When most people think of exercise these days, the first thing that comes to mind is gyms, treadmills, spin classes and bootcamps. Its a pity really because way long before there were ever any of these things in existence, people were moving and I might add they were moving quite more.
I like to think about movement and exercise out of this "controled enviroment" context. I mean I am not knocking folks for doing these types of exercise...movement in any form is good in my book. But personally I get bored with running in place with a fan and tv screen in my face.
I prefer to take my workouts outside and hang off of objects or jump over things...it's not that I'm totally a daredevil, I just want to use my body to the max.
And to this day, one of my favorite forms of cardio, which my mom inspired in me from a very young age is Dance. My mom would always tell me "I'm doing my exercise, I'm dancing to Hector (Lavoe)", and sure enough that made total sense to me. I am a big dancer, not saying I'm the most skilled but man when a beat with some drums and bass starts pumping my heart is singing and my feet are moving.
I ofcourse love salsa, bomba y plena, hip hop, merengue, but the music that has always been my love, being the nuyorican that I am is House Music.
House Music was born in Chicago, largely influenced by Disco, Salsa, Soul and Jazz, it is no wonder that it was largely a Black and Latino thing of the early to mid 80s. The first big venue that it became popular in was Chicago's "The Warehouse", which is where the genres name derives from. When it came to New York, it evolved well past its years and eventually starting entering the mainstream.
Its a foot work based dance, and even though there have been some "moves" designed by different folks over the years, for the most part there is no wrong way to dance to House, as long as you stay on rythm of course lol. I can walk into a spot playing house and just move for hours without a care in the world, burning calories for days haha.
So if you ask me what my prefered cardio is, best believe its dancing to some House. And there is nothing better than NYC in the summer to find some dope ass house parties. Come join me sometime!
"You may be black, you may be white; you may be Jew or Gentile. It don't make a difference in our... HOUSE."
