The Z Factor

** Note: this story was first posted on Mothers of Brothers. I am reposting it here so that I can keep all of my stories in one place. **
This is me at a dance-based fitness class:


I get this big goofy grin on my face. The more I notice my grin, the wider it gets. I avoid mirrors, because if I see myself grinning like a maniac, I'll burst into giggles, which is even more embarrassing.

Sometimes, however, group fitness classes aren't funny at all. Sometimes they're serious and intense.

Consider, for example, the BodyCombat class that I used to take when I lived in the city. It was a combination of dance, yelling, and martial-arts inspired kicks and punches. During my favourite track, we had to fight 5 opponents and - this is the best part - gut the last one with our imaginary samurai sword.

Punch opponents one and two.


Elbow opponent four.




I took the sword-fighting track very seriously.


I took it so seriously, in fact, that the instructor called me out on it with a laugh: "That's what I like to see! Someone who's getting angry. Someone's who's taking them down."

I didn't tell her the truth:












I was invincible.

Which leads us to the central thesis of this post:

Inserting zombies into workouts can help you motivate yourself to push harder, farther and faster. I call this motivational tool the Z Factor.

Take running, for example. I like to watch episodes of The Walking Dead while I'm on the treadmill.


The tenser the scene, the faster I run.




What better motivation to run than hordes of the undead snapping at your ankles?

Best of all, the Z factor can also be applied to less aggressive physical activity, such as dance.






The Z Factor. It's infallible.

You're welcome.