Aerobics Taking The Next Step Growing Number Of Men Teach As Well As Work Out

Grading lumber is Gale McCalmant’s profession.

Aerobics are his obsession.

A decade ago, McCalmant was challenged by a female friend to attend an aerobics class.

“I was a real chicken,” the 43-year-old Bonners Ferry, Idaho, native said. “After I got started, it became addictive. She no longer does aerobics.”

Dan Johnson, a 1984 Coeur d’Alene High School graduate, has danced as long as he can remember.

At age 19, he auditioned for a job as an aerobics instructor. “It was a big deal,” that a male answer the ad, Johnson said.

“Back then, there was no men’s clothing, no men’s workout shoes; I had to teach in socks,” the 29-year-old Gold’s Gym manager said in his Spokane office.

Johnson, a former three-time U.S. male aerobics champion, and McCalmant are aerobics pioneers. Of the estimated 50,000 certified instructors nationwide, 10 to 15 percent are men.

“When I first started aerobics there were a lot more men in the evening classes,” McCalmant said. “Sometimes there were 50 people, and eight to 10 guys. Sometimes there’d be more, especially when the bodybuilders were getting ready for competition.”

The dance-based group exercise industry has seen a wide range of trends since its boom 12 years ago.

“A little on the history of shoes,” said Johnson, who is a Reebok shoe consultant. “They had zero support but made it in 20 different colors.”

Johnson started his own aerobic clothing line in