Hi fans! We are in to our first month of practice and our coach is finding more ways to push us even harder. One of the changes consists of each dancer pairing up with a buddy to meet with and encourage each other to work out outside of practice. The encouragement has been helpful given most of us dancers have busy schedules that we tend to not make time for the gym. Except, I don't have time to add one more thing to my schedule! Aside from working out, we are also encouraged to keep track of what we eat, how many fruits & veggies we consume daily, and so on. Two weeks later, we report to our coach then find a new buddy. Unlike a few other NBA teams, we are not expected to weigh in or keep a certain weight. However, Dee’s method is to help us stay fit & healthy.

Last night had to have been one of the most difficult practices for me. We met at the Rose Garden and started the evening with going through our uniforms. After each girl had a staple outfit, we packed up our stuff and headed out to the floor. The wooden floor we are used to dancing on had been removed and all that was left was dirty concrete, which was hard on our feet, with pieces of glass scattered around. I personally was not in the mood to dance. I was tired from a busy day at work and was ready for a nap.

Dee had us review the routine we had learned at out previous practice, then cleaned it. I thought we were getting a break from conditioning, especially since the rookies were getting complimentary massages. But I was wrong. Immediately after the review, we did lunges from one side of the floor to the other, then back. With only a few seconds in between, we did an exercise for our booties and legs. That wasn’t too bad, but it definitely killed my knees on the concrete floor! As soon as we finished, we continued to do lunges back and forth. That’s when I started to feel the burn. Our next exercise worked our abs. I could feel my spine digging into the concrete each time I lifted up. Then came more ab exercises, squats, push ups, & jumping jax. After several sets of each, my legs felt so heavy that I could barely lift myself up. I tried to jog over to my bag to get my water and I thought I was going to fall flat on my face!

Just when you think we’ve had enough, we learned yet another new routine. Dee could tell we were pretty delirious half way through. There was no air circulation in the room and it felt musty, which made it even harder for us to focus. We ended the practice with our usual review of each routine. This is the part I usually dread, except this time I really felt like I was performing at a game, most likely because we were actually dancing in the arena. By the time we were finished, I had black socks that were formerly white with holes all over the toes. I felt sweaty, tired, and icky from dancing on the concrete. Here comes another week of sore muscles!

1 Comments:

 The Hyper Bully said...

Wow, sounds like the dancers are working harder than the players! Keep up the good work, and I look forward to seeing your smile reach all the way up to the 300-level again this season! :^)

6:53 PM  

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