This seems backward but also not: my gut reaction was “she’s too fit”. 
The backward part is obvious, the reasonable side is that I’m not confident I could keep up, and also super fit fitness instructors like to do the peppy “feel the burn” thing that makes me want to choose violence. 
To each their own though. 
I love seeing super muscular women. It’s so badass and flies in the face of beauty ideals in favor of power! As for not keeping up, I have to modify every workout I ever do. Nothing is created for someone like me, lol, so there are always parts I have to skip. I just take the parts I can do, modify parts I can figure out how to modify, and skip the parts I can’t do. I still get a good workout out of it! Even the most gentle/easy workouts have lots of stuff I can’t do, so I’m used to having to use work arounds and don’t see that as an obstacle (more like an inevitability). I think that’s common with para athletes. I always want to encourage people to try stuff and just do what they can, what feels ok for them, even if they can’t do everything!
Oh and she def doesn’t do the feel the burn thing, fwiw! She’s almost totally silent through the whole video. Although I do like the “feel the burn” vibes of other fitness stuff from time-to-time, haha, it reminds me that pain is ok when it’s productive. Of course, it’s still not everyone’s cup of tea and that’s fine!
I also like it for when women say “I don’t want to get too bulky” thinking of those ridiculously over the top body builders. That look isn’t going to happen by accidentally doing too many reps, lol.
Haha, definitely! And muscular women on youtube/anywhere get soooo many comments about looking too “manly”. Dudes love to tell them they’d be prettier with less muscle, like brah, I don’t think she’s trying to look pretty. She’s trying to be STRONG af. Haha. I think it’s baller.
I am also someone who loves seeing super muscular women. I had this thread pulled up when B was looking over my shoulder yesterday and she got super excited and said “mama she’s just like you!” I wish 
I did notice at the pool the other day that I looked a little muscular in my swimsuit again. That made me feel confident and happy but I definitely don’t have those kind of muscles!
Haha awwww <3 <3 <3 so cute. I def don’t have that level of muscle either! In my dreams! I’ve been working really hard on my upper body (the toughest for me bc of my disability, I can’t do most traditional upper body workouts) and core also, and I am veeeeery slowly seeing results. I actually had to get rid of a dress bc it had gotten tight around the arms/shoulders, which was such an awesome feeling!
My goal is to put on 5 lbs. of muscle over 5 years and I’m about 2 years in. It takes soooo long for me since I can often only do micro workouts (and can’t use weights or resistance bands or machines) and I can’t really be consistent bc of pain/mobility stuff, but I still see my efforts paying off! It’s just a super long timeline for me for everything. My motto with fitness is, “most people can run up a hill, but I can crawl up a mountain.” 
Keeps me motivated!
Oh this was 12 months ago. WELP it’s being revived.
What should I do to keep balance when I need to take my glasses off and do like, a tree pose in Yoga? I find that if my glasses are off I have no great way to focus on something ahead of me…
I guess I could show up early and fight for mirror spot? HAHA.
Any advice welcome. Just wondering if I’m missing something as a recovering couch potat.
Fellow recovering couch potat here!! I’d personally do a mix of practicing various balance exercises themselves and practicing not being able to see. A few ideas:
-taking off your glasses and trying standing on one leg, just to get used to the sensation in a lower-stakes environment. Maybe try gradually increasing the length of time.
-Standing on one leg with your eyes closed. Definitely start small with this and stand next to a wall/something for support.
-Do single leg deadlifts (you don’t actually need to pick up a weight - I just have my hand in front of me and pretend). Do these with glasses.
Next level would be acquire some sort of wobble board, and if you can do that with glasses you can probably do a lot of things without glasses.
