Do you know what a bosu ball is?  I didn’t until my psycho aerobics instructor asked me to grab one.  After killing us with cardio for 45 minutes, she told the entire 6:30pm class we would spend the last 15 minutes working with the apparatus.  While literally skipping to the closet to roll out the cart carrying the half balls, she said the gym powers that be finally decided to buy 20 pieces for the aerobics program after years of begging by the instructors.

After giving us a mini lecture about how the bosu ball is designed specifically to integrate balance into every aspect of fitness, she made us do 36 one legged squats.

I think I completed 3, but that’s only after I fell off the bosu time after time after time.  Too bad she didn’t ask us to keep track of how many times we fell off, because I’m sure I completed 36 reps of that.

While telling us to turn the boso over and do 36 one legged push-ups, she said informed us the ball adds an element of versatility and challenge to any range of activities.

I think I did 2, but I’m being generous with that number.  My body was shaking so hard, I think my elbows bent about a quarter of an inch before I popped back into position.

She then said the bosu can be combined with other equipment such as hand weights to add new and exciting elements to existing exercises and made us do 36 repetitions of this crazy exercise.

I think I completed 20 reps of this one, but maybe not.  I’m not sure.  My mind turned into mush from the pain after the 4th rep. 

The hardest part about the whole bosu ball experience:  watching my instructor’s face.  The 4’10″ woman who is ripped and weighs probably no more than 93 pounds kept scrunching it all up.  She would squint her eyes, wrinkle her nose, grit her teeth and suck air through them as she made every move.  From the faces and sounds she was making, you would have swore her right leg was about to pop off  if she used her muscles one more minute. 

Don’t get me wrong, I scrunch my face and suck air through my teeth all the time, especially when the bosu ball is kicking my butt.  But c’mon! A ripped aerobics instructor can’t make that face.  She is supposed to be our inspiration, our cheerleader, our no pain, no gain leader.   When I see her face all squished with pain, it squishes my workout moral.  Bosu or no bosu, she can’t make that face;  Only I can make that face.

And I mean it.