I took an aerobic dance class in high school because I thought it would be an interesting experience and an easy class to take my junior year on top of all my hard classes.

The class turned out being weirdly life changing. The course I was in was taught by our school’s wrestling coach, which was weird in itself. I remember walking in on the first day and wondering if he was going to be dancing with us.

It ended up being that we really only danced once a week. We spent our time watching bad quality Zumba and aerobic videos off of youtube, but it was a good time. After 45 minutes of doing Zumba, I’d sit there thinking that we really didn’t do much work.

A few weeks in, we all got sick of the same dance routines all the time, so our teacher decided to add some of his own workouts in. We would do anything from pilates to Interval training. The class immediately got a lot harder.

I automatically fell in love with the rush that came with working out for such a short period of time but still feeling like I was getting work done in 45 minutes. I am a lazy person who wants to get all of the work done in the shortest time possible. To be honest, I’d rather not work out at all.

After this class was over for the semester, I really couldn’t do anything that would compare to the workout I got there. I used to run six miles at a time and be okay, but after this, I just felt bored. I felt like I did the same amount of work in a six mile run as I did in a 45-minute class.

After I graduate, I found it increasingly harder to work out over the summer before I went to college. It was too hot to run, but I needed something. I began frantically looking for something to do that didn’t involve me sweating in the hot sun. Farewell to six-mile runs in the heat. There was no way I was doing that again.

My family had a YMCA membership, but I never really wanted to go because I really hated working out in gyms by myself, and I was too self-conscious to do group workout classes.

I eventually sucked it up and went to a spin class with my best friend. I honestly hated every second of it. It made me feel weak and sore at the same time. I said no to spin.

There really weren’t that many options other than that. The two left I was willing to try were Zumba and HIIT. They were both also group classes, so I was extremely hesitant.

I walked in the first day of HIIT to 50 people standing in front of a long mirror. This was crazy, and I didn’t know what to do. I ended up standing awkwardly until the instructor showed up.

The music began to blare, and the group began to follow the instructor. I was lost and fumbled all over myself. I was extremely embarrassed, but I had the greatest time. I learned how to lift weights and do cardio I had never thought of doing before.

The experience reminded me of that aerobic dance class I took in high school, so I stuck with it.While I still run occasionally, I have been going to HIIT for a year now, and I wouldn’t change a thing.