Class #7 Pilates Thursday 5:45 a.m. (Paige)

Pilates – (puh lah tees) is French for “ooh my aching belly”. Okay, not really but few who have done it would quibble much with that definition.

Actually, this discipline is named after its founder Joseph Pilates. Sickly as a child, Mr. P. dedicated his life to studying and improving his and others physical fitness. He was born in Germany in 1880, moved to England in 1912 and to New York in 1925. Along the way, he developed a method of exercise that focused on breath, postural alignment and strengthening the body’ core muscles. He called his discipline “Contrololgy”.

Joseph Pilates

In New York, Mr. Pilates caught on big with dancers and the performing arts community. At the time of his death in 1967, the Pilates method was best known and practiced most extensively within the dance community. After J.P.’s death some of his students opened studios of their own and the “method” as it’s known now, grew legs.

Sometime in the late ‘80’s, the Pilates method began developing mainstream appeal…eventually making its way into health clubs even here in the hinterlands. The progenitor of Pilates at the LRAC is Barbara Sarantaro who began teaching here in 2000 and fortunately for us, continues to teach here today.

Mr. Pilates taught techniques that can be done on the floor and those which use specialized equipment that he invented. The classes we hold in the studio are the floor version or “mat” classes. We also have a Pilates studio where instructors who are certified to teach using the equipment offer personal training sessions.

There is, btw, a learning curve to the Pilates method. There’s a certain way to breathe and hold the abs in place to get the most benefit from the exercises. There are also standard techniques that are done in each class such as: “the hundred”, “teaser”, “open leg balance”, etc. For this reason, the Club offers an Intro course, which is required (or at least highly recommended) before attending a mat class. But never fear, your intrepid blogger has earned his Pilates stripes, having regularly attended weekly classes for several years, several years ago.

So anyway, I went to a Pilates class this morning. It was real early. My tummy was not completely on board with the rest of the body’s decision to go to this class. It complained. I told it to “take a number”.

Our instructor this morning was Paige Perritt. Paige is an excellent and experienced instructor having taught at all four of our clubs since 2001. Along with Pilates, she also teaches, group cycling, Zumba, TBC, and Power Pump. Paige has a degree from TCU (where, by the way, she was a cheerleader when LaDamian Tomlinson played there) in Fitness Promotion and Management. She also works full time as the Director of Development for Habitat for Humanity of Pulaski County.

Paige Perritt

There was just a small group of us in class today – I’m thinking that other tummies were home resting up – maybe even (gasp) asleep. The tummies that were there worked hard though, you would have been proud of us.

The $25 gift certificate from this morning’s class goes to Ana Selva.

Next up – the Kids Zumba class – mercifully only 30 minutes long. Check in with you after that.

Class #6 NIA Wednesday 6:15 p.m. (Antoinette)

I’ll set the scene this way: 14 girls, one guy – the girls wanna dance. Let’s just say the guy can’t dance a lick (this is all hypothetical you understand). The girls don’t care; don’t even notice the two left feet and arrhythmic gyrations. They’re impressed that he’s even there – ability would be gravy. The guy feels the love and out of nowhere he’s back on beat. Awesome! ------ (It’s possible of course that the girls didn’t even notice “the guy”. They wanted to dance all right, just not with “him”. But this is my blog and I can be delusional if I want).

NIA was sort of like that (the awesome part, not the delusional part). It’s free form dancing with a leader demonstrating carefully choreographed moves to pulsating music. If you can match the teacher – great, if not, that’s cool too. In fact, there’s a lot of encouragement to “make it your own”. In that way, getting lost in the music and the moment is kind of the point.

NIA is unique. There’s really nothing quite like it on our schedule nor is it offered elsewhere in town (as far as I know). It’s also challenging to adequately describe what NIA is all about – like some things that are humorous – you just gotta be there.

NIA is the brainchild of Debbie and Carlos Rosas of Portland OR, who developed this technique back in the ‘80’s. The Rosas’ infused their creation with elements of jazz, ballet, modern dance, martial arts, subtle energy work and great music. It was designed, I believe, to accentuate the joy of movement without being overly concerned about the exact form that movement takes.

