I wanted to encourage everyone to pre-order multiple copies of this excellent tome from Da Capo, scheduled for publication just in time for the holiday season. Yes, punk rock aerobics may sound counterintuitive, but really it makes sense the same way that being a pink Goth named Becky does.
It's a perfect exercise solution for all of you full-of-scorn extroverted introverts who want that hipster, body-by-heroin physique without all those nasty needles and without giving up beer. I, for one, am a shameless devotee and thrill to working out to the Modern Lovers, Gang of Four, the Rapture, Mission of Burma, Sleater Kinney and the like. And, I can assure you, there is nothing more abject than doing crunches to Iggy Pop on a scummy club floor that still smells of stale beer and mop water, kids!
Soon you can recreate my treasured Saturday afternoon ritual in the comfort of your own [one hopes tidier] home.
Punk Rock Aerobics
75 Killer Moves, 50 Punk Classics, And 25 Reasons To Get Off Your Ass And Exercise
by Hilken Mancini and Maura Jasper
Paperback
Availability Date: 12/18/03
Available Dec 2003
Retail Price: $17.95
($27.95 Can./£13.99 UK)
Da Capo Press
ISBN: 0-306-81339-4
* Would you flee in terror if confronted with a room full of sweaty people in spandex thongs?
* Are you not immune to the occasional Van Halen-style air guitar jump?
* Have you been known to push aside your coffee table and dance like crazy in your living room?
If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, here at last is your workout book. As simple as throwing on that old Ramones (or even White Stripes) record, punk meets a high- and low-impact workout in an exercise craze that is spreading like wildfire amongst teens and aging rockers alike: Punk Rock Aerobics. Unlikely bedfellows though they seem, punk has always been about image--from Iggy's abs to the Sex Pistols' carefully cultivated outfits. Back in the good old days cigarettes would suffice to keep rockers slim, but to have real punk energy, say these rockers-turned-certified-aerobics-instructors, you need to drop those chips and get off the couch.
Chock-full of easy-to-follow moves in an accessible, home-exercise-friendly format, Punk Rock Aerobics contains photos and instructions for DIY, heart-pumping (and thigh-slimming) retro moves like the "Air Guitar," the "Skank," and the "Fire Hydrant," while suggesting songs by the Sex Pistols, Blondie, and the Stooges for a perfect workout soundtrack. With sidebars and Q&A's with rockers like J. Mascis and Evan Dando, this is definitely "not your mom's aerobics class" (Boston Globe).
