Ready to get your fitness groove on? Gyms and fitness studios are welcoming attendees back, in-person—many with enticing enrollment discounts. Before your fitness tone up, need a buzzword tune-up? Susquehanna Valley health and wellness experts break down the latest trends, to help you tackle new exercise challenges and flex your fitness knowledge.
Raising the Barre
Barre (pronounced “bar”) classes provide a low-impact, musically-driven, dance-inspired workout incorporating elements of ballet, yoga, and Pilates.
“Building strength is at the top of the list” of barre benefits, according to Laura Deitch, owner of Pure Barre Mechanicsburg and Pure Barre Lancaster. “Much of that strength building focuses on the core, strengthening the abdominal muscles.”
Increased flexibility and muscle toning are additional barre benefits.
“Many people dismiss barre as being a dance class or a workout exclusive for dancers. That couldn't be further from the truth—you don't have to be Misty Copeland to enjoy the amazing benefits of Barre,” says Deitch. “No dance experience needed!”
Pure Barre Mechanicsburg
6455 Carlisle Pike Building 2, Suite 3, Mechanicsburg | 717-678-9264 | purebarre.com
Pure Barre Lancaster
1500 Gilbert Way, Suite B-111, Lancaster | 717-256-1369 | purebarre.com
CrossFit, Cross-Training
Think about your everyday movements—sitting in a chair or lifting a big bag of dog food. In the CrossFit community, those movements become air squats and deadlifts.
“Basically, CrossFit takes movements we do every day and turns them into a high-intensity strength workout,” says Julia Tolosa, co-owner of Chaka CrossFit. “We learn how to do these movements safely using proper body mechanics leading to increased agility, balance, flexibility, and stamina.”
“The positive psychological benefits have been just as important to me,” says Tolosa, who began CrossFit at 38, without previous athletic experience. “I've never felt more empowered or confident in my life.”
Chaka Crossfit
32 8th St., Suite 11, New Cumberland | 717-710-2497 | chakacrossfit.com
HIIT It Big
High Intensity Interval Training consists of alternate bursts of hard work with active recovery. Think 40 seconds of mountain climbers followed by 20 second of rest or a plank.
“The best part is it’s quick and dirty,” says Ashley Mentzer, founder, Thrive Fit Co. “You’ll burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time and increase your cardiovascular endurance.”
Mentzer cautions HIIT newbies or those with “bad knees” to progress slowly, to build a fitness foundation “before you kick it up a notch.”
Thrive Fit Co
1801 Market St., Suite 105, Camp Hill | thrivefit.co
On the Path, with Pilates
“Pilates can change you from the inside out,” says Marie Cleaves Rothacker, founder of Lancaster’s Move It Studio.
With a focus on breath, flow, balanced muscle development and coordination, Pilates is about strengthening your core. And Pilates perks are for everyone.
“We’ve had clients from all walks of life, including those with chronic illness, those recovering from cancer, those actively aging–each has shared how Pilates has changed their life,” says Cleaves Rothacker. “It sets you on the path to success in whatever you do—injury recovery, sports performance, optimal health—it’s all there waiting for you on your mat.”
Move It Studio
33 N. Market St., #200, Lancaster, PA | 717.925.9970 | moveitstudio.com
“Go with the Flow” Yoga
The word “yoga” means “union” in Sanskrit.
“Yoga is about more than exercise,” says Karen East, manager of House of Yoga, York’s donation-based studio. “Vinyasa Yoga is a style that coordinates the flow of the breath with the flow of the movements.”
The biggest misconception about yoga? “That you have to be flexible or fit,” East says. “Anyone and every body can do yoga.” And while yoga can tone muscles, “what it does on a deeper level—building the mind, body, spirit connection—is really the more beautiful and important aspect of it,” East says.
House of Yoga
19 W. Market St., York | 717-793-2393 | houseofyogayork.com
