Winning moves

American Fitness, Jan-Feb, 1990 by Bobby Duron

Winning Moves

Up Close & Personal

Marjorie O'Connor

* Physical education teacher at Londonderry Junior High School in Edmonton, Alberta. * Involved in aerobics for 11 years. * Part-time aerobics instructor at the Sports Connection and Centre Club. * Winner of Ms. Fit Edmonton in 1985 and Nissan's "Hard Bodies" Aerobic Competition in 1986. * Active in dance, gymnastics, running, weight training, cycling, team sports and tennis. * "I wanted to prove to myself I could do it. I've enjoyed teaching aerobics, and I just wanted to take it one step further."

Ted Morin

* English teacher at St. Marguerite Catholic High School in Spruce Grove, Edmonton, Alberta. * Involved in aerobics for five years. * Part-time aerobics instructor at the Sports Connection and Centre Club. * Former provincial men's figure skating champion. * Active in weight training, cycling and jazz dance. * "My goal was to choose one activity, focus all my attention on that activity, perform at my best and hopefully come out a winner."

Push Away Lunge

This move provides a unique twist to the standard lunge series of the required 16 lunges. They had fun with this playful push away, showing a little "personality."

One Arm Push Up

This variation of a push-up demonstrates strength and provides audience appeal. Morin and O'Connor performed four consecutive one-arm push ups in the set of 24 compulsory push ups.

Training

* Six months of intense training. * During school, practiced two hours a day. * Once school was out, practiced three to four hours each day. * "Finding time to practice was hard enough," says Morin. "Often we wouldn't feel like jumping up and down one more time. Since we were always critiquing each other, `Do we look good enough,' `Is the push-up deep enough,' we really relied on each other to also point out the positives."

Partner Contact in Aerobic Routine

Using a '60s jive dance move, Morin and O'Connor fulfilled the compulsory 32-count partner contact component.

Reverse Sit Up

This was the first of 32 sit ups preceded by a front roll from a standing position. Showing strong abdominals as they curled down slowly using this position as a transition, it provided a nice surprise element to the routine.