Back when I was working out with my old trainer, when he’d ask me to do something crazy, he’d append “like a ninja.”
It made the ridiculous burpee tabata intervals slightly more palatable and infinitely more entertaining. “Go do 1,000,000 burpees…like a ninja!”
Well, the other day, I really worked out like a ninja.
Jonathan Angelilli, who trains at Peak Performance, among other places, has started this ridiculous program called Ninja Fitness Camp.
I ran the mile over there, and walked over to this group in the grass. “Take off your shoes,” I was told. I prefer flip flops and being barefoot over my toesies being stuck in shoes, so HELL YES!
For the next hour, we did things like “primal ninja tag,” which consisted of playing tag but instead of running, we could only crab walk or bear crawl. If we got tagged, we had to run up and down the hill and sing the Sound of Music. And people really did—me too!
As someone who’s struggled with anxiety and really being present in the moment, I love fitness for the escape it can give me. But sometimes on a spin bike or lifting weights, it’s easy to get back to thinking about my to-do list or ruminating on something else. Several times during this workout, I thought about how much FUN I was having and how lucky I was to be enjoying this fun workout on a beautiful day overlooking the river.
He also teaches Tai Chi, so we ended class with some Tai Chi-like moves, such as closing our eyes and moving our arms up and down, imagining them floating like clouds. Totally hippie-dippie…and I loved it.
It was completely silly, but still a killer workout. Such a win.
What’s the silliest workout you’ve ever done?
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My girlfriend does a twerk class. Although I've never done it, I count it as the silliest workout I know of! I did a Zumbalates workout once which I thought would be silly, but it turned out to be really great because a sub taught it and she specialized in pilates, so less zumba!
I am interested!! But were you sore?
YES. It was legit.
Theodora, it was awesome having you at Ninja Fitness Camp! Thanks for this beautiful blog post and feedback.
Ninja bows deep __/|\__
Jonathan
That sounds like crazy fun! I love doing silly things that make you feel absolutely ridiculous and free! I really haven't done any silly workouts though. Maybe Zumba in a park and in a parking lot are the craziest things I've done. Zumba outside = people staring at you, so you definitely have to be open to looking dumb.