JUST “WHOO!” IT

FITNESS DOESN’T HAVE TO BE BORING. THESE CLASSES PROVE IT

BY Jen Avison Smith

If you find the gym’s squat rack more pain than the gain is worth, explore these 10 fitness forms that free you from conventional exercise with creative movement and a touch of adrenaline.

(Disclosure: The writer has taught classes at Sunnys Pole Fitness & Boutique, and Pole Fitness Studio.)

Nearly every woman has heard this sage advice at least once in her life: Never leave your drink unattended. Though some might mistake this concern as paranoia, the fear of being drugged is grounded in a sobering reality for tens of thousands of women each year: According to the World Population Review, almost 44 percent of American women will be victims of sexual assault at some point in their lives. Nevada holds the dubious distinction of having the fifth-highest rape rate in the nation, and the Nevada Department of Public Safety says the state’s police saw a 93 percent increase in reported rapes between 2010 and 2019.

“The stats are really intense,” says Joy Hoover, the founder of Esoes Cosmetics, a Las Vegas-based makeup brand dedicated to preventing sexual violence. Hoover says her awareness of sexual violence became acute after her father-in-law killed her mother-in-law in 2013. That, combined with