Aerobics Take A New Step Mid-Day Aerobics Class Has Become A Big Draw For More And More Men

Recess is taking on its own definition on the aerobic studio’s hardwood floor at the downtown Spokane Sta-Fit Racquet and Health Club. Recess, the term instructor Becky Jones affectionately uses when describing her mid-day class that attracts a pack of men, has become as deserted as an elementary school playground in the dead of summer.

Hot weather, summer vacations and easier access to outdoor exercising has forced the aerobic faithful to flee from their usual indoor routine, for now.

“They’ll be back,” said Jones, who instructs 15 aerobic classes a week.

And when they return, so will the rowdiness that has become part of the gym’s mid-day madness.

Jones, who began as a ballet dancer and parlayed it into a part-time aerobic instructor job at Sta-Fit nearly eight years ago, can count on 23 men to regularly attend her classes. The men’s professions range from real estate agents to attorneys and journalists.

However, their one common bond is they are all Becky’s boys, and proudly displayed their devotion to the club earlier this year when they all marched into class wearing “Becky’s Boyz” T-shirts.

“They feed off each other. And they like to congregate in one area,” said Jones, whose classes can draw as many as 40 participants. “It can get rowdy in here. … sometimes it sucks the life out of me.”

Although aerobics still is a female-dominated activity - 90 percent of the participants are women - the influx of men has forced instructors to rework their routines. Jones, who turned 35 earlier this month, is in step with the times.

Her step aerobics classes, where participants use a low platform to step on and off, continue to be called just that. There’s nothing intimidating in the word “step.”

But she refers to dance aerobics class as floor aerobics.

“Men don’t like the sound of the word ‘dance,”’ said Jones. “But that could be my own misinterpretation.”

However, most men certainly don’t like to be told to do a chasse saute ballet move. Instead, said Jones, she instructs the participants to slide, and follow with a basketball move - a quick dribble and a jumpshot. Different reaction, same maneuver.

“Men don’t care if they’re technically perfect,” Jones said. “They just seem to play with it. They could care less.”

Mike Hendryx, a 36-year-old associate professor at WSU’s Spokane’s branch, serves as evidence. Hendryx is one of a few who hasn’t taken the summer off. He recently was found sliding and jumping to one of Jones’ aerobic jingles blaring from a boom box.

“There usually are some characters in this class,” said Hendryx, who has passed on the spandex in favor of the shorts and worn T-shirt look. “They like to make jokes and comments during class. They mess up the tempo on purpose.” And the men love to be vocal, added Jones.

“They love the monster noises. When I tell them to give me some muscle, they yell ‘Muscle!”’

Jones said she also incorporates karate moves in both step and floor classes.

“They also love to let out the kiai (yell),” she said. For these reasons, recess, when it returns from its summer hiatus, hasn’t been this exciting since the third grade.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 photos