Jazzercise Offers Young Women Place to Get Healthy

Alexis Kelle, 17, and her mom Katie Kelle were looking for something fun to do together. Her mom had been going to Jazzercise classes and encouraged her to give it a try.

"I wasn't sure at first but thought, 'Why not?'" the Memorial High School junior said. "It's definitely something we can both enjoy doing together."

And for Alexis, all of the classes are free for the entire year as she's signed up for GirlForce, an initiative by Jazzercise, Inc. for women ages 16 to 21. The goal, said Brooke Kruckenberg, owner of Newburgh Jazzercise Center, is to support the growth and development of young women by offering free classes to provide a place to get fit, learn healthy habits and find a place they belong in their communities.

There are three Jazzercise Centers in the area — Evansville, Newburgh and Boonville. The program is available at centers nationwide.

Alexis said this summer she plans to encourage her volleyball teammates to take advantage of the program with her.

"The classes are energetic and upbeat," she said. "You can't even tell you are working out because you are having so much fun. But at the end you realize you are sweating and exhausted and had a great workout."

The Newburgh center offers nine varieties of classes with 28 different class times weekly, from as early as 6 a.m. to as late as 5:45 p.m., with weekend classes, as well. The dance fitness classes don't require any previous dance experience or rhythm, Kruckenberg joked.

"All the time people will tell me they have two left feet," she said. "Once they give it a try they realize they have a great time and really enjoy it."

She's owned the studio in Newburgh for about two years but been an instructor for eight and said the classes are a great workout, but for her the exercise is secondary. It is the community and personal connections that come first.

"I've never really looked at it as a workout," she said. "I've looked at it as a fun place to go. The workout is the added bonus."

It is an all-body workout incorporating strength, cardio and stretching for all fitness levels with low-impact modifications given for each class. All equipment is provided by the centers.

Laura Mayes, of Newburgh, has been coming for about four months. She's always been active with running and weightlifting as her normal workout routine but has enjoyed the change of jazzercise.

"Jazzercise is a lot more fun," she said. "You get to dance and do things you don't typically get to do in a workout. And you still get a lot out of it. I wear my FitBit and usually burn around 600 calories, sometimes more, and get in around 5,000 steps just in the hour. And I'm sweating up a storm."

For more information

Jazzercise Newburgh Center

4144 Wyntree Drive, Ste. B, Newburgh

812-480-1572

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