Healthy Living • YMCA Health and Fitness
What to expect at Cooper Koo’s free bootcamp class
07 November 2016 - by Nicole Meredith
If you’ve been looking for the right time to start or shake up your fitness routine, now’s your chance: every Wednesday evening until the end of November, the Cooper Koo Y is opening its doors to offer its popular 6:00 pm bootcamp class to anyone, for free.
I dropped by on a recent Wednesday to check out the 45-minute class, and met a group of “regulars” who are there every week, as well as a bunch of first-timers. Everyone was in for a fast-paced sweat session that culminated in a four-part circuit.
To start, everyone got warmed up with a series of gentle moves. Lunges, hip stretches, and light jogging took participants back and forth across the Cooper Koo Y’s huge gym. Once everyone had their heart rate up, they took their places at one of four circuit stations. The first stop: kettlebell squats. With quads burning, this first group moved on to some core-building mountain climbers.
Next up were lunges, made more challenging with hand-held weights. To wrap up the circuit, participants focused on cardio by running back and forth between pylons. After such a tough workout, everyone was happy to stretch out.
The best part about the circuit was the preface it got from YMCA instructor Kyle. He demonstrated every move, gave simple step-by-step instructions that would help even the greenest group fitness participant join in, and offered alternate exercises for those who were sore or not feeling strong enough to do the toughest versions.
But he also let everyone know why they were about to do these particular moves—the practical value these exercises would have in their everyday lives. Everyone was particularly happy to hear there would be no dreaded sit-ups involved. Instead, they learned they’d be swapping them out for the much more efficient and practical mountain climbers, which basically work every major muscle group and test your cardio.
Take advantage of this two-for-one cardio and strengthening workout this Wednesday at 6:00 pm. Turn it into a social outing by bringing your friends: tag them in this Facebook post so you can both sign up for your free pass to try the Cooper Koo Y!
I dropped by on a recent Wednesday to check out the 45-minute class, and met a group of “regulars” who are there every week, as well as a bunch of first-timers. Everyone was in for a fast-paced sweat session that culminated in a four-part circuit.
To start, everyone got warmed up with a series of gentle moves. Lunges, hip stretches, and light jogging took participants back and forth across the Cooper Koo Y’s huge gym. Once everyone had their heart rate up, they took their places at one of four circuit stations. The first stop: kettlebell squats. With quads burning, this first group moved on to some core-building mountain climbers.
Next up were lunges, made more challenging with hand-held weights. To wrap up the circuit, participants focused on cardio by running back and forth between pylons. After such a tough workout, everyone was happy to stretch out.
The best part about the circuit was the preface it got from YMCA instructor Kyle. He demonstrated every move, gave simple step-by-step instructions that would help even the greenest group fitness participant join in, and offered alternate exercises for those who were sore or not feeling strong enough to do the toughest versions.
But he also let everyone know why they were about to do these particular moves—the practical value these exercises would have in their everyday lives. Everyone was particularly happy to hear there would be no dreaded sit-ups involved. Instead, they learned they’d be swapping them out for the much more efficient and practical mountain climbers, which basically work every major muscle group and test your cardio.
Take advantage of this two-for-one cardio and strengthening workout this Wednesday at 6:00 pm. Turn it into a social outing by bringing your friends: tag them in this Facebook post so you can both sign up for your free pass to try the Cooper Koo Y!
