Funk Aerobics

I joined a health club a few weeks ago and tentatively began trying out the various machines they had. Nothing seemed particularly new or startling to me--with the exception, perhaps, of the "Gravitron," a torture device cum hydraulic contraption that inverts your center of gravity. And since spending an hour with an aspiring model in a thong is not my idea of fun, I certainly was not interested in your basic high impact aerobics. Let's face it, my Flashdance days are over.

It was only when my sister coerced me into going to this "great class" she had taken that my outlook changed. Unsure and uncertain, I stumbled into "Warning! Hot Ice." Well, curiosity cured the cat this time. A long-time victim of step and slide boredom, I sensed a world opening to me as the music boomed into the studio and silenced the drone of Stairmasters. Warming up to Salt 'n' Pepa, the instructor told us to get ready to move.

Looking around, I was not convinced that this motley crew of professionals, students and mothers had it in them to dance with this woman. Topping us all in height, her body was a pillar of groove. "This is a funk class, so I want to see you all go crazy. You do what your body wants, but you better do something," she demanded, making herself clearly heard over the bass. Well, she certainly did something with hers. And, amazingly, so did all of us, following the instructor through the pivots, jumps and pelvic thrusts that she incorporated into her set. Everyone jams in her own way, but old timers and novices alike found a place on that dance floor to bust a move. Paralegals and grad students shook their groove thing and put Janet Jackson to shame. Lady Miss Kier says that groove is in the heart, and she surely is right.

When asked "Why funk," Kim Walker, the instructor explained: "When we got interested in aerobics years ago, it was an opportunity for women to get together and motivate. Since then, it has become extremely athletic and less like dance. Funk sets a relaxed environment where people can dance around and have a good time." Watching her dance, however, is the only explanation you need.

Funk aerobics is a relatively new development in the mega-bucks exercise industry. On paper, it could be described as a multimovement free-style cardiovascular workout in which instructors use the latest hiphop dance movements as their steps, which they build into different combinations. This description, added to the fact that funk aerobics surfaced in trendy New York and L.A. health clubs, makes it sound like fat burning for the stars. As the converted know--and addictions usually result form the first hit--it's authentically fun exercise and a liberating experience.

So if you want to get or keep yourself in shape, get out of the MAC and shake your booty. Besides the cardiovascular side of it, funk aerobics has real possibilities for improving your club image. Even if you are no Michael Jackson (and let's hope you're not), there is funk inside of you waiting to be unleashed. So get up off of that thing and do it.