Harder! Faster!

As I search for the perfect workout (am I as tiresome as my 20-something girlfriends searching for the perfect guy?) I've been looking at two local yoga programs.

Today I tried one. It was great. But it was wrong. (Yes, I do sound like my 20-something girlfriends searching for the perfect guy.)

The teacher is a delight and an inspiration, and explained sequences of activating muscles to achieve amazing pre-backbend poses. I learned a quite a bit, enjoyed the people, and plan to keep taking the once-a-week class. But workout value? Not much. This was the perfect warm-up for a workout. And fortunately, I'd logged a fast two-mile walk mid-day.

So, back to my workout search.

Unfortunately, what would be great workouts for lots of folks aren't appropriate for me. The issue is risk. I need a tough workout with very low risk of injury because, at my age, recovery time from an injury is measured in weeks, not days—by which time my fitness level would be zapped. (Were it not for this, I'd be trying out for one of the roller derby teams, or doing African dancing or capoeira.)

When I got back from yoga I did some online research and think I've discovered something. Ever heard of "tabatas"? Stay tuned.