Melting fat, one hip-piston at a time?
So I finally broke down and decided to try "Shimmy," one of those strange FitTV exercise shows.
As you might guess, this is one of those get-fit-the-fun-way programs, much like "Sweatin' to the Oldies" and striper-cise.
When I hit the dance floor, I'm all hips and shoulder moves and a twist variation. Those are all the moves I've got. Belly dancing seems to be mostly hips and arms, so I figured I might be good at this.
On the show, an unseen narrator explains the movements as the dancers move around. She teaches you a few moves -- in this case the snake arms and hip-piston -- slowly. Then they put them all together in one routine and gradually build up speed.
I could certainly get my hips and shoulders to sway around the way they recommended. But I don't know how graceful I looked bumping around the living room last night.
I did work up a light sweat, though. It might have been better if they had given me something to keep me busy during the three-minute commercial breaks.
Proof it works: my lower abdominals were slightly sore this morning. Considering this is a problem area for many women, I recommend trying this out as an alternative to all the crunches at the gym.