New Y Group Fitness Class Improves Your Physical Capacity

By Jamie Kaun

Most of us workout in one plane of motion, such as running, cycling, using ellipticals, etc. And while our bodies are benefitting from the exercise, we may not be maximizing our physical capacity.

“If you’re always training in one plane of motion, your fascia is strong in that plane but weak in other planes of motion, which makes you prone to injury,” says Jodi Kennedy, a Dayton YMCA group fitness instructor. 

Several area Ys, including Coffman, Huber Heights and Xenia, recently began offering a class called Conditioning Together, which works your body in all planes of motion and strengthens your fascia by utilizing loaded movement training.

The Y’s class utilizes the ViPR, a long, cylindrical and rigid rubber tube in various weights that are used for loaded movement training. So what is loaded movement training and why is it beneficial?

According to ViPR’s website:

Movement is essential to training healthy bodies. The more we move in dynamic ways using our full body in training programs, the better we feel. Adding weight (load) to movement gives the body a double benefit – we learn to move better and become stronger and fitter at the same time.
When engaging in loaded movement training, every time you move, you are integrating the entire structure and the entire body in every movement you do. Every exercise becomes a core exercise, every exercise becomes a strength exercise, and every exercise becomes an agility exercise, to take into account the movement and energy demands of life and sport. 

The 30-minute ViPR workout has three phases – vitality, performance and reconditioning. The vitality and performance phases improve your strength, stability and cardio fitness through loaded movements. The reconditioning phase brings your heart rate down while improving your coordination, flexibility, and balance. 

“What’s great about this class is that you get a full body workout in only 30 minutes,” Jodi says. “It’s a very “different” class and the moves may feel somewhat awkward at first, but it really is for all fitness levels and abilities.” 

I’ve been participating in a ViPR class fairly regularly since it was added to Coffman’s schedule in January. I’ll admit – I’m still finding some of the moves a bit awkward because they are unlike moves from any other group fitness class that I’ve taken at the Y. It does challenge me differently than other classes – and that’s a good thing given the benefits mentioned above.

If you’re looking for a class that can take your fitness to a different level, check out Conditioning Together. While most classes are only 30 minutes, some ViPR classes, like Jodi’s 9:30 a.m. Wednesday class at Coffman, are followed by 30 additional minutes of core strength training. 

To finding Conditioning Together on the group fitness schedule, visit the Dayton Y’s website and select “schedules” from the main menu. I’ve found the easiest way to view all the classes at a particular location is to click on that location and select the “print schedule” option on the upper right-hand side. Currently, the class is being offered at Coffman, Huber Heights, and Xenia.