Zumba, yoga, water aerobics, boot camp classes offered free to MC community

This semester, Maryville College is offering free fitness classes for the MC community. The classes will be offered at various times throughout each week. Classes include water aerobics, yoga and Zumba.

The water aerobics class allows for aerobic exercise in shallow water, which will allow participants to exercise without being too strenuous.

The class targets upper and lower body conditioning. The water aerobics class is taught by Loda Rae Wylie every Monday and Wednesday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.  in Cooper Athletic Center. The class provides toning exercises and aerobic workouts, and students can work out at their own fitness levels.

“I went to the wateraerobics class for the first time because I really liked any kind of activities in the water,” MC sophomore Jisoo Kim said. I saw several good friends of mine in the class, and I felt like time flew so fast because I was so excited to do the water aerobics with them. We started off the class with stretching our bodies in the water, and the activities we were doing were not that intense. I would definitely recommend to other students to try this class out. It is a very fun way to stay healthy.”

Another class being offered is yoga. Yoga is a physical, mental and spiritual discipline that originated in India. From beginners to masters of yoga, anyone can participate and practice yoga, which focuses on improving flexibility, increasing strength, enhancing concentration, improving posture and relieving stress.

Yoga classes take place every Tuesday from 5 to 6 p.m. in the Alumni Gym. Students are allowed to bring their own yoga mats, but mats will be provided to students who do not own one.

“When I went to the class for the first time, I was really excited,” said MC student Elizabeth Datskou. “Some people think that yoga is all about stretching and meditating, but it is more than that. You really need to focus on tightening your core and that is when you start to burn your extra calories.”

Maryville College is offering BootCamp class in lieu of TurboKick, which took place until last year. Taught by Tillery Jamerson, a personal fitness coach, BootCamp class features dynamic stretching, a wide variety of interval training (including lifting weights, pushups and sit-ups) and various types of intense explosive routines.

BootCamp class takes place every Wednesday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Alumni Gym.

“I went to Bootcamp class in the first week back from this semester, and I found the class was replaced by kickboxing which I used to go to,” said MC student Lucia Capozzoli. “So, I wanted to try it out. There is average of at least ten students each class and it is really intense but makes you feel good after you work out really hard and push yourself which I really like. For some people, who never worked out before, they are pushing themselves and they get better the next week. Because the class is to make you stronger, we are doing sprint, sit-ups and push-ups. I have noticed with the class that along with other fitness classes I am doing, I’ve gotten a lot stronger this semester and I see the improvement and overall in my appearance.”

Zumba is an exhilarating, easy-to-follow, calorie- burning dance fitness class that anyone can enjoy. The class is taught by dance instructor Sharon Hicks.

Students will be dancing to major musicians such as Pitbull, Flo Rida, Usher, Maroon 5 and Shakira. Zumba classes are taught every Thursday from 5 to 6 p.m. in the Alumni Gym.

“At the beginning of last semester, my friends kept telling me that I had to go to the Zumba class and I try it,” said MC junior Minh Hoang. “I was the only boy, but it was so fun that I was not intimidated at all. I was having fun, laughing and working out to the songs the instructor was playing There are a lot of people, who do not really work out in the class, but they are enjoying it so much and they are doing just fine because we are doing the same dance moves.”

Classes will continue to be offered for free for the duration of the semester.

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