SHAKE UP YOUR FITNESS ROUTINE

BREAK UP YOUR USUAL WORKOUTS WITH JAZZERCISE, SWIMMING OR YOGA

By Melissa Rubalcaba Riske

Photo provided by Denise Espinosa

While working and juggling her role as the mother of small children, Michelle Berls found herself in a fitness rut. That’s when a friend invited her to join her at a Jazzercise class.

“I always enjoyed aerobics but when I went to one class I was hooked,” Berls says. Jazzercise is a full-body workout set to the latest top 40 tunes. Berls started classes in 1994 in St. Charles and would go from participant to instructor to franchise owner, launching Jazzercise Geneva at Strikers Fox Valley. Most days her attendees join her for an after-work session, dancing off the day’s frustrations and celebrating achievements in the different Jazzercise formats that offer varying combinations of cardio and strength straining. Each routine can be modified to incorporate high or low intensity. Berls says her classes include participants in their 20s through their 70s. Last year she began livestreaming classes and was surprised to see it was a popular option. She says she’ll continue to use it even as participants return to in-person classes.

“A member of our class recently joined

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us through the livestream while she was traveling in South Carolina,” Berls says. So often in busy lives, it’s easy to neglect oneself — and yet, taking that first step to try something new can lead to a series of small steps that add up to weight loss and improved mental and physical health. “I started off slow just trying to work off the baby weight and then I started going to more classes, then I started walking more and soon I lost 25 pounds and I kept it off,” Berls says. “The more you move the more you want to move.”  SWIMMING Another option to get moving is to take the workout to the water. From water aerobics to swimming laps, a pool workout is a great way to build cardio strength, especially when joint pain begins to interfere with exercises.

“My father had to stop using his bike, but at 75 he still swims,” says Monika Allabaugh. She manages British Swim School of DuPage-Kane, which rents pool space in local facilities for its swim classes. Allabaugh says it’s not uncommon to have adults register for classes, whether it’s to improve swimming skills for a triathlon, master snorkeling skills for a trip or learn the basics for health and safety. “My oldest student was 84 and she said it was something she always wanted to do, learning to swim. She took lessons twice a week and in six months she was swimming,” Allabaugh says. With small classes, typically three adults per class, instructors are able to provide the attention each individual needs to achieve their goals, she says. Swimming is beneficial to the body’s metabolism and cardiovascular system, and allows the swimmer to build strength, flexibility and endurance, explains Karen Osswald, a swim instructor at Delnor Health & Fitness Center. She and the other instructors at the Geneva facility provide lessons to adults, using specialized techniques for those who have an injury or disability. “At Delnor there is genuine poolside happiness and a comforting camaraderie because there is such a great range of abilities and goals,” Osswald says.

 YOGA It’s often said the first step is the biggest, and that’s why Denise Espinosa takes special care each time a new person steps through the studio doors at Soma Studio in Batavia. She and her team of instructors have worked hard to build the good vibe at her yoga studio, a place where there’s no intimidation and a class for all levels.

“Faces and places hold energy and our studio has a certain magical energy that is tangible,” Espinosa says, adding students won’t feel pressure to reach advanced poses such as a headstand, but they will find a place that is inclusive where first-timers feel welcomed.

“Our objective is to offer the best elevated and personal experience to each class and each individual, whether it's their first or 100th class and whether there is one or 20 people in the class,” Espinosa says. She and her husband, Alain, opened their first yoga studio on River Street in 2019 and earlier this year moved to the former dance studio above Six + Cypress Boutique on Wilson Street. She is always seeking new ways to bring yoga to people, from outdoor classes on Fridays to restorative and prenatal classes as well as yoga trapeze and sound healing meditations, proving there are different styles to meet everyone’s needs. There are classes to help participants feel restored and relaxed or engage in a workout. Consider participating in curvy yoga, designed to promote self-love and body positivity for all body types. “The culture we try to foster is that of inclusion and acceptance while attempting to dissolve the stereotypical yoga vibe of intimidation, which deters people from wanting to join a yoga class for fear of not fitting in,” Espinosa says.

The more you move the more you want to move.

- MICHELLE BERLS