When I wandered round the park the other day I walked along for a short while with someone I call a ‘nodding acquantance’. Sometimes when we see each other we just nod and keep on walking others we exchange a few words. Don’t think we’ve ever introduced ourselves to each other, maybe we’ll get round to it this summer 😊
Anyway further on a bit there was a group of women gathered together listening intently to a very fit looking young woman girl child! Exercise mats at the ready!
Oh thats where they are , said my nodding acquantance. She then went on to tell me about her friend who’d raved about the boot camp she joined where they did really simple exercises. So…as you do….we stood and had a stickybeak at what they did.
Gosh, she said, that just looks like old fashioned physical jerks – what’s the betting it gets more advanced as the weeks go by.
Watching the group I kept thinking there was something familiar about the routine then later that afternoon I had a rummage around in one of our bookshelves and found my old old copy of – this!
Yes XBX – the female companion to the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 5BX (five basic exercises) plan for their servicemen.
Ten exercises designed to work every part of the body – a set number of repeats to be done in a certain time. Gradually becoming more difficult.
What was funny was, as we turned away to walk in different directions, we looked at each other, laughed and spontaneously started to sing – ‘ Bend and Stretch, Reach for the Stars’ lol
Ready Mr Music please 😊😊
By the way this is an old 1980s recording of the Australian version of Romper Room.
Still Waters 
That’s lovely! One look at the Canadian Air Force exercises when many years younger showed me why God did not equip me to fly…
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Ohhhh romper room. I used to wait anxiously for her to say my name at the end.
She did a few times lol
I will never ever like exercise
So I pretend I don’t do it and work hard in the garden. At least I’m getting stuff done lol
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Bootcamp comes in various sizes here – most are geared toward the working person, so you’ve out there running about with a sergent majjor just after dawn. Many swear by it – some friends have done the hard yards for a while, and then I notice they don’t do it anymore…it’s not for the foolhardy that for sure.
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callisthenics – is I think also the old way – and I think it’s not as sexier word as ‘bootcamp” anymore
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Those are the same exercises I used to do every time I felt ‘fat’ and went on a diet! Hey, they do work! (As long as you keep it up and quit pigging out)
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I remember that song well! “Stand on tippy toes oh so high.”
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I walk past a place that does bootcamp for men indoors. The sound of grunting and yelling is hideous, almost like animal noises. It is nice to have someone to speak to in the park. When we looked after a friend’s dog, we got to know people in the park, not by their names, but by their dog’s names.
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Yes we had Romper room here and when I was going through my late sisters mail she saved a letter from Miss Phyllis of Romper Room. I still have it. At least there wasn’t any crazy characters and she had patience of a saint. LOL !
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Our senior center is teaching Tai Chi. It is basically Karate in slow motion. I hate it. Maybe I could do the Romper Room bend and stretch. LOL
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Our senior center is teaching Tai Chi. It is basically Karate in slow motion. I hate it. Maybe I could do the Romper Room bend and stretch. LOL
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A lot of those exercises are very much like those in the Pilates class I took. I am in an “old ladies” (low impact) aerobics class 3 times a week and I really like it. I tried Tai Chi and it was okay at first but then it wasn’t. So, are you going to join the class?! Exercise is good for the soul and body.I
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