Get Your Groove on with These New Fitness Classes
By Isabelle Piermattio
The newest fitness classes pump up the desire to work out while participants discover new muscle groups never before imagined. Across the Lehigh Valley, fitness gurus are offering fun, invigorating classes for all fitness levels. Popular workout classes may have sign-up sheets but with results that can last a lifetime and camaraderie to boot, they’re worth the effort. Some of the newer fitness regimes range from body sculpting to power pump, from Zumba to Wii Active and even hooping.
Here’s a sampling of classes fitness fans are talking about at their favorite community center or gym:
C.L.I.M.B.
Lively, high-intensity interval training classes like C.L.I.M.B at Steel Fitness in Bethlehem utilize quick and longer bursts of interval training to get the heart pumping while keeping the body—and- class moving. Designed by the management team of FACTS Fitness, Inc., parent firm of Steel Fitness, C.L.I.M.B is a combination of agility ladder and boot camp activities to pique interest, maximize speed and agility as well as develop anaerobic and aerobic fitness.
When endorphins are released during exercise in C.L.I.M.B. and combined with the challenge of elite athletic drills, boot camp exercises and buddy drills, participants say they leave feeling great. Instructors continually change up the exercises to keep participants on their toes and every class has a variation of unique exercises so that the time flies by as the metabolism is cranked. With its interval training and building of muscular strength and endurance, the class is designed to burn fat while maintaining lean tissue. Balance and coordination are a clear result from regular participation.
C.L.I.M.B. is fun, challenging and guaranteed to empower all fitness levels. Featured on NBC-10 and voted the “Best Boot Camp” in the greater Philadelphia region by Main Line magazine readers, C.L.I.M.B is offered several times a week at Steel Fitness and is also offered outdoors, weather permitting. Steel Fitness fans of C.L.I.M.B. range from college-aged athletes to women in their 50s who want to get in shape. Instructor Kyle Peters notes, “Anyone who wants a fun fitness challenge can take the class. But newcomers are always encouraged to stay within their fitness level.” In the future, certification in C.L.I.M.B. will be available to fitness instructors and participants of all fitness levels nationwide. For more information about C.L.I.M.B., call Steel Fitness Riverport at 610-625-2717 or visit www.steelfitnessclub.com
Hooping:
Hooping classes at the Happy Hooper in Bethlehem (lower level, Wired Café) are designed and developed by Tina Hemmerle, a graduate of Kutztown University. And, yes, you guessed it, specially designed and weighted hula-hoops of various sizes, widths and dimensions are used to get the heart pumping and all muscle groups involved.
Classes range from Introductory Beginner to Hoop Muscle, Spin Time, and even Hoop Tricks for Dummies. Hemmerle’s hoops are available online at www.Spirithoops.com. However, class-goers are given all the hoops they need for class time.
The super-fit Hemmerle was not always so, says the young Bethlehemite, who, after designing her first Spirit Hoop several years ago, began her foray into fitness and , dropped 35 pounds to her present, sinewy form, simply by hooping away.
“Hooping is fun and an active passive form of aerobics. We work up a sweat and work every muscle group,” she says, noting that smaller hoops can be added to tone arms and legs. With high-energy music that brings a touch of funky beat and disco, classes at The Happy Hooper are open to all. The Happy Hooper team and Hemmerle may be seen hooping away at area festivals and fundraisers.Call to ask about special nights for women’s and social groups. The Happy Hooper Fitness & Fun Studio is at 520 Main Street Lower Level at Wired, Bethlehem. 610-317-2089, www.thehappyhooperstudio.com
Belly Dance:
With an emphasis on Egyptian music and style, the Yoga Loft in Bethlehem offers Belly Dancing classes in addition to various forms of yoga, Pilates, tai chi, and Gyrotonics. Belly dancing brings out women of all ages who are interested in learning this ancient dance art form that utilizes nearly every muscle and joint in the body, improving strength, posture, body control and awareness. Students learn that belly dance is an exhilarating way to exercise, develop coordination, balance and grace in movement.
Students who attend weekly classes receive copies of music, learn about the special cultural fashion accessories-including hip wraps, veils and jewelry-and have the opportunity to perform periodically in the Yoga Loft’s lively dance performances which showcase both students and professional dancers.
The Yoga Loft is a resource for all forms of yoga, parent and child workshops, tai chi, and Pilates. It is located at 521 East Fourth Street, Bethlehem. Phone 610-867-9642 or visit www.theyogaloftofBethlehem.com.
Zumba:
“Ditch the workout and join the party,” is the international tagline for Zumba, a dance workout based on Latin dance music, beats and moves. Here in the Lehigh Valley, certified Zumba instructor Traci Swanson teaches classes across the region, saying class lovers range in age from their teens to their 70s.
“It’s a great workout, as class participants don’t even realize they are sweating at first,” says Swanson, a spirited fitness aficionado and mother of three who is newly certified in additional Zumba training, including newly launched Zumba Kids.
Zumba is not only catching on in the Lehigh Valley but the program is also moving into Zumba Aquatics, etc. Swanson, a former cheerleader and dancer, notes,“The music and moves create a party atmosphere that keep the class exciting and motivating.”
Swanson teaches at a number of facilities across the Lehigh Valley, from Fit Quest, Allentown, to the Nazareth YMCA and the Charles Chrin Community Center of Palmer Township. To register for a Zumba class with Traci Swanson, call 610-837-2505, or visit www.zumbawithtraci.com for a list of classes.
Gyrotonics:
Gyrotonics are specially designed exercises and equipment that offer complete freedom of movement based on the work of Hungarian-born professional dancer, Juliu Horvath. Today, Horvath continues to offer workshops and lectures throughout the USA. Here in the Lehigh Valley, GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® principles are taught in private classes at the Yoga Loft in Bethlehem by certified dancer and trainer, Paola Beatriz Montes.
Montes says Gyrotonics is a system of exercises that anyone can perform, regardless of age or state of health and is founded on the principle of maintaining health and well-being while repairing bodily injuries. Exercises are performed on the fully adjustable Professional Pulley Tower, a system that meets the needs of varying body types and levels of strength. The circular, spiraling and undulating movements that characterize the GYROTONIC Expansion System are designed to increase functional capacity of the spine, contributing to spherical and three-dimensional awareness and improved equilibrium.
Montes is a certified GYROTONIC instructor as well as a certified Pilates instructor from the Kane School of Core Integration in NYC. Montes currently teaches Pilates and Gyrotonics at various dance schools and wellness centers, including the Yoga Loft and Lehigh University. For more information, call The Yoga Loft at (610) 867-9642 or visit www.theyogaloftofbethlehem.com.
So if you’ve been getting bored with your fitness routine, check out one of these innovative classes that will help you shape up while you’re having fun!
