Fall Back Into Fitness

Musicians spend a lot of time practicing their instruments every day. Although it is an indispensable daily routine, being sedentary and maintaining the same posture for a long time can bring about various body aches, or more seriously even irreversible pain and sequelae to the body. So far, I am glad that I have not experienced such troubles, perhaps because I have maintained the habit of exercising. Whenever I become tired after practicing piano or doing homework, I can always rejuvenate myself by exercising.

The university campus recreation provides a well-rounded schedule of diverse group fitness classes. I experienced Yoga, MIXXED FIT, BODYATTACK, and Zumba classes in a week. My favorite is BODYATTACK, which is a high-intensity aerobic exercise that combines different muscle strength training. Lots of runs and jumps were also included in this class. All these vigorous movements made me really excited. Overall, the atmosphere of these fitness classes was very relaxed and pleasant, and there was neither experience required nor lots of pressure.

​I could simply follow the teacher’s instructions or imitate the teacher’s movements. There were many kinds of music playing throughout the classes as well, which made me feel more involved and made the classes more interesting. But even so, the classes were filled with non-stop sets for 50 minutes and mostly ran at a fast pace. This was my first time doing multiple land aerobic exercise sets in a row for so long. Though I was physically drained, moving my body and sweating brought me a great sense of satisfaction. 

I’m very happy to participate in these excellent group fitness classes. They are purely fun and wholesome. More importantly, they are done indoors, so I don’t have to worry about the weather outside. I should attend more frequently in the future to maintain my exercise habit and also be a healthy musician.

Chin-Hsuan Sharon Cheng

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Traditional Chinese:

運動趣！

音樂家每天都要花很多時間練琴精進琴藝，雖然這是個不可或缺的例行公事，但久坐或長時間維持同樣姿勢常常帶來各式各樣的身體痠痛，更嚴重甚至造成對身體不可逆的傷害或後遺症。至今，我很慶幸自己可能是因為一直保持著運動的習慣，所以沒有經歷過這樣的困擾，每當練琴或忙課業之餘，運動總能活絡筋骨同時放鬆心情，使我滿血復活。

以前我主要做的運動是游泳，但來到美國讀書後，因為天氣比較冷，所以時常只是待在室內，在公寓裡面簡單動一動而已。2021年十月的某天，學校社交媒體上發布ARC有個為期一週的團體運動課體驗挑戰活動，使我非常有興趣馬上決定參加，也是藉此我才知道學校體育館居然有團體健身課程可以參加。

學校的團體健身課程很豐富多元，我在一週內抽出一些時間，體驗了瑜珈、MIXXED FIT、BODYATTACK和Zumba。我最喜歡的是BODYATTACK，這是結合各種肌力訓練的高強度有氧運動，其中也會在教室中大幅度跑跳移動，上完課感覺整個人熱血沸騰。整體而言，這些健身課程氛圍很輕鬆愉快，只要跟著老師的指示或模仿老師的動作就好了，不需要任何經驗也沒有任何壓力，主要就是放鬆身心，而且教室都會播放各式各樣的音樂，搭配著音樂運動也使整個課程更加有趣。但即使如此，整節課50分鐘非常緊湊，幾乎都是馬不停蹄的活動，動作一組接一組。我第一次連續做這麼久的陸地有氧運動，雖然有點喘和累，但盡情活動身體和流汗讓我感到很開心滿足。

很開心能藉由學校這個活動得知學校這麼棒的團體運動課，內容豐富有趣，而且是在室內進行不用擔心外面的天氣如何，以後空閒的時間我一定要多多參與，維持運動，當一個健康的音樂人。