Creative Ideas That Inspire

Hoopilates is a new Pilates-based workout created by Brooklyn, New York, resident Jen Bleier. The hybrid class combines the Hula-Hoop with Pilates moves. According to the website, “A waist-hooping warm-up is followed by seated and standing Pilates exercises and stretches.” Hula dance intervals keep the heart rate up, and participants also learn hooping tricks.

From Rollerblade^® comes Mobile Yoga, a new form of mind-body exercise that incorporates inline skating. People who attend this class learn how to perform yoga poses while “gliding along” on their skates. According to a news release, Mobile Yoga requires balance and core strength. In addition, “the fluidity of spinning your wheels utilizes long-lost motor skills … while revving your heart rate a lot more than the typical vinyasa class.”

Reebok and Cirque du Soleil^® have collaborated on JUKARI Fit to Fly. This program combines “fluid and imaginative movement” with “fitness expertise to provide … a truly different group exercise experience.” JUKARI Fit to Fly uses trapeze-inspired movements to simulate flying in an hour-long cardio, strength, balance and core training workout.

Equinox clubs offer workouts at an angle with Climb-Max. The class uses the SPRI^® Slanted Riser^™ to “push all limits in an exciting and effective cardio/strength workout.” According to the Equinox online class description, Climb-Max specifically works the posterior chain more than traditional step training.

24 Hour Fitness instructor Anna-Rita “Zena” Sloss took 2009 IDEA World Fitness Convention™ attendees on a tour of the South Pacific islands in Hot Hula. The class uses the sounds of Polynesian drum beats to “awaken your soul and get your hips movin’ and shakin’. Participants can take off their shoes or leave them on, but Sloss suggests going barefoot “to get the true island effect.”

Beam-lates™ combines Pilates principles and exercises with a specially designed pliable, low-grounded beam. Developed by 2009 IDEA Fitness Instructor of the Year June Kahn, this offering uses a 6-inch-wide surface that requires participants to move with “precision and heightened awareness.”

Crunch is betting on nostalgia and a new claim to fame with Fame, the Class, which is inspired by the original film and television series and the new motion picture. The class “combines the unforgettable music, hard work, determination and foot-stomping dance of the pop-culture phenomenon.”