Class #47 Step Wednesday 5:30 p.m. (Ronnie)

I’ve used Spring Break week to go to some of the most popular classes on the schedule and Ronnie’s Step classes on Monday/Wednesday certainly qualify as Club favorites. He’s been teaching them for a long time (around 16 years) and has developed a large fan base because he’s a wizard at Step.

One of the things that makes Ronnie’s classes so popular is his inventive choreography. He knows a few thousand different ways to step on, over or around the bench – usually with some quick-footed combinations in-between. It’s fun to watch he and the regulars do it but I’ll admit that I’ve been pretty nervous about taking my turn at bat.

I originally planned to save Ronnie’s class until I had done three or four other Step classes and had a better idea about how they work. Well, before today I had only made it to one Step basic class and I was lost in there most of the time so my expectations for “success” coming into Ronnie’s class were pretty humble.

The reality was better than I hoped for though because Ronnie, along with being great at choreography, is a master at giving cues. He tells you everything you’re going to do before it’s done and then he builds the routine in a way that gives you the best chance to catch on. That said there were plenty of times when I clearly wasn’t doing what everyone else was but if I stayed patient, in a few more beats I could rejoin them and do something that I had mastered.

Along with watching Ronnie, I was also keeping an eye on my neighbors and picking up clues from them as well. The tricky part when you’re doing all this looking around is to make sure that one part of your focus stays on the bench so you don’t entirely miss it.

The class went by quickly and I had fun doing it. Beforehand, I thought I’d feel so klutzy that I couldn’t enjoy it but that wasn’t the case. I can see how doing the routine on a regular basis would allow one to jazz it up some and make it even more fun. For instance, Ronnie would throw in a flourish here and there that the “good steppers” could easily handle while the more remedial among us could stick with a more basic step and still have fun.

Step class on gym floor

One other comment about the class – it’s a terrific workout – I was pouring sweat about half-way through and only part of that was from being nervous. By the way, I only used two risers (one on each side) and that was plenty high to get my heart rate way up. The first Step Basic class I took, I used four risers and that was a mistake for a newcomer.

Ronnie ended the class with a ten-minute ab routine. I was relieved to have made it through the step portion and mistakenly thought I could relax….oops – the ab section was a killer. I had to rest on several occasions murmuring “I got nowhere else to go” (the unofficial ab war cry).

As I mentioned above, Ronnie Stone has been teaching at the Club for about 16 years. He told me that he first got certified by the AFAA in 1991 and has been teaching ever since. Ronnie related that as a youngster, growing up on a farm near El Paso Arkansas, he had been 40 pounds overweight. When he discovered exercise, he said, he gradually lost the weight and fell in love with the fitness world.

Along with teaching group exercise classes, Ronnie is also a certified personal trainer through NASM. Outside of the fitness world, he’s taught Special Education in the public schools for 11 years and is currently the Office Manager for physician Joseph M. Beck.

Ronnie’s friend and fellow group exercise stand out, Krissa Thoreson, has encouraged him to be a national presenter at the annual IDEA (International Dance Exercise Association) Conference in San Diego because she says, “he doesn’t know how good he is”, but so far he’s demurred. Since he likes challenges though, maybe he’ll do it someday and dazzle teachers from all over the country.

Tonight’s class had about 20 in it – all women except for one other guy – bless his heart, and me. The $25 gift certificate goes to Susan Bradley.

Class #46 TBC Tuesday 5:45 p.m. (Carla)

This is a great class. Hard but fun. The only problem is I’m writing about it only minutes after leaving class and my hands/arms are shaking - making it hard to type. Of course, it may be better now than how I’ll feel in the morning.

TBC – which is supposed to stand for Total Body Conditioning but may actually mean Torture By Carla, is one of the storied classes on the schedule. I’m pretty sure that Carla concocted this class late one night in her evil lab under a full moon. At any rate, it’s been a fan favorite at the Club for many years but somehow I’ve managed to avoid it until tonight.

This is the class members have most often asked me about since the quest began, as in – “have you taken Carla’s TBC yet?” When I would say no – they would shake their heads, as if to say “then you haven’t really started, have you?” TBC is, I suppose, a rite of passage for the LRAC group ex connoisseur.