Sommers Collins a local artist and skilled dancer introduced NIA to Little Rock. She met my sister Katherine and me in the studio one day in the early ‘90’s and demonstrated a class. Before you know it, we had NIA at the LRAC and it’s stayed here for 18 or so years.

My sister, who had a background in teaching traditional aerobics fell in love with NIA and got certified to teach it. For a while, I used to regularly attend her classes. But that was then. I haven’t gone to a NIA class in years but it’s just as fun as I remember it.

One difference between the early days and now is the lighting. These days only the soft yoga lights are on instead of the brighter fluorescents. The darker ambiance facilitates letting go and reducing inhibition; at least it did for me.

Our instructor last night was the vivacious Antoinette Mims. As you might expect, Antoinette can really dance. She also provides lots of energy, encouragement and joy to the class.

Antoinette Mims

Antoinette received her white belt NIA certification in 2005 and has been teaching at the Club for about 3 years. She’s originally from Austin, Texas – having moved to Little Rock four years ago. She said her goal as a NIA instructor “is to help students develop stronger body awareness, acknowledge that exercise can be fun, and leave feeling better than when they walked into the club”.

The $25 gift certificate winner for this class is Insook Kim.

Okay, that’s six down, a whole bunch to go. Next up, 5:45 a.m. Pilates.

Class #5 Pryme Tyme Sculpt 8 a.m. Wed. (Hannah)

Just looking at the title of this class you suspect that something odd is being communicated. I happen to know that this class was originally designed for seniors (more on that below) and hence the unusual spelling of “prime” and “time”. Exactly how/why the “y” insertion indicates an advancing age I’m not so sure. I guess it just looks olde tymey.

Having now taken the class I can assure you this isn’t for your stereotypical grandma or grandpa. It was sufficiently difficult to elicit the occasional groans from classmates - and myself (btw, mild groaning is a sign of respect in a group ex class whereas the chucking of shoes, weights or water bottles cue the instructor to dial it back a notch).

Before I describe today’s class though, I want to give a little background. The Pryme Tyme class actually has a rich history and is, in fact, the longest running class on our schedule.

A storied instructor named Anne Piazza created this class back in the mid ‘80’s when this place was known as the Westside Tennis Club. As conceived by Anne, the Pryme Tyme class was definitely aimed at and geared for ‘seniors’ (there’s another indeterminate age denotation – I suppose if asked at the time, Anne might have said the target audience was 50 and up but in practice it was predominately 60 plus).

Anne’s Pryme Tymer’s practiced choreographed dance routines. For a while, this group was even booked as the entertainment at various local venues (e.g. nursing homes, shopping malls, etc.). Their most famous routine involved a cane, top hat and tails.

Below is a photo of the Pryme Tymers circa 1992 gathering for their famous monthly celebration of birthdays. (FYI, they are posed in the Club’s cafe, which at that time was a second location for Izzy’s – before that wonderful restaurant moved further west and tripled in size).

Pryme Tymers ca. 1992

Okay, back to the present. Today’s class was more of a traditional body sculpt offering. Students use hand weights and body bars to increase the load as the teacher led us through a variety of squats, lunges, leg raises, ab crunches and the like. Basically every muscle group gets a thorough toning workout. You can self-regulate the intensity of the class by selecting appropriate weight amounts. I opted for the lightest ones that decorum allowed.

Our instructor today was Hannah Pinkston. She is obviously well liked by her students who told me before and after class how wonderful she is. They bragged on the fact that she changes her routines constantly so they never get stale.

Hannah has been teaching group exercise classes since 1994. She began teaching at the LRAC/LRRC in 2000. She is also an ACE certified Personal Trainer and recently completed course work for a Physical Education certification. Along with this class, Hannah teaches Sculpt, Cardio Sculpt and Step and in the past has taught almost everything we offer other than Pilates and Yoga.

