Fit to be Tried
Challenge the status quo with these new workout routines.
Get Shipshape
Staying dry could be as challeging as a paddleboard workout itself, a new fitness craze. Paddleboard Orlando conducts “yoga on water” (above) and “workout on water” classes at a variety of locations in Orlando. The former routine incorporates classic yoga poses on a paddleboard, which serves as a floating yoga mat, while the latter combines cardio, balance and strength-training exercises, with the board adding an extra dimension of balance. Classes are $25 each ($15 if you have your own paddleboard); 407-592-3489; paddleboardorlando.com
Change Is Good for You
At CrossFit Kings Point, there’s no single specialty or signature exercise routine, so there’s little risk of getting bored. Here, fitness is tackled through a broad-based training program that includes weightlifting, power lifting, strength training, gymnastics, endurance, speed, agility, plyometrics (track and field-based “jump training” [below] first developed in Eastern Europe), flexibility, coordination and balance. Monthly rates range from $104 for two sessions per week to $175 for unlimited sessions. 7075 Kingspointe Parkway, Suite 16, Orlando; 407-286-2671; crossfitkingspoint.com
Home Improvement
For the ultimate at-home workout, there’s the ProSpot Fitness Fusion HG6 Home Gym (above). Flexible and adjustable enough to suit any fitness level, it’s even wheelchair accessible. The HG6 provides a gym-quality workout with more than 50 exercises using weights and resistance. List price is $4,999, but Busy Body Gyms to Go at the Shoppes at Millenia has it on sale for $3,499. 407-370-2558; gymstogo.com
Raise the Barre
There are plenty of dance-exercise programs that can get you in shape, but did you ever imagine a ballet-themed routine being one of them? Just opened in May, barre54 is the area’s first fitness studio with workouts based on the ballet barre, that waist-high instrument of torture anyone who took ballet as a child remembers all too well. Fifty-four-minute (hence, the 54 in the name) workout routines incorporate yoga and pilates movements and techniques in a muscle-sculpting mix of isometric exercises and orthopedic stretches, all timed to high-energy music. Prices range from $23 for a single class to $225 for a month of unlimited classes. 444 W. New England Ave., Suite 101, Winter Park; 407-622-7014; barre54.com
Laugh it off
Seriously—this workout routine shouldn’t hurt a bit. Laughter Yoga is based on the premise that laughter really is the best medicine. Laughter—even “fake” laughter—does yield psychological and physiological health benefits, and combining it with yoga has become a bona fide fitness regimen. Orlando’s Laughter Yoga fitness club meets every Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the City of Orlando Mayor William Beardall Senior Center and Monday evenings from 6:30 to 7:30 at the Orange Tree Recreation Center in Orlando. Classes are free and open to all ages. For a fee, the founder, Pat Conklin (above), also provides “Mobile Laughter Yoga”—she’ll come to you to conduct a class. 407-616-5381; laughteryogaorlando.com
Hell’s Bells
The centerpiece of the Orlando Kettlebells FitCamp is that handled hellion of fitness. the kettlebell. Purportedly invented by 18th-century Russian soldiers who attached a handle to a cannonball, kettlebell workouts use
multiple muscle groups (unlike the muscle-isolating weights and machines) to burn fat and build muscle while improving flexibility and cardiovascular health. RKC (Russian Kettlebell Challenge) certified trainer Tim Schuman (left) takes his kettlebell campers through a grueling (he swears it’s fun) routine at 6 p.m. each Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at Shadow Bay Park in Orlando. The cost is $179 a month. 407-325-9843; orlandokettlebells.com