Carla has several versions of the class – tonight’s she calls the “three ring circus” format where she divides the class into three groups and assigns each group its own set of exercises. Within the groups, each person has a partner because one of the sections (i.e. boxing) requires two to tango. There are exercise stations set up all over one half of the basketball gym – Carla has written out instructions in some spots, in others she just explains what to do. Once the whole thing is set in motion, you basically don’t stop for about an hour (the warm up tonight is running three laps around the outside of the Club).

Each station and exercise in and of itself is hard and will wear you out but by constantly changing from one thing to another the hour flies by. The stations include: a low hurdle course, pushups on a bosu ball, squat jumps, three count burpees (at least, that’s what I call ‘em), wall jumps, a step bench obstacle course and many more. Since everything is new to me, I’m always just catching on to the rhythm when the routine changes – which is fine with me.

The most interesting station for me is the partner boxing, which is also the one, I imagine, that’s left my hands and arms a little shaky. In this section, one partner puts on boxing pads (we wear surgical gloving for sanitary reasons) and is the ‘punchee’ while the other partner, wearing boxing gloves, jabs, uppercuts and/or ducks/weaves. It’s a choreographed process, which takes some coordination and skill. At one point, I’m doing the part where I’m supposed to jab, jab, duck and weave, when I notice poor Carla near asphyxiation from laughing at my awkward style. This might have discouraged another man but since I’m having such a good time learning this new skill, I don’t mind being the entertainment for our loving instructor. Near the end of our session I’m hoping Chris, my patient partner, will go ahead and knock me out before I fall over on my own.

Boxing station with real boxers

Carla has a big following in everything she teaches but this is her signature class. Most of these folks, I’m guessing, have done this class plenty of times and they adore Carla because she’s from the “take no prisoners” school of group ex. It’s a badge of honor to be a regular in Carla’s class and survive TBC. But misery loves company and somehow the combination of hard work with people you like turns out to be a lot of fun.

Carla Branch teaching TBC

The class is 75 minutes long and the first 60 are dedicated to cardio (elevated heart rate) work. The next ten minutes is all core work where Carla somehow manages to get us to do several hundred crunches and five minutes of plank or side plank. All good fun, especially after you’re already mostly pooped out.

The last 3-4 minutes, you’ll be glad to know is stretching and warming (or is it cooling) down. After class everyone sticks around to fill out the slip for the $25 gift card drawing. Since most folks are still there I have Carla pick a winner – Kyle Lunsford.

Final word - If you are looking for a nice hard class that combines lots of different exercises and keeps you moving he whole time – TBC might just be for you. I give it two boxing gloves up!

Class #45 Cycling Monday 5 p.m. (Heather)

Heather’s prime time Monday cycling class is one of the hottest tickets in the Club and I’ve held off attending it before now because it’s usually SRO. I decided it might be safe today because so many people are out of town on Spring Break – surely a couple of regulars will be missing from Heather’s class.

Apparently the folks who come to her class aren’t big Spring Breakers. Fortunately, the room isn’t completely full today, there are one or two bikes left unoccupied.

Heather’s class has a reputation of being very good and very hard. I’m sure that the regulars in here are strong riders and accustomed to the punishment that I feel certain she’s going to be dishing out. I take it that it’s an honor to be part of her class and I feel that pride as I settle in for a good hard hour of work.

There’s something about Heather (Cameron Diaz has gotten nothing on our girl). People just want to be around her and be part of what she’s doing. I’ve known her for almost fifteen years and I’ve learned that she’s one of these folks who simply does everything really well. Whether it’s music (Heather plays the cello and is the Director of an all star high school rock orchestra), running Izzy’s Restaurant (which she co-owns with husband Robert) importing tea from China (she LOVES her tea) or teaching group exercise you can be sure that Heather’s going to do it right.

Heather Isbell

Heather’s style of teaching cycle class is very calm and quietly but persistently encouraging. She doesn’t yell for you to work harder, she just makes it known that it’s going to take your best to keep up. This quiet, confident appeal does the trick and I find myself pushing the limit to do what she asks.

To me, the class seems like one long crescendo where the effort required is slowly but surely ratcheted up minute after minute. Even the music seems to be building, like that of a suspenseful movie, to some kind of climax. I’m sure she must have told us to gear down at some point in class but looking back, I can’t remember when that happened (maybe I missed it). I notice that my heart-rate is following along with the effort and gradually, relentlessly inching up to the point where it’s pounding.

