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I want old fashioned aerobics!


ktgrok
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Back in the day, I liked to take aerobic dance classes - the kind with lots of grapevines, etc. Not high impact. Teachers who used fun music. Got your heart rate up but didn't kill you. Then step aerobics took over, which I hated. My knee couldn't handle it. And it was less dance, more work. I did find sweatin to the oldies and did those at home. But they haven't updated in forever, I don't even know where my DVD player is as we only stream digital stuff, and Richard Simmons rather than create an app or streaming service went into seclusion and no one knows if he is alive.

Now it's Zumba, which is fun, but a bit too intense for me at times, and lets face it, this white girl cant' dance that well, lol. I'm more line dance at a wedding level, not Shakira level! I've found my happy place with the Walk at Home videos - easy to follow, just the right level of intensity. But there are only so many of them, at least that are not old and horrid quality. I even tried their paid app but it is th same stuff that is on youtube. I've found a few other dance videos on youtube, but either they are too high impact, too well, young for me and I feel silly, too intense, or spend too much time teaching complex choreography instead of just doing it and getting heart rate up. 

I even tried searching for jazzercise and didn't find much. 

Any other thoughts? 

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2 minutes ago, Monica_in_Switzerland said:

I wonder if you did a search for something like "vintage exercise videos" if you might turn up some winners.  

I am going to look again, but when I tried before I mostly found videos of people making fun of old aerobics videos lol. 

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Just now, Monica_in_Switzerland said:

Tae bo is so fun, glad you found it for your son!  I used to be mesmerized by their infomercials!  

Do you like Jillian Michaels stuff?  I like her, she is modern and not corny, but it is pretty intense.  

You might just have to blast your own music over the top of someone's video!  

I really don't love Jillian Michaels....I've done some workouts of hers, but she's just...too gung ho, intense, etc. More boot camp motivational style than Richard Simmons love you into it style, lol. 

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FYI, I think you posted that video in Kinsa's thread, in case you weren't aware. 

I've recently come to the realization that a lot of current YouTubers are basically doing those old-school type aerobics videos now, except the emphasis is on step counts. So in descriptions they look like Leslie Sansone type videos but actually tend to be a bit more diversified in terms of the exercises. And since YouTube is always throwing out suggestions, once you find what you like it gets easier to find more that you like.

Anyway, I assume you're familiar with Jessica Smith (jessicasmithtv on youtube). If not, she's like a more modern Leslie Sansone. And I recently tried and liked Rick Bhullar Fitness and Up to the BEat Fit on YouTube. I think Up to the BEat will have a lot of what you are looking for (having trouble linking--there are actual videos set to 80s music, some interesting choreography but not overwhelming).

Edited by OH_Homeschooler
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17 minutes ago, OH_Homeschooler said:

FYI, I think you posted that video in Kinsa's thread, in case you weren't aware. 

I've recently come to the realization that a lot of current YouTubers are basically doing those old-school type aerobics videos now, except the emphasis is on step counts. So in descriptions they look like Leslie Sansone type videos but actually tend to be a bit more diversified in terms of the exercises. And since YouTube is always throwing out suggestions, once you find what you like it gets easier to find more that you like.

Anyway, I assume you're familiar with Jessica Smith (jessicasmithtv on youtube). If not, she's like a more modern Leslie Sansone. And I recently tried and liked Rick Bhullar Fitness and Up to the BEat Fit on YouTube. I think Up to the BEat will have a lot of what you are looking for (having trouble linking--there are actual videos set to 80s music, some interesting choreography but not overwhelming).

Yeah, I like Jessica Smith's recovery workout but she's a bit too....low energy? Not as "upbeat/encouraging" as I really want - like Richard Simmons, lol. 

17 minutes ago, historically accurate said:

What about this one? She actually says she wants you to think you're doing a Jane Fonda workout.

 

Oooh - that's pretty perfect. I wish thy had professional versions with more people, production value, etc but that should work!

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Joanie Greggains kept my college roommates and me from becoming overweight in college.  Truly.

Her youtubes are from the 1980s. 
I currently use Bikini Body Mommy & Fitness Blender (no background music, but it's very straightforward & relatable).

And there's a Christmas Version!

 

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57 minutes ago, Beth S said:

Joanie Greggains kept my college roommates and me from becoming overweight in college.  Truly.

Her youtubes are from the 1980s. 
I currently use Bikini Body Mommy & Fitness Blender (no background music, but it's very straightforward & relatable).

And there's a Christmas Version!

 

I started doing aerobics with her back when I was a teen - the workout was on an LP record!  

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I don’t have it yet because I’m getting it for Christmas, but maybe it will fit the bill.  You can get DVDs or you can get it streaming for the year. 

This lady has people dance to music, but the choreography is very loose and you do what you can.  Everyone sort of does their own thing, without having to really memorize anything or be good at dancing.  Like she might say, “Now add in arm movements and put your arms up and down!” but you sort of do it your own way. If you can only raise your arms part way, that’s fine.

Like I said, I don’t have this yet, but am hopeful I’ll like it.  My knees can’t take anything too strenuous and I don’t want to do some hard-core workout. I just need to get up and move around a few times during the day with a little bit of structure.  I hope this is what I think it is and fits the bill. 

