. After starting TurboKick, that window dropped by 8 lbs and has not gone back up!

About a year ago, I started down the path to become an instructor, and as I learned more about the format, I fell more and more in love with it. There is flexibility to make it more dance-y or more athletic and to tailor it based on your students' fitness levels. It really is supposed to be a party and it doesn't take itself too seriously. I laugh more in that class than in any other class I've ever taken.

Now, here's the beauty of the fitness "dating" process - you don't have to pick just one soulmate! There is definitely a quieter, more introverted side of me that really enjoys a nice solo long run, as you've seen in previous posts. So I fully admit that I am a two-timing ho when it comes to fitness, and both my soulmates love me unconditionally anyway!

If you haven't yet found your soulmate, it's a great time with the warm weather to go out and try something new. Take up a new sport with your real-life soulmate or try something vastly different from what you're used to. You might be surprised at what you fall in love with!