With the suspension of all indoor sports and physical activity programs this weekend, online workouts have become even more important. The Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education has announced that it will expand its online program offerings, so we may have some new classes and updates to look forward to.
This week I chose “Glutes, Core & More” to try something for strength and conditioning, and it was my favourite of all the UTrain workouts so far. I was expecting a lot of squats and situps, but this class was far above my expectations.
Our instructor was Cindy MacDonald from UTM. MacDonald has many teaching certifications for personal training, yoga, pilates, and more. Her experience was obvious as the class was well planned, the workout had diverse movements, and MacDonald herself did a great job at explaining each movement.
MacDonald didn’t wait around to get the class started, probably because it was clear that most of the 22 participants were regulars and one student even had their camera turned on to make MacDonald feel more connected. The class began with a choreographed warm up timed to the music. Then, we progressed into an isometric balance-focused section before we moved on to the main workout.
MacDonald kept the class pumping with remixed hip-hop classics by artists such as Kanye West, Drake, and Will Smith. Although the tracks were hits, the movements we were doing were the opposite of classic. They mixed pilates, barre, and strength conditioning.
It may just be the Thanksgiving leftovers talking, but these moves were hard! I was definitely sore the next day. MacDonald knew this would happen, though, and led us through some stretching and refocusing at the end of the class. Lots of participants stayed behind after class to say thank you and chat with MacDonald, so it was clear that she was appreciated.
If you want to try out “Glutes, Core & More,” the program occurs on Tuesdays at 4:00 pm. I’m excited to keep testing UTrain, but with MacDonald kicking my butt, it looks like UTrain is testing me!