The last six minutes of class are the hardest. It’s a long grueling incline and as we get to the end of it, Heather asks for more pace to pass an imaginary rider or two who somehow got ahead of us – just a little bit more, please! Finally, we cross the finish line and I think “hallelujah”. That was a tough class!

The only problem now is that I’ve got to go play in a tennis match and I seriously doubt I’m going to have much left for it. I already feel sorry for my doubles partner.

There are about 27 in class today - an even mix of male and female. The $25 gift certificate goes to long time member, Linda Donley.

Class #44 Senior Weights Monday 1p.m. (Jeff)

This is my second foray into the senior weights class that Jeff teaches. The first one was on a Wednesday and came right after one of Carla Branch’s bike classes so I was pretty wiped out. Today I am fresh and ready to go.

As I mentioned last time, this class grew out of the Cancer Well-Fit program that the Club used to operate in conjunction with CARTI. For the last several years though, it has been run as a strictly in-house program called Senior Weights.

It’s basically a sculpt class for the “mature” audience. We spend most of the class doing exercises with hand weights or Pilate’s rings while sitting on a Swiss Ball. Jeff Witherington, the instructor, is as laconic as they come and begins class by simply starting to do the desired exercise motion with his arms. After a few minutes, everyone else joins in. From then on, Jeff calls out each exercise and the number of reps he wants along with a reminder here and there about form and everyone goes about his or her business.

I imagine that most of these folks have been coming for quite a while and they know Jeff’s every move. For some reason there’s much less social talk in the room today compared to the last time I came and I’m not sure why – maybe it’s just that everyone’s bracket is busted in the NCAA’s and they don’t want to talk about it.

About five minutes after the class starts a man comes into the room accompanied by a woman who turns out to be his daughter. It’s apparent that she has brought him to this class to see if he’ll like it. I don’t think the class gets too many newcomers - nor many men for that matter. It takes our new classmates a few minutes to get the hang of things but with the help of neighbors and Jeff coming over occasionally to say something they begin to catch on.

I asked this gentleman after class how he liked it and he indicated he’d be back. My guess is he’ll feel today’s workout in one muscle or another tomorrow but hopefully it will be a good soreness if he does.

As usual, the class is close to full with about 20 folks in attendance. Everyone is so kind and neighborly that it’s a group that would be easy to get comfortable in. It’s also a good workout and I’m impressed with how diligently everyone stays with the exercises throughout the hour.

This is also one class where EVERYONE signs up for the $25 gift certificate, which I love. Today’s winner is Jody Allison.

Next up, the 5 p.m. cycling class with Heather Isbell.

Class #43 Cycling Sunday 3 p.m. (David)

Lately I've found myself dragging into a class here or there, especially if it’s the second one of the day and when that’s the case I sometimes feel like I’m just “making it through”. But today I enter David’s 3 p.m. cycling class feeling fresh and full of vigor and I’m glad that’s the case. David pours a ton of effort and energy into his class and it would be a shame not to experience it with a full tank.

I’ve been looking forward to taking David’s class because several people have gone out of their way to mention how much they love it. What could it be, I’ve wondered, that makes it so good. I was eager to find out.

The short answer is it’s his great passion for teaching bike classes. He doesn’t hold anything back. It’s definitely not “just another class” to him but an hour of empowerment and striving for a best effort from everyone.

On the sprints, he tells us, there are three rules: 1) Don’t exceed 110 rpms, 2) make sure there’s sufficient resistance on the gearing to “feel” the road, and 3) help me hoop and holler. Sure enough, David is a great hoop n holler man and that helps get you going. He calls the group his “animal” class and consistently encourages us to reach for something extra and believe in our ability to improve our fitness through joyful effort.

He consistently urges us to drink plenty of water between sets so we won’t dehydrate. He even brings four extra bottles of water to class in case anyone needs more and sure enough there are takers for his thoughtful gesture.

One of David’s great loves is music and his class is filled with varied and inspiring songs (listed below is the play list and class syllabus). The highlight of the class for me is what David shows on his class plan as “Extreme Hill” and he selects “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Mis, sung by the improbable and inspiring Susan Boyle. I love this song and along with David’s encouraging words, I amp up my effort to match the soaring notes.

