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Зарядки

Зарядки or “morning exercises” were a part of every good Soviet's morning routine. It's a tradition that continues to live on in most Russians' ideal schedule, particularly when traveling or vacationing in a new place. Hotels, camps, resorts all offer their vacationers morning exercise before breakfast each day. I decided that this would be a fun “optional” activity for our summer project, and apparently so did several other Summer Project participants - I was shocked when nearly 15 people showed up on our first morning! Every morning at 7:30, the brave fitness gurus and I would run together to the rocky shores of the sea for a 30 minute exercise routine I'd planned out the night before. We did just about every exercise I could think of, including, but not limited to the following: stretching, running, skipping, jumping, lunging, balancing, squating, push-ups, tricep raises, calf raises, holding a plank, leg extensions, wall sits, obstacle courses, and just about anything we could think of with the materials we had at hand! It must have been quite a sight to behold for passer-byes. What a great way to begin each morning, testing the limits of my personal creative prowess and my participants' physical abilities! We had a great time, even though behind those smiles, I knew they all were thinking, “what does this crazy American want me to do now?” Here are some clips of our morning зарядки.




Comments

Cheryl Boyd said…
Good for you! Way to keep the kids in shape!
Anonymous said…
Did you do a few mornings of Zumba? :) you can rock it

jessica darling
Courtney Grant said…
Huzzah! I had no idea you two had a blog! I can't wait to read about the Russia adventures. :)

--Courtney

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