Possibly slightly irrelevant backstory: I used to have terrible vision but also did lots of swimming, both in a pool and in open water where the water is so cloudy you can’t see where you’re going. The constant repetition of getting ready to swim without glasses on by the pool made me more confident without glasses on dry land and also helped with the balance aspect. Then for the swimming part, I’d practice swimming with my eyes closed to get used to not being able to see underwater, if that makes sense.
wait why do you have to take your glasses off for tree pose
I do hot yoga and I’m slippery and sweaty. I also don’t like doing the lying down poses with glasses. They feel all weird. So it’s a lot of putting the glasses on and off.
I feel ya. I didn’t like doing the inversions in glasses during hot yoga.
Hoka friends! Which kind do you recommend for lots of walking?
So the Bondi is probably the best shoe for a lot of walking, it’s the max cushion that Hoka makes. I love them, been wearing them for about 5 years. They are not for everyone, because they are giant and have a pretty big rocker. Great if you are prone to plantar fasciitis.
I’ve heard a lot of great things about the Clifton, if you want a little less but still a Hoka amount of cushion
As an alternative, I’ve recently been alternating my Hoka Bondi’s with the Altra Olympus, and I really like them! They are also very cushioned, but slightly less than the Hokas, and also have a wide toe box which make my feet very happy.
I haven’t tried the Olympus but I use Altra lone Peaks and I’ve been really happy with their longevity, FWIW. I walk a lot of gravel trails and pavement both, and my last pair lasted like 2.5 years before the tread wore down enough that I opted to replace them.
Yeah I am impressed with the longevity! I usually get about 3-4 months out of a pair of Hokas, but I think my first pair of Altras lasted 5-6 months. I’d switch over completely but I still need the cushion of the Hokas when I’m doing 3-4 hr hikes or my back will complain to management 
**How am I just now finding this thread?! **
Very exciting.
I am a former trainer and long time weightlifter on a muuuuch more casual lifting schedule these days.
I did CrossFit for about 8 years, have done yoga casually for about 20yrs (omg when did I get so old…), and played derby for a bit shy of 11 years.
I’ve been retired from derby for a few years, which simultaneously cancelled my CrossFit sponsorship, and am definitely missing having a physical practice.
I’ve considered taking a corrective exercise cert course just for fun (maybe then teaching some community center classes or something), and some of the disciplines I’ve considered doing next are: yoga w/a strong emphasis on inversions, BJJ, rec hockey, or maybe bouldering (but the climbing gym is quite a distance).
BJJ or yoga seem the most likely, but happy to be on this thread and to try some new things/get some new ideas 
I like: kettlebells, oly lifts, gymnasticy-yoga-things, anything snappy yet graceful basically. : )
I have top surgery in three weeks (yeeee!), and intend to reembark on a physical discipline upon healing.
Husbands two deep loves are weightlifting and BJJ. I would certainly give it a try if you haven’t- the people who love it LOVE it, and the community both places we’ve lived he’s been involved with have been really positive and welcoming and such. And for sensory regulation wise, I feel like it’s a lot of the same compound dynamic movement with deep joint and tissue pressure like you get from lifting. (Alas I am a delicate flower with a history of vertebral displacement from a car crash, so no BJJ for me)
Thank you!
The only BJJ experience I’ve had has been at a queer night open house a few years ago, but the gym had very similar vibes as derby, and was SO WELCOMING and I loved that.
I’m on the beefcake side of the muscle spectrum, which is not the most successfully represented body type in BJJ, but I do think I could be ok at it. I’m a slow defensive meatball.
No one (or at least not me) likes being the absolute worst at something, so I’m hoping to find a good transitionary sport where I won’t be on the struggle train for 5-10 years while learning.
What about kickboxing/boxing? I am also pretty beefy, and the power I can get in a punch is sooooo satisfying haha
This is SirB. Short and stout. Caveman. Slab o meat. It’s terrible for competition because of weight classes, but also means when people try to roll him it’s hilariously impossible. He also loves that it’s a much more sex even form of martial arts- he’s had some women totally wipe the floor with him, and that (plus waaaaay lower concussion risk) is why BJJ is the plan for our girls as they get older as opposed to TKD which he and I both did.