We end class by sprinting to the finish line passing one-by-one (as David vividly describes it) the three final riders ahead of us on a race down Riverfront Drive, to Springsteen’s Born to Run. At the end I am spent but feel really good, like I’ve done something significant. Cool.

David Prince in cycle regalia

In “real life” David is a securities lawyer for Stephen’s Inc., a job that brought him to Little Rock from Atlanta four years ago. He’s been a group cycling aficionado for twelve years but didn’t get certified until he moved here. He gives credit to fellow LRAC instructors Barbara Sarnataro, Mike Seay, Betsy Kortebien and Lisa Cooper for “overwhelming” encouragement and support on his quest to become a teacher.

David, who has been teaching for the past year, has regular classes at the LRAC, NLRAC and DAC and occasionally subs at the Racquet Club. About his experience as a teacher he says, “it’s one of the most rewarding things I have ever done – I love it.” It definitely shows – thanks for being part of our Team – David!

The “animal” winning the gift certificate in today’s class is Barry Strevig.

Well, this marks the halfway point in my allotted time to get through the 110 classes but I’m clearly behind schedule. After two trips out of town and suffering through a cold, it’s not surprising that I’m off pace but I’ll have to push things to make up ground. I’ll see if I can get in a few “extra” classes this week - we’ll see how it goes.

David’s play list and class plan follows:

1	Warm Up	Only Want to Be With You	Hootie and the Blowfish	3:47
1-2	Rolling Hills	Best Days of Your Life	Kelly Pickler	3:37
2	Watts Drill (40/50/70)	I Don’t Wanna Be in Love	Good Charlotte	4:04
6	Sprint	Love Drunk	Boys Like Girls	3:47
2-4	Seated to Standing Climb	According to You	Orianthi	3:20
2	Seated Climb-Resistance Load	Hanging by the Moment	Lifehouse	3:36
2	Watts Drill (3x30)	Supermassive Black Hole	Muse	3:29
2-4	Extreme Hill	Come What May	Ewan McGregor & Nicole Kidman	4:48
6	Sprint	Heaven Can Wait	We The Kings	3:30
3-4	Standing Climb	I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’	Scissor Sisters	4:48
2	Seated Climb-Resistance Load	Gotta Be Somebody	Nickelback	4:13
2-4	Extreme Hill	I Dreamed a Dream	Susan Boyle	3:11
1	Sprint to Finish	Born to Run	Bruce Springsteen	4:29
1	Cool Down and Stretch	I’m Forrest. . . Forrest Gump	Alan Silvestri	2:40
1	Stretch	Baby Can I Hold You	Tracy Chapman	3:14
1	Stretch	Hard Times Come Again No More	Mary J. Blige	3:58

(50:46 plus cool down)

Class #42 Power Pump Saturday 8:00 a.m. (Beth)

I really ought to be going to two classes today but the truth is, I just don’t feel like it. Most of the classes on Saturday morning are pretty tough and I’ve only got one in me today….that one being Power Pump.

This class is taught in alternating fashion by Beth Cirwinski and Kris Mougeot so beforehand I’m not sure who’ll be teaching. It turns out to be Beth, who I meet for the first time right before class. I try to convey with my eyes what a power pump wimp I am and not to expect too much but since my eyes aren’t really that expressive – she probably just thinks I’ve had too much coffee.

While getting the equipment ready for class, I run into my old high school buddy Richard Peek, who’s now a highly regarded orthopedic surgeon in town. He was one of the funniest, best guys I knew in high school and I can only imagine that his bedside manner is wonderful. I notice that Richard is in excellent shape and watch as he loads about three times more weight on his bar than what I have on. In fact, in shame I put on just a little bit more weight than I did the last time I took this class but it’s still a paltry sum.

Power Pump, for the uninitiated, is a weight lifting class using relatively light-weights (especially by me) and high repetitions. It’s a popular class and the room is almost filled, even at 8 a.m. on a Saturday, the first day of Spring Break. The crowd is impressive.

