This picture would never be me...

Exercise balls are evil. That's what I decided during my Zumba class on Saturday.

My first encounter with an exercise ball was when I was pregnant with Isaiah and we were taking a labor and delivery class. Apparently some women like to use these exercise balls during labor to help manage pain. As all the other round-bellied women in the class were happily bouncing on theirs, I was just trying to get my balance on one. I wasn't able to do it, even with Dan helping me! Ever since then I have stayed far, far away from them.

Well, yesterday at the end of Zumba the instructor did some strength training with us. For the abs exercise, we had the option to use the ball or lay on the floor. Obviously, out of fear for my own life, I chose the floor. Then there was another lower back move that you had to do on the ball. Since people twice my age were doing it successfully, I decided to give it a try. What else was I supposed to do? Just sit there and look dumb? I figured it was better to look dumb trying. It was ok. I didn't fall off, but I spent all my energy just trying to stay on top of the thing.

I did almost fall over during the squats though, and these didn't even involve the ball. To do a proper squat, you're supposed to keep your knees behind your toes. Somehow when I went down, I just about lost it. It would have been quite hilarious if I actually fell over. I eventually got the hang of them. Then the instructor said, "If you're doing these right, you'll feel them tomorrow." She wasn't kidding. =)