Class #15 Sculpt Tuesday 1 pm (Brittney)

The Sculpt classes are timeless. Even if you go back to Westside Tennis Club days (more than 20 years ago) there was a version of this class. The names change some through the years, such as: “calisthenics” or “stretch and flex” but it’s all the same magilla. For most of LRAC’s tenure, this class has been called Bodysculpt. I’m not sure who decided to drop the “body” part but so far no one’s shown up asking where the kiln is, so I guess the shortened name still works.

The class uses a series of props, gadgets and doodads to help you forget about the fact that you are working out. Today we used, an elastic band, hand weights and a Bosu ball to do a variety of exercises that tone most of the body’s muscles.

For the uninitiated, a Bosu ball is basically an exercise ball that has been cut in half and attached to a platform. The purpose of this clever device is to challenge one’s balance, which in turn causes stabilizing muscles to engage. The idea is that if a muscle is carrying a load and working to stabilize itself, it will build that muscle more quickly and completely. The Bosu balls are also quite versatile and can be used in lots of different ways to “sculpt” one’s muscles.

Push up using a Bosu Ball

Our instructor for this class, Brittney Patty, is also a certified Personal Trainer, so she knows lots of different ways to healthily make the body go ouch. My observation is that using all of the different gadgets makes the workout more fun and it’s helpful when instructors know how to change things up in that way. Besides it forces a momentary break in the action while changing gadgets, which is something I always appreciate.

Brittney Patty

Like many of our teachers, Brittney has loads of experience leading group exercise classes. Besides Sculpt, she has taught Step, Power Pump, TBC (total body conditioning) and Group Cycling at the LRAC since 2003. Brittney is certified as a Personal Trainer through the ACE (American Council on Exercise) and as a group exercise instructor through AFAA (Aerobics and Fitness Association of America).

For a mid-day offering this class has a huge following. There were around 20 in class today. Guess what, I was the only guy in there but I wasn’t ostracized or asked to stand in the corner. Instead everyone was nice to me and took my presence right in stride.

The $25 gift certificate goes to Pam Noonan. Congratulations Pam.

Okay then, I’ve only got 95 classes to go. Next up, noon cycling tomorrow with Carla Branch.