Beth runs us through a series of squats, pliés, shoulder presses, dead lifts, bicep curls, tricep presses, forward rows and numerous other exercises – all with the weight bar. It’s pretty much non-stop lifting except when we have to change the amount of weigh on our bars (oh how I hate that part). Near the end, we’re finally finished with the weights and go to the mat for “core” exercises. “Aha”, I think, something I can do. It turns out that the core series is all done from plank or side plank, so our upper body is being worked hard along with our poor aching abs. I want to make it all the way through without dropping to my knees but I can’ t quite do it. Yikes, this is tough.

Somewhere in the middle of the workout, perhaps while doing the shoulder presses, I feel a tiny tweak in the middle of my back – uh oh. I watch carefully to assess the damage but it appears to be minor – still, I expect I’m going to feel it the next day. Such is the nature of my fragile back. I’m not sure if this was caused by my inattention to posture, too much weight or simply doing something I’m not accustomed to doing. I watch it the rest of class and am relieved to find that the pain doesn’t reappear; it’s apparently a very small muscle or part of a muscle that’s affected, who knows, maybe I’ll be okay.

My advice to newbies trying this class is to simply start with very light weights – if they are too light, you can adjust next time. If you aren’t accustomed to lifting weights at all or the high repetition format then even the lightest of weights will do the job. Like many classes, there is a learning curve to Power Pump and it’s best to learn it while keeping safe. All that said, it’s a great class if you want to get your high rep, low resistance strength training done in a group format.

Well, I don’t have Beth’s bio information or a photo yet so I’ll introduce her more fully after the next class I take from her. I can say from observation that she gives a very fine and professional class. The workout is definitely challenging, she keeps it moving the entire time, gives good cues and is consistently smiling and encouraging everyone throughout the class. Good job.

Today’s $25 gift certificate winner is Sharon Krulin.

Next up – cycling on Sunday with David Prince.

Class #41 Yoga/Stretch Friday 11 a.m. (Beverly)

Having just finished Barbara’s Pilates class, I stay in the room for Beverly’s Yoga/Stretch class. Beverly teaches this same class three times a week and this is my second time to do it (see blog #26 for the previous time) so I know what to expect and I’m looking forward to it.

The most interesting thing to me about Beverly’s Yoga/Stretch class is that it has established such a great following. This isn’t a comment on her teaching skills, which are plentiful, but the fact that there’s a demand for a class with conscious relaxation as its focus. I’m not sure that demand existed at our Club, five years ago. The fact that it exists today seems like a good thing to me, which I’ll explain in a moment.

Included in class today are a number of people who I know are “hard core” exercisers. That is, I’m accustomed to seeing them working their bodies strenuously – so, it’s interesting to see them coming to the Yoga/Stretch class. Several of them even stop to tell me how much they enjoy this class.

In my own exercise odyssey I’ve come to appreciate more and more the need for rest and rejuvenation. For me, it’s a complement to, not a negation of the hard work that’s also needed for the body to operate at its peak. There’s also a difference, I’ve found, between taking a nap and/or getting 7-8 hours of sleep (also great) and doing some conscious, mindful relaxing of muscles. The fact is most of us live stressful lives and incessant exposure to stress has a deleterious impact on our bodies. To counteract that, I believe, it’s helpful periodically to “consciously” let go of everything and relax.

Yoga is especially good for this type of relaxing. (I should point out that it’s possible to practice yoga with great intensity – filled with extreme physical effort and that has its place too but that isn’t the aspect of yoga I’m talking about here.) By focusing on the breath and paying attention to each movement that is made, yoga links the mind and the body. It might seem at first blush that our minds and bodies are always linked but my observation tells me that isn’t so. Most of the time I’m thinking or worrying about something in the past or future and my body is reacting to those thoughts in an unconscious way. Over time, that unconsciousness results in tight muscles, high blood pressure and other physical ailments and imbalances.

In Beverly’s class we do yoga postures, which both stretch and tone the muscles but the softness of her voice, the soft lighting and ethereal music all have the effect of slowing us down, which results in relaxation. All yoga classes end with “Shavasana” or “corpse pose” which is dedicated to a cessation of all effort. Today, in Beverly’s class we do our final resting pose with our legs up the wall. This is the most gentle of all inversions and can be done without any effort. It also feels really good and is said to be helpful in rejuvenating the legs and body in general.

Beverly Lindberg

Today’s class had about twenty folks in it, including three men. The $25 gift certificate goes to Renae Peterson.