There were 12 or so fellow participants in today’s class. For a while I thought I’d be the only fellow again but coming in at the bell was another guy – yea for that. The winner of the $25 gift certificate from this morning is Becky Stoelzing. Becky has been a long time member and supporter of the Club – congrats to her!

That’s five down and one oh five to go – yikes. Next up, the 6:15 NIA class.

Class #4 Water Aerobics Tuesday 9 a.m. (Liz)

I have watched various water aerobics classes from the pool deck for years and years but until today I’d never tried one. Like any new venture or class I was a little nervous. Would the group shun me for taking so long to try a class? Would they laugh at my pitiful bathing suit (actually, my beach volleyball shorts)? Would I be able to manage that noodle thingy?

Like most of life’s nagging worries, I could have saved myself the grief. Everyone was super-nice/kind to me. The main feeling I got from this class is that it’s one big happy family. And, to be accepted as a new family member you basically only need to show up.

This class is amazingly social. I felt like I was joining a group of people who all knew each other really well. At any given time, there were two or three separate but somehow interweaving conversations going on while we paddled, crunched, leg lifted, soccer kicked or did the moguls (you’ll just have to attend class sometime to understand that last sentence).

Our bubbly instructor was Liz Woodruff. Liz gave frequent cues throughout class, constantly changing up the exercises to work just about every part of our bodies. When it was clear that I didn’t know what a term meant someone nearby or Liz would always show me the correct way to do it so I never stayed lost for long.

Liz started teaching water aerobics several years ago after retiring from her job as a hospice social worker to devote more time to raising her growing family. In fact, that family’s growing soon - she’s 29 weeks along in her second pregnancy and plans to keep teaching right up to her due date of May 6. She told me that she loves this class and I don’t doubt it – just like I don’t doubt that her students love her.

As for the exercise value of water aerobics, I would call it sneaky good. Because you are immersed in water you don’t noticeably sweat but I could feel the heat building in my body as we went thru the exercises. The buoyancy of the water makes this low-impact exercise but as any swimmer can tell you, moving limbs through the resistance of water tones everything. At the end of class when I got out of the pool I realized how hard my body had worked. Even now, almost 7 hours after finishing I can still feel a pleasant soreness in my legs and abs.

The main impression I took from this class was how much fun it was. Water aerobics has the feeling of ‘playing’ which is my favorite kind of exercise. I really enjoyed myself and look forward to going back to the other seven water aerobics classes on our weekly schedule.

As for my classmates – well, once again, all women. I know there are a few men who regularly attend water aerobics but none of them made it today. It was just nine lovely ladies and me. The 25-dollar gift certificate for this class goes to Mrs. Margaret Miller.

Class #3 5:10 a.m. Group Cycling – Tuesday (Joe)

There was something about this class that caught my attention when I first looked over our group ex schedule. Could it have been the start time? 5:10 a.m. Five. Ten. A. M. Are you kidding me? Surely nothing starts that early.

Yeah, it does.

It’s only 7:30 a.m. as I write and already several small miracles have occurred today. First of all, my alarm clock didn’t go off (at least I don’t remember it going off). I woke up with a startle reflex at 4:49. Since I live in Hillcrest, typically a 15-minute drive to the Club, my first thought was – well, I better not print my first thought. Let’s just say, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it on time.

The great thing about driving before 5 a.m. is the utter lack of traffic. It’s not that surprising when you think about it, since most people are HAPPILY ASLEEP at that hour. But for those of us rushing to a class, it’s great to have the road to oneself. It’s also helpful to get almost total cooperation from traffic signals, as if they too are pulling for an on-time arrival.

Somehow (and this defies most laws of physics) I pulled up to the Club at 5:04 a.m. Mind you, I wasn’t sleeping in my bike shorts or shoes. Like I said, it was a small miracle. I even had time to go up to the front (I came in the employee entrance) get some water and chit chat with Club openers, Derek and Mitzi – truthfully, I mostly went up there to prove to D/M that I too could get up so dang early.

