Vogue Makes a Cameo at the Superbowl

Looking just like old times, but wearing a Givenchy couture dress,

Bulgari jewels and a custom Phillip Treacy headpiece [Photo: Rickey.org]

Okay, so lets be honest. As big of a deal as it was for the New England Patriots and New York Giants to be duking it out at the Superbowl this past Sunday for the second time in two years, it was the fashionably awesome comeback of the Queen of Pop, Madonna, that most everyone was waiting for. A reported 50 million viewers were to have stopped watching the Superbowl after she performed. For more than twelve minutes, Madonna transformed the testosterone laden arena into one of the largest fashion displays. The look was black, gold, and red, leather pleated skirts, marching band uniforms, spikes, studs, and glitter, boots, boots, and more boots. The motif, Gladiator. She performed on a well lit stadium floor of animated Vogue magazines, and she had multiple appearances by other stylish artists, such as the always electrifying, Nicki Minaj, an off-the-wall M.I.A, the routy, LMFAO boys, and the mystifying, Cee-Lo Green.

Keeping the show interesting with appearances from LMFAO, Nicki Minaj,
and M.I.A showed she can keep up with us 20-somethings, am I right? 

Twitter was alive throughout the night, but the most popular tweets I observed about Madonna was how well she looked for her age. Because of previous mishaps during the Superbowl halftime in the past (i.e. Janet Jackson, ), Madonna's performance was definitely a lot less raunchy and risque, but the energy she put into the spectacle was, of course, above par! Now, me being a huge advocate of good health and fitness, I wake up every morning to workout, alternating between yoga, and aerobic strength workouts. Now, can you imagine how much working out you would have to do to have the stamina she had in order to put on that flawless spectacle? She covered the entire stage, she sang, she was up and down steps, did a few flips, sang, made slight costume changes, and at one point she was on top of LMFAO as seen above. Oh yes, and did I mention she was singing the entire time. There are people twenty years old now who I bet couldn't even perform the first few eight counts, and sing at the same time! Read on to find out why...

Looking the same after 20 years. Madonna (1990), Blond
Ambition Tour (left), and Madonna (2012), Superbowl (right) 

 

Did u know it was reported last year around this time that unhealthy weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise claims over 300,000 deaths each year [source]? If people put the effort into working out as they do into, say for instance, being on the Internet, we could probably reverse that statistic by at least 75%. I have always been an active person, and recently I have begun to workout again on a regular basis after a short hiatus. Since starting back to working out, I can tell the difference between my stress levels when I work out and when I don't. I've been able to control my levels by being persistent with my workouts, as well as recognizing the times when my body most feels like giving out. When I feel that erge to give up, I have been training my brain to push harder when I am doing a hard workout (It's not as hard as you think). This confidence I get when I push through a hard challenge is a truly rewarding feeling, because it's not our body, but our mind that is the biggest hurdle that keeps us from getting started and sticking with exercise. We love to stay with what we know, and when we change something (like starting an exercise program) - there is almost always resistence. This resistence is natural, and our brain perceives change as moving out of a safe zone and it triggers stress, which then comes through as the excuses we make for not exercising.

We must stop making excuses for ourselves when something gets hard. Don't be lazy! Think "Madonna" the next time you are working out. I like to think that when we work out, we are preparing our bodies for old age. Do you want to move like Madonna, or do you want to move like this? "Mind over matter!"

In case you haven't seen it (or just want to see it again) here is Madonna's workout performance below.