“My name is Billy, Billy Blanks and I’m going to make you sweat.”
OK so it not what he really says but it should have been those exact words.

Winter is a double edged sword when its comes to working out, its the best time to get in shape for summer but the chilling weather makes it even harder to head outside and do it in the crispy fresh air. So I came up with a great solution, work out in winter in the house!

I’ve seen the infomercials with the testimonials about how great and easy Tae-bo is, so trying it was the logical step on this exercise journey. It’s not as easy as it may look.

You have to clench every part of your body while punching the air, kicking the air, doing a karate spinning kick and uppercuts. So it’s a mind and body exercise because you have to remember to clench while doing the moves.

But Billy is right, he is my champion to a firmer me and like you hear in those infomercials, “its a great work out, I feel so good doing it and I can see my biceps tightening up, my stomach as well and my legs are stronger.”

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times-in this case it was the toughest of times EVER! So in my quest of non-traditional forms of exercise I headed to the Newtown precinct (Johannesburg) for the Moving Into Dance open classes.

The class was fairly small when it started so I figured no one is going to see my death, HA was I wrong. The session is only an hour and half long but it might as well be the entire day. Every single part of my body ached and this was only during the stretching/ warm up. Once we got into the real thick of things I knew I was in far over my head.

The instructor, a dancer part of the troop, does the jumps, extensions and combinations with such ease- it got me thinking well this can’t be that hard. Go positive energy go!

To my dismay it looked totally out of whack when I attempted them. My jumps seem to only get me a centimeter off the ground, my extensions half-arsed and the combinations, well lets just say I’m not going to share that with you. It was embarrassing enough missing a step and ending up face to face with the person on my left, when I should have been facing right.

In any case I’m now heading to the local Civic Center, mixing self defense with exercise……tell u later

What can be more inspiring than listening to your favourite music while exercising? Well I can think of something. How about dancing to your favourite music video and calling that a work out!? Yeah, I could do this!

After trying out the gym for my weight lifting experiment, I turned to my TV screen this time in my bid to find new ways of getting in shape. Three names jumped to mind as I was channel hopping: Justin Timberlake, Usher and Britney Spears - now those people are fit. I figured that this is probably due to their music video moves needing them to work hard, so why can’t I get in shape by jumping around?

Mr. Timberlake there is agile, his video for MY LOVE with T.I, is some intricate footwork but great for a mild workout. It took me some time to get the moves on beat, but once I had mastered them no one could touch me.

Usher on the other hand is far to complicated for me. Back flips, hand stands and so many other tricks I cannot event mention because they bring to mind all of my miserable failed attempts. (That YEAH video with Lil Jon is a mission to get into.)

My last music video attempt, was Britney’s pre-breakdown I’M A SLAVE FOR YOU - it’s no wonder she worked up such a sweat in that shoot. Damn! I stretched, flexed, jumped, and grinded my way to some stomach definition and (what looked like) the start of muscle tone in my legs. Props to you Miss Spears, you definitely get a full work out.

So after this massive mission, and all the sweat and bruises I picked up after bumping the coffee table, I’ve decided the next form of exercise that I will try out will be something super simple and done by almost everyone every day; walking. Yup, I’m going power walking ya’ll…

I remember the first female body builder I saw. I had come across this odd show on television and well kind of could not move away. At first, I swear, I was confused as to why the dudes were wearing bikini’s- I was young you can forgive me on this. My older brother’s comment, having already learned about the difference between boys and girls, shocked me, “They need to ease up on the weights, its eating away at their boobs.” Zama turns around slowly: “What? These are WOMEN!”

The Iron Lady, Albertina Phepe is not disturbed by these comments. She is a body builder who is trying to set up her own school for female body builders in Gauteng. She was resting from competition last year, and took the time to make her first attempt at the school, but unfortunately her sponsors pulled out and the girls who had come to the school also stopped attending.

That did not dampening her spirits and she is at it again this year. “I really want the girls to learn about fitness, I mean when I do my competitions I am the only black woman! I want there to be more women representing us and showing everybody that we can do it.”

Albertina started body building in 2004, to change her body after she found that aerobics was not working for her, “Lifting weights gave me an immediate change. I liked it a lot and carried on from there.”

Albertina started entering competitions in 2006 and was named the central provincial champion in 2006 and 2007 in Gauteng. Currently she is the number 5 in the top 6 female body builders in the country.

Read Albertina’s story here.

This puts a whole new spin on this sport. Maybe I should not judge before I know all my facts.

I’ve heard many variations on the sports field of nicknames that I have been called, but only my name – Zama – will get me to back you up in the ruck. I’m a paradox really, I would love to be one of those lazy people but my body just refuses. I get actually get a tick when I stand still for too long. “It’s been ten minutes in one spot, lets get the moving,” is something that runs through my mind constantly.

I’m positive it is how I ended up as a professional radio journalist, with a side love for entertainment and sports. My favourites are rugby, tennis and cricket. I’m typically one of those people who will shout, “What do mean; that’s a clear try! Come on!” at the TV screen. Yeah, and who says TV watching it not a contact sport?

But I’m venturing into a new territory, body building – say it with me again: BODY BUILDING.
I remember the first female body builder I came across on this odd show on TV and well… cough cough… I kind of could not move away. At first, I swear, I was confused as to why the dudes were wearing bikini’s – I was young so I figure you can forgive me on this. My older brother’s comment, having already learnt about the difference between boys and girls, shocked me, “They need to ease up on the weights, its eating away at their boobs.” Zama turns around slowly, “What; these are WOMEN!”

So I’m going to head to the gym, and pick those weights up. Not rushing into things but I’m not going to start with a puny 1kg either. It would be too embarrassing alongside someone lifting 20kg. You will be the first to know how it went, who knows I could become an expert at it.