 

https://www.bodygroove.com/pages/streaming-video-options

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You might try Refit (or Refit Rev / Revolution).  There are tons of videos on Youtube.  Many of them are Christian songs, if that's what you like.  I like the videos just with the instructors.  That will be three to seven women leading the routine.  But there are also lots of videos with an entire class of participants.  I find those to be too distracting and difficult to follow.  They also have a paid subscription service, but I have not tried that.

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14 hours ago, katilac said:

Somewhere, at an undisclosed location, Richard Simmons is googling himself and smiling when he finds this thread and sees Katie's joy 😄

oh, I hope so!

15 hours ago, Splash1 said:

I do Jazzercise and love it.  

 

Any online resources?

 

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18 hours ago, Garga said:

I don’t have it yet because I’m getting it for Christmas, but maybe it will fit the bill.  You can get DVDs or you can get it streaming for the year. 

This lady has people dance to music, but the choreography is very loose and you do what you can.  Everyone sort of does their own thing, without having to really memorize anything or be good at dancing.  Like she might say, “Now add in arm movements and put your arms up and down!” but you sort of do it your own way. If you can only raise your arms part way, that’s fine.

Like I said, I don’t have this yet, but am hopeful I’ll like it.  My knees can’t take anything too strenuous and I don’t want to do some hard-core workout. I just need to get up and move around a few times during the day with a little bit of structure.  I hope this is what I think it is and fits the bill. 

 

https://www.bodygroove.com/pages/streaming-video-options

I think that definitely fits a need, but not quite what I'm looking for. Not a personality mesh maybe?

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I miss the old-fashioned aerobics classes, too. I really enjoyed Zumba until I injured my knee doing too much too soon in those classes. I like Jessica Smith and Leslie Sansone, but, yeah, I used to really enjoy the aerobics classes that were structured so you could feel like you were doing a dance class: learn a step, learn another step, learn one more step, then put it all together into a combination to do with fun music.

(In my fantasies, I'm a dancer. So that approach really worked for me.)

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18 hours ago, ktgrok said:

oh I hadn't heard of that!

I've been trying to find a Zumba Gold class in our area that is open to the public (not part of a membership-based club), and that happens at a time when people who are still working can go, with no success.

I also haven't found any videos online that are full classes available to stream. If you do find any, I'd love to hear about it! (I'd even be willing to pay a reasonable monthly fee for access, if the quality and selection are good.)

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48 minutes ago, Jenny in Florida said:

I miss the old-fashioned aerobics classes, too. I really enjoyed Zumba until I injured my knee doing too much too soon in those classes. I like Jessica Smith and Leslie Sansone, but, yeah, I used to really enjoy the aerobics classes that were structured so you could feel like you were doing a dance class: learn a step, learn another step, learn one more step, then put it all together into a combination to do with fun music.

(In my fantasies, I'm a dancer. So that approach really worked for me.)

If you can find any Christi Taylor workouts, you'd love her!  Unless you can't do them because of your knee.  😞

 

Oh, I just found this:  

 

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2 hours ago, Jenny in Florida said:

I miss the old-fashioned aerobics classes, too. I really enjoyed Zumba until I injured my knee doing too much too soon in those classes. I like Jessica Smith and Leslie Sansone, but, yeah, I used to really enjoy the aerobics classes that were structured so you could feel like you were doing a dance class: learn a step, learn another step, learn one more step, then put it all together into a combination to do with fun music.

(In my fantasies, I'm a dancer. So that approach really worked for me.)

me too (dancer in my fantasies). I love dance, but I'm not very coordinated, and have very little muscle control of a lot of the smaller muscles in hips, etc. So a lot of latin dance, belly dance, etc I'm terrible at. Like...teachers have said thy can teach me, then end up making a face and just sort of dismissing me to other activities, lol. 

I can follow instructions for choreography - I'm just not gifted physically. So aerobic dance, line dancing, etc. I wish those old fashioned folk dances that were scripted for large groups were still in fashion, lol. I can follow directions - just don't ask me to shake my booty!

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18 minutes ago, theelfqueen said:

Several of my friends go to Jazzercise classes ... you might look for those? 

I had thought of Jazzercise in the past and couldn't remember why I never followed up on that. The answer is that the low-intensity version might work, if the closest place the offers classes weren't nearly 30 minutes from my house and if the classes didn't cost $20 each.

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24 minutes ago, theelfqueen said:

Several of my friends go to Jazzercise classes ... you might look for those? 

Eventually - right now I'm not going to gym/exercise stuff indoors. Too much heavy breathing in a confined space to feel safe right now. 

1 minute ago, Jenny in Florida said:

I had thought of Jazzercise in the past and couldn't remember why I never followed up on that. The answer is that the low-intensity version might work, if the closest place the offers classes weren't nearly 30 minutes from my house and if the classes didn't cost $20 each.

Yeah, that too. 

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Just now, ktgrok said:

Eventually - right now I'm not going to gym/exercise stuff indoors. Too much heavy breathing in a confined space to feel safe right now. 

When I went to Google, I was reminded that I had also searched for Jazzercise classes online. I did find a couple of places that offer them, but not, apparently, the low-impact versions. 

I'm honestly starting to feel like this is yet another thing I've just kind of aged out of. (It's okay, Katie -- You're still quite a bit younger than I am, so you have some time yet!)

Maybe I'll just settle into my rocking chair on the porch and start muttering about the good old days when I wore my ice blue leotard and matching tights to aerobicize three times a week . . .

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