Spring Health Fair offers new experiences
Liz Nicholas’ black tennis shoes stomped and squeaked on the terracotta-colored tile as she led the class of four in the blend of aerobics, Tae Bo and Pilates known as Jazzercise.
She stood in the front of the hollow conference room. The tables and chairs that normally filled the room were pushed and stacked in the back.
Nicholas’ feet were joined by eight others’, all dancing and bouncing as Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild� blared out of a little boom box and echoed off of the brick walls.
Jazzercise was one of three new exercise sessions featured at the annual Spring Health Fair held at UMD on Wednesday. The three exercise sessions were joined by an expo consisting of information booths set up by health-oriented organizations.
“Our goal is to give people bits and pieces of information,� said Spring Health Fair coordinator Shelley DeCaigny. “If we can get people to walk away educated, we have done our job.�
The Purpose of Jazzercise is to improve total fitness, gradually conditioning the body. A normal session is one hour long.
“You go from ground zero to your top aerobic level, and then back down,� said Nicholas. “It’s a well developed, fun fitness program.�
Nicholas is a short, bubbly woman with a blond ponytail that bobbed behind her head as she shouted the Jazzercise routine to the students above the loud and rhythmic music—a big part of the workout.
“We use a combination of all good music, mostly current stuff,� said Nicholas.
Jazzercise and the other two exercise sessions offered at the fair were meant to give students an opportunity to participate in something they may not have seen or tried before.
“We want to get people to try something new,� said DeCaigny. “These are all things that can be done on campus or around Duluth.�
Jazzercise offers classes to the people of Duluth during the week, but is not offered on campus.