A Class for Every Reason

IDEA member Melanie Johnson, in New
Haven, Connecticut, created PowerFlowCIRCUIT for
her more advanced Pilates apparatus clients (up to nine students). According to
Johnson, the class “alternates between 15–20 minutes each of a choreographed,
fast-paced reformer workout and a classic Pilates mat class. Each client also
does an exercise on each of the following: wunda chair, tower, cadillac, ladder
barrel, spine corrector and arc barrel.”

The University Club of Grand Rapids, in
Grand Rapids, Michigan, encourages its members to get outside with City Fit
Walk. The hourlong class involves a stroll through downtown
and an eventual return to the club “for various stretching and ab workouts to
complete the class.”

Along the same “outdoorsy” vein,
Marysville Health & Fitness in Marysville, Kansas, offers Group
Cycling —although not the type you might be thinking of.
Participants in this specialty class actually take bicycles outside for a spin with
“fellow cycling enthusiasts.”

Folks in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, enjoy a
variety of classes at the Midwest Athletic Club. One class, Synergy,
according to the official online schedule, is “a perfect blend of exercises
focusing on core body, strength, joint stability and balance, with components
of yoga and Pilates.”

The Thornton Family YMCA in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, offers a diverse mix of classes to keep its members engaged, fit and
healthy. One example is S.E.T., a class where “music and muscle
unite” with “total-body strength conditioning, using a variable weight-plate
loaded barbell system.” This branch also offers Tonga, “a fusion
between toning and yoga” that combines weights, exercise balls and tubing, with
at least 15 minutes of yoga-inspired stretches.

Hoopla, which is on the
schedule at the Student Recreation Center at West Virginia University in
Morgantown, West Virginia, “is a fun, exhilarating, meditative and unique form
of revolving movement art.” According to the online schedule, the 60-minute
class “is dancing with resistance … a form of self-expression as well as a
way to release stress and connect spiritually. Hoopla is a holistic tool that
shapes the body, calms the mind and soothes the spirit.”

The Vanderbilt Dayani Center at the
Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, provides the right tools for
its Swords
class. Based on the principles of Samurai sword fighting,
this offering does not require martial arts experience and “is designed for
total mind and body fitness.”

The RiverPlex Recreation and Wellness
Center in Peoria, Illinois, gives members a double dose of cardio with Dua­thlon
Cycling. The workout combines group cycling and running
intervals with an option to walk or power walk during the running interval.

SIDEBAR: Sharing the Buzz

Have you heard
of a creative new class? Drop us a line and share the buzz. Send an e-mail, a
letter or a fax detailing the class. We’ll be publishing your ideas in upcoming
issues.

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