My dance college is pretty hardcore. There is a lot of shouting and “DO THIS NOW OR DIE!!” type of instructions.
5 minute into ballet class and we were peacefully doing our plies, when the teacher shouted, “how many of you did sit ups before class?” Maybe two of the the twenty students raised their hands, and she shouted, “I CAN TELL. YOUR GUT IS ALL OVER THE PLACE. FIFTY SIT UPS NOOOOOOW!!!” We all jumped onto the floor and she counted reaaally slowly.
2 minutes before a performance workshop, another teacher told us in this really creepy quiet voice, “class starts in 2 minutes and no one is doing anything useful to warm up. get out of the classroom and think about what you’re doing with your life.” We all walked out stunned. Then the teacher popped her head out into the hallway, “CLASS STARTS NOW!” and we rushed back in.
Today the contemporary dance teacher told us to include planks (static push up position) as part of our morning rituals. “You roll out of bed onto the floor and you do planks.” One student interrupted with a totally non-sarcastic, “with breakfast?” I imagined myself doing planks and dunking my face into a bowl of weetabix.
The teacher then made us hold a plank for 2 min 30 seconds, part of it on only one arm and one leg (in opposition). Classmates were writhing in pain on the floor afterwards (some quit before time up and got shouted at by the teacher). The punch line? I felt no pain in my abdominals.
I approached the teacher to ask if I’m doing the planks wrong. I demonstrated for maybe 30 sec? A classmate whispered, “she’s not even shaking”. The teacher kinda shook her head, prodded my stomach, and murmured, “In all the years I’ve danced and taught, I’ve never seen anyone not feel pain doing planks…”
So apparently, I have abs of steel! Unfortunately, they are concealed by a layer of fat. And dance is not really cardiovascular, so I’m not sure when I can start flashing my in-built cheese grater at parties. Sad face! 
