By Susan Shinn
Salisbury Post
If you like your workouts with a little kick to them, you’ll probably like Body Combat.
Body Combat is one of the wildly popular Les Mills group exercise programs. It combines elements of martial arts, kickboxing and calisthenics for a high-intensity workout.
Instructor Marti Moore teaches Body Combat at the Forum in Salisbury. It’s also available at the South Rowan YMCA.
Make no mistake: Body Combat is intense.
(I will not lie: I was on the back row, sucking major wind, but I made it.)
Moore admits that it’s one of the more high-intensity offerings in the Les Mills repertoire.
“It’s very in-your-face and not everybody likes a class like that,” she says.
But she always emphasizes to every class member: Do what you can. She always shows an option, or lower-intensity alternative.
Moore, 41, wanted to teach Body Combat as a personal goal. She also teaches Body Pump at the Y, which is a weightlifting class. She’s taught kickboxing for a number of years.
Les Mills classes have new releases or launches every quarter, with new music and new choreography.
Eight classes are available. The Forum offers Body Combat, Body Pump, Body Flow (yoga), Body Step (step aerobics), Body Jam (hip-hop/Latin dance) and Body Attack (high-energy aerobics).
The Hurley Y has Body Pump, Body Vive (dance/yoga/pilates) and Body Flow.
Such offerings are due to client demand, says Matt Marsh, co-owner of The Forum.
While the vast majority of most group exercise classes are women, Body Pump and Body Combat appeal to men, too.
Vincent Clement has taken Body Combat at the Forum for six months, as well as the other Les Mills classes, and has seen good results.
“Its all about what you put into it,” he says.
Marsh agrees.
“With Les Mills, from a group exercise standpoint, you have consistency and you can see your progress,” he says. “People get excited about it.”
He adds, “A lot of people who move into the area are looking for Les Mills classes, especially if they come from larger cities. We’re growing with the trends. You’ve always got to change.
“This is what the members want. It helps membership and it helps membership retention.
“The enthusiasm breeds excitement, and people want to be a part of that.”
A introduction to Body Pump is available before every class, and Moore shows participants some basic moves before Body Combat as well.
“I just really like the aggressiveness of the class,” Moore says.
Participants are there, she says, to relieve the stress of the day. “Just let it out.”
As an instructor, Moore likes the fact that classes change every three months ó “I don’t get stuck in a routine” ó although she admits it’s a challenge to keep current.
Instructors put in hours preparing for Les Mills releases, Moore says, including watching an instructional DVD, learning the choreography and listening to new music. She studies one track at a time, and listens to the music over and over until she’s memorized all the steps.
“It’s so much harder than I thought it would be,” she says of being a Les Mills instructor, “but it’s worth it in the end.”
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For more information about Body Combat at the Forum, call 704-633-6638.
For more information about Body Combat at the South Rowan YMCA, call 704-857-7011.
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Contact Susan Shinn at 704-797-4289 or sshinn@salisburypost.com.