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New PiYo community class strengthens body and mind

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Photo by Kyle Bursaw

Instructor Heidi McClain contorts, leading her her Pilates and Yoga class, PiYo for short, at the Janesville Senior Center.

Photo

Photo by Kyle Bursaw

Mary Beckard, left, and Shannon Lawrence bend and stretch their way through part of a Pilates Yoga class at the Janesville Senior Center.

Photo

Photo by Kyle Bursaw

Participants in a Pilates and Yoga class, PiYo for short, perform leg lifts at the Janesville Senior Center.

JANESVILLE — Kit Allen leaves her PiYo sessions feeling better.

"I felt great physically and mentally and very revived," she said after participating in her first two 45-minute classes.

PiYo is a new fitness class that started earlier this month at the Janesville Senior Center.

Allen, 53, of Janesville thought it would be good for her. She was right.

"This is good to be doing and keeps your body healthy," she said.

Instructor Heidi McLain describes PiYo as a fusion of Pilates and yoga.

"It's a mind/body class that blends different elements from several areas like ballet. It's great for strengthening your core and balance and improves your posture. Basically, you're using your own body weight to build strength."

But it's more than just exercise, she said.

"It grounds you if you've had a bad day. You will feel a little less tension afterward and just feel better," she said.

All exercise gives a person an endorphin rush after the workout, but PiYo, she said, "tends to bring you down and ground you mentally in a good way. It's like you take a deep breath, and it clears all that muck out."

McLain approached the senior center because she and five other FitPro instructors were looking for space to offer their fitness classes—PiYo and Zumba.

Janet McLean, senior center supervisor, and Pat Tobin, recreation programmer, are glad she did.

"This is good," McLean said.

Tobin agreed: "It's brought a lot of people here and to this community center."

Nearly 300 people participated in the first six classes, they said.

Although PiYo classes have been offered elsewhere in Janesville before, the senior center sessions are open to the public, and advance registration and membership are not required. Participants pay $3 for each session.

"The price is right, extremely reasonable. You show up and pay," Allen said.

Her Thursday night exercise mate, Theresa Biele, 59, of Edgerton agreed: "You just pay as you go."

Shannon Lawrence, 31, of Milton, said she "loves the relaxing part of PiYo."

The appeal for Mary Beckard, 40, of Fort Atkinson is "meeting new people and being around other women."

But she loves not being locked into a membership and not feeling guilty if she can't make it to class.

"You can come when you want, get some exercise and meet new people."

PiYo classes continue on an ongoing basis, Tobin said.

All you need to get started is a yoga mat and some comfortable clothes.

"We recommend no footwear so you can balance better," McLain said. "If you have shoes on, your center of gravity changes."