DANIEL TYLER GOODEN

For thousands of years, Yoga has been used in eastern civilizations to strengthen the body and keep it in good health. Only in the last 40 years has regular fitness exercise become part of American culture and even more recently has Yoga become a part of that routine, said Karen Coburn, personal trainer and fitness director at Shannon’s Health and Fitness in LaPlace. Coburn, who has been working in the health and fitness field for the last 20 years, has introduced Stretching and Strengthening, a group fitness class compiled from forms of Yoga and Pilates. Yoga began in India. It is a “physical discipline that consists of postures, used with mind and breath to develop strength and endurance, increase flexibility, improve posture, re-align the body and release stress and tension,” said Coburn. Yoga comes in several different disciplines, some which can be performed vigorously while others can be very gentle and calming. Pilates is a much newer discipline, named after it’s creator Joseph Pilates, born in Germany in 1880. Pilates developed his form of fitness to overcome his own physical disabilities. The form uses controlled movements, exercising both the mind and body to strengthen muscles without building bulk. The form focuses on strengthening the torso to ensure proper posture and reduce the risk of injury. Since the 1940s, Pilates has been used by dancers to improve balance and overall strength and has only recently become popular in wider fitness circles. “The fitness industry is continually trying to find new ways to get new people to participate” as well as keeping regular exercisers from losing interest,” said Coburn. Coburn’s reason for teaching Stretching and Strengthening is a little more personal. “As I’ve gotten older I’ve begun to empathize with our older crowds who are looking to stay healthy. I’m going to be there someday so I want to help them,” said Coburn. Coburn explained that it has been shown that senior citizens, even older than 90, can still build muscle mass. “This totally changes their entire life. I’ve seen my relatives using canes and walkers, stooped over, and they can’t do anything. That scares me,” said Coburn. Though Stretching and Strengthening is a good discipline for all ages, it’s perfect for older exercisers. The two forms involve absolutely zero impact and alleviate possible health concerns related to high-impact exercise such as running. Carolyn Roussel is taking Stretching and Strengthening and has also been exercising regularly for five years. “I started in the water aerobics, and in the winter I do this and absolutely love it,” said Roussel. “Karen is great, and you can see this is a big class and getting bigger and bigger.” Yoga and Pilates style exercise is also excellent for current regular exercisers. In the past “We’ve isolated muscle groups. These styles integrate everything together,” said Coburn. “Men who do 200 presses build their arm strength but don’t increase back strength. Strengthening the whole body greatly decreases the risk of injury.” Now more younger women and men are joining the classes, regular exercisers who normally dismissed group fitness classes. “If we show them that this makes everything, including their normal exercise routines better, they like that,” said Coburn. The Tuesday/Thursday morning Stretching and Strength-ening class has grown so much since it started just a few months ago. The class has had as many as 27 students, said Coburn. A second class will be opened shortly to make the popular exercise routine available to more people. Rachel Heltz, general manager at Shannon’s, said the class is one of the most popular at the health and fitness center. “This is something new in fitness that people are reading more and more about,” said Heltz. “It’s begun to attract a lot of members from the weight room, three of whom left the weight room to join in this morning.” Stretching and Strengthening is stressed as a whole body program which give the exerciser better strength, balance and endurance. Coburn sees the discipline as a strong overall program for both die-hard exercisers and those who look for a low-impact routine. “Any person retired should get into a fitness program now and make it a part of their life,” said V.J. Theriot of LaPlace. Theriot has been staying fit at Shannon’s for five years. “I came in her at 75 going on 95. Now I’m 80 going on 60,” said Theriot.