I walked in the class as the clock changed to 5:10. Ah sweet victory. I was so impressed with my timely arrival that I forgot for a moment that what awaited was a tough 50 minute class of biking. After just a few minutes on the bike – I remembered.

Fortunately, as part of my “normal” regimen, I attend two bike classes a week – so I’m at least a little bit acclimated to this type of workout. In fact, I always love group cycling class – just as soon as its over. It’s a great cardio workout and I invariably push harder in a group workout than I would on my own.

It’s a good thing that I’m so fond of this particular type of class because there are 24 of them on the weekly schedule...just 23 more to go. Yikes.

Today’s teacher was Joe Barnett. Joe is a seasoned cyclist but a relatively new instructor. In fact, this hyper-early morning class is a new addition to the schedule and a time that Joe specifically requested. He also teaches the 5:10 a.m. class on Thursday.

One thing that really makes a bike class fun is the music and Joe has good music. I’m not all that adept at naming artists and songs but I did recognize a few that I really liked – such as Gimme Shelter (Stones) and a Neil Young version of All Along the Watch Tower. There was also some U2 and other uplifting music that I can’t name. We warmed down to Crosby Stills and Nash – Helpless. Sweet.

It's interesting to note how one's perception of time and what's ‘early’ can change in 24 hours. Yesterday, I was overly impressed with myself for making it to a 5:45 a.m. class. Today, some 20-30 minutes into the bike ride I noticed folks in Kris' Power Pump class setting up on the gym floor and I'm thinking - "hah, look at those slackers, dragging in here at 5:40".

One last observation about today’s early morning experience. Driving back home about 6:20, with the eastern sky just beginning to lighten, I had some insight into the appeal that pre-work exercising might offer for those who do it regularly. What I noticed was a simple but exhilarating feeling. Without any coffee, I was wide-awake, my mind clear and calm and my body felt good. (The next test will be to see how I feel about 3 p.m.)

Riding along with me this morning were 8 or 9 other early birds. Unlike my two previous classes, I’m happy to say that there were some men in this class, in fact a few more men than women. The $25 gift certificate goes one of those guys (Jason Smith). Congrats Jason.

Next up, if I get there in time (always in question) is the 9 a.m. water aerobics class taught by Liz. Talk to you then.

Class #2 Flowing Yoga Noon-Monday

Ah yoga! Being a regular and long-time practitioner of this discipline, today’s noon class was well within my comfort zone. It was also a nice peaceful contrast to the martial goings on of this morning’s class (see blog #1).

The noon yoga class is a recent addition to the schedule and grew directly out of our “Intro to Yoga” series. The idea being that members who completed the Intro course needed some ongoing class options to move into. There was a hole in the schedule at noon on M/W and, voila, a new class was born. Perhaps not as dramatic as the birth of a yellow dwarf sun but noteworthy nonetheless.

Speaking of stars, today’s yoga instructor, Mary Turriff, moved to Little Rock a few years ago from southern California where she made her living as an actress in tv, film, theater and commercials. After starting a family, Mary decided to move back home to Little Rock to raise her children and we’re glad she did.

Mary Turriff

Mary has been regularly practicing yoga for almost nine years. This weekend she will complete the year-long intensive teacher training program offered by Matt/Holly Krepps (former owners of Barefoot Yoga Studio). So, while somewhat new to teaching, Mary’s gentle and graceful presence and confident delivery make her a natural yoga teacher.

In today’s class our goal pose was “half moon” which can be a challenging posture but Mary skillfully showed modifications so that all levels could attempt this asana in safety. Nine others, all women, attended this yoga class with me. That makes two classes today where I was the only guy – not that I’m complaining – just reporting the facts.

Okay folks, that’s two down 109 to go. Tomorrow morning, if my alarm clock works, I’ll be attending the 5:10 a.m. (can you believe there’s a class that early?) group cycling class. I plan to follow that up with the 9:00 a.m. water aerobics class.

The winner of the $25 gift certificate in the noon yoga class is Joanne Dunn – way to go Joanne! Last but not least, today was instructor Mary Turriff’s birthday – happy birthday to her!

Class #1 Monday 5:45 a.m. Kickboxing (Kris)

And so it begins. As Lao-Tzu might have said, if only given the opportunity, “a journey of 110 classes begins with a single kick”.

Waking up a full hour before the sun rises, I’ll admit, isn’t my normal cup of tea. In context, punching and kicking indiscriminately for sixty minutes seems as reasonable a response as any to the shock of rousing so early.

I knew that taking a class from Kris Mougeot at the crack of dawn would not be a walk in the park. Kris is, after all, an incredibly well conditioned athlete. She is one of only a handful of people on the planet to have completed the Raid Gauloises, arguably the toughest endurance/adventure race in the world. (Kris was the only woman on an elite team of five who completed the nine-day, 650-mile race across Vietnam a few years ago). The other thing to know about Kris is – she will beam a huge smile the whole time she’s grinding you into the dust.

Kris Mougeot

Kris is the queen of early morning group ex at the LRAC. She teaches a 5:45 a.m.class each day Monday-Friday so I will be seeing her again (and again). But I’ll spread out my K.M. doses a bit so I stay fresh to keep up in her class.

My classmates this morning were twelve or so enthusiastic women who all seemed to move in perfect unison with our smiling teacher. I’m guessing they’ve done this before. The expert cuing from Kris helped a lot and kept me on the right foot and beat somewhat more than half the time (just wait till Zumba to see a really lost bird).

This class is a fine workout and will definitely help hone your upper-cut, jab and roundhouse kick. Pat gives it two boxing gloves up!

Well, that’s one down, 109 to go. Next up – Flowing Yoga at noon with Mary.

(This morning’s $25 LRAC gift card winner is Mary Kay Godwin. Congratulations Mary Kay!).

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Since we are just getting started, I thought it might be in order to explain how/why this whole group exercise quest and blog came about. Following, in no particular order, are the reasons I decided to do this:

1) I’m always looking for ideas for my monthly newsletter article. It had occurred to me on several occasions in the past to do something like this but I always managed (rather easily) to talk myself out of it. Last month, unable to think of another topic to write about, and, swayed by all of the reasons presented below – I decided to go for it.

2) Even though I’ve had 25 years to get through them, I have yet to come close to taking all the classes on our schedule. Over the next ten weeks, I hope to get it done.

3) We have 45 unique and expert instructors and I want to experience each of them teaching.

4) It’s a great way to meet a lot of members and share an exercise experience.

5) I’m taking to heart the adage – “do something every day that scares you”. This project should fill the prescription for about ten weeks.

6) One of my main reasons for rejecting this idea in the past was that I didn’t have the time for it. It occurred to me that attending group ex classes was as much my job as anything else – it was just a matter of re-framing what I view as my daily “work”.

7) Related to #6, I knew that doing this would seriously disrupt my habitual way of living. While comfortable, all those habits can be a sort of prison. Doing something new and different is enlivening while also a little scary.

8) The blog is a way to stick the Club’s (and my) toe into the internet’s social networking pool of possibilities….perhaps by the end of this, we’ll know if that’s a good idea or not.

9) The purpose of the blog is to give a light hearted look at what my experience is in each class. Since most of the classes will be new to me - it will be akin to a member attending a class for the first time. I'll do my best to describe, good and bad, what it's like being in a class for the first time. My hope is that someone reading the blog will see that trying a new class isn't that scary and maybe people will follow my lead and try something new.

10) One self-serving motive is to get more members e-mail addresses (via the prize drawing contest). We’ve found that building a large e-mail list is a great way to communicate to the membership.

11) I figured it would be a pretty good fitness challenge. Frankly, I’m a little worried about my low back holding up. The other concern is the possibility that I wind up looking like Christian Bale at the end of The Machinist….therefore I plan to eat a lot.

12) One of the things I’ve always liked about the Club atmosphere is the aspect of “play”. I think/hope this will be a lot of fun and that’s how I plan to approach it.