Party in Pink Zumbathon, Friday, Oct. 15, 3:30-7:30 p.m., $10 donation; Les Mills “Attack on Breast Cancer” Body Combat, Sat. Oct. 16, 9-10 p.m., $5 donation. Odyssey Fitness Center (401 Coal St., Wilkes-Barre). Info: 570.829.2661, www.odysseyfitnesscenter.com
Many people are aware that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Numerous charity events are held, and action is taken to alert the public about this horrific disease. One local resident, Brian Babonis, took things to the next level by organizing, in conjunction with Odyssey Fitness in Wilkes-Barre, a two-day affair benefiting the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
On Friday, Oct. 15, a four-hour Zumbathon will be held for a $10 donation. Following on Saturday will be the Les Mills “Attack on Breast Cancer” Body Combat class for a $5 donation.
Zumba is a trendy new cardio workout. It combines different Latin and other international music with dance moves in order to make the exercise process more fun and enjoyable.
Babonis is a long-time group fitness instructor at Odyssey Fitness. When Zumba was new and upcoming, Odyssey asked him if he would be interested in becoming certified.
“I needed my new credit to continue teaching class, and they asked about Zumba,” Babonis said in a recent phone interview. “To be honest, I didn’t think it would really take off. Next thing you know, I’m teaching in front of 60 people in a packed class room.”
Babonis often teaches Zumba class weekly and is an enormous fan of the popular workout routine after instructing it for two years. Babonis’ mother is currently going through treatment for cancer. He decided to take a hobby he loves and have it help benefit a person he loves.
After gaining support for Zumba itself, Babonis started planning the event. All Zumba instructors were invited to attend. He has done a few previous events benefiting breast cancer, such as a walk in Kirby Park and a Brave-heart camp where he taught Zumba for two hours for cancer survivors, but this event is one a kind.
The Party in Pink will have a total of six different instructors.
“(Zumba) is a party,” Babonis said. “Mainly, it just gets people moving. It’s not meant to be physically hardcore challenging. It is meant to party, and when people come to this party, they have fun, burn calories and feel good about themselves. Whether they’re young, old, male or female, they come to class apprehensive. Then, after an hour they all say ‘Wow, I never thought I could move like that, I feel so good about myself.’”
Babonis said the calisthenics do more than keep you in shape and active; they help take away stress and help you forget about any little problem going on in life.
“People forget about the bad day they have or the fight they just had with someone,” said Babonis. “The whole thing is just to get people motivated and to have fun. Teenagers to 80-year-old women take my class, and no matter the age or body size, everyone has fun and enjoys it.”
On the other end, a Saturday morning Body Combat class will be offered. Les Mills Body Combat is a high-energy cardio workout. Set to powerful and driving music, the energetic program incorporates the martial arts karate, boxing, taekwondo, tai chi and muay thai. You frequently punch, kick and kata (choreographed moves) your way through the workout.
One Body Combat instructor, Dave Sladin, described the rising new exercise as “intense kick boxing” and said after he saw Body Combat for the first time, he had to bring it to the area.
“They had lights, fog and a stage,” Sladin explained. “It was intense, but it was a lot of fun.”
Sladin will be one of the regular instructors for the class at Odyssey Fitness after the launch on Saturday along with Allyson Kacmarski. The two currently teach kickboxing at the gym, but will be upgrading their class to Body Combat.
The 2-day event is appropriate for people who can no longer stay active outside with the changing weather but still want to keep moving. For most, it’s a fun and exciting way to work out without running for hours on a treadmill or trying to stick with bland lifting routines.
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