Washboard ABSolutely Terrifying

Due to popular demand, and all the cookies I've been eating from West, I decided it was time to go to Washboard Abs. I slid into Madi Weiser's DM (click on her name and go check out her amazing blog!) to see if she was free too. After getting a little bit lost in the White building (I admit it, I still don't know where anything is), and admiring the gymnasts practicing, we arrived outside the big gym-- my torture chamber for the next 20 minutes. 

We went through the typical swipe this, sign that routine, and went to put our stuff down in the bleachers. After noticing that everyone else was going to the closet to grab a mat, we joined in and tried to look like we were seasoned pros. We followed the pack of girls holding mats back onto the gym floor and like a lot of the other girls, immediately avoided the front and center position, looking for a spot that was comfortably in the middle. Let's be honest, who wants people watching them struggle through an ab workout? Definitely not me. 

The instructor realized that no one wanted to be near the front, and asked that everyone move up a couple feet, promising us that she wouldn't bite. It was almost like there was a collective sigh as everyone, without standing up, reluctantly dragged themselves and their mat forward. We looked like an army of dogs dragging their butts on the floor. Before we started our class, the instructor asked if any of us were staying for Power Remix and gave a shoutout to my boy Marvin. She then asked if any of us had any areas we wanted to focus on, or any exercises we wanted to do. After an awkward silence, she turned on her music and led us in some side stretching. 

Then the fun began. We started out with some planks, my least favorite exercise. We held a 30 second center plank, and then moved on to doing a side plank. After almost falling over trying to get into position for my side plank, I finally got into the right position, but my arm began to shake vigorously which set an ominous tone for the rest of class. We then returned back to center and did another plank, and then did a side plank to the other side, and finished it all off with one final center plank. Throughout this set of planks, the instructor gave us multiple options on variations that made the plank either harder or easier. She demonstrated an option which let you drop your knees, making the exercise easier if the plank was too difficult. She also showed us an exercise that involved lifting your knees to your chest while you're still in the plank position, creating more of a challenge. After the planks we curled ourselves up to the side and did crunches that focused on our obliques for both sides. Then came the super interesting exercise. We started what was kind of like a half Superman except instead of doing the full Superman exercise, we just lifted up our chests and arms separately. I thought we looked a bit like seals, and Madi thought that we looked like dead fish flopping around. Either way, we looked ridiculous. We continued on to do some bicycles. Once again our instructor showed us multiple variations to make the exercise easier or harder, depending on how comfortable you were with the current exercise. We did some other generic exercises, including one where we sat up and then slowly lowered our body without touching the floor and then sat back up, another where we laid on our backs and lifted our hips up, some toe touch crunches, and last but not least side crunches. This set of exercises took us to the end of class, and we finished off the class with some stretching as usual. 

Although I didn't catch her name, the instructor I had was very good. She made her rounds around the gym to try and correct any mistakes with form she saw. She also made sure to provide variations for each exercise we did to cater to every student she had, regardless of their skill level. Not to mention, she had a great playlist of remixes with a steady beat that was easy to do the exercises to. Finally, she encouraged us to come back with suggestions on areas to work on and exercises she wanted to try out. When I left the class, I didn't feel any soreness in my ab area, but I definitely could feel the burn the morning after. Let me just tell you, having sore abs while having a nasty cough is not a fun combination. 

All in all, Washboard Abs is a quick class that definitely works out your abs and also exercises your glutes and legs too! The class is in a large gym which makes it less intimidating. Plus, you're with a decently sized group of other people at different skill levels, and no one can tell if you take a break. 

However, I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't get washboard abs instantaneously! I was expecting a transformation a bit like this:

When in reality my "ab muscles" look like this: 

Until next week! And if any of you guys want to go to a class with me feel free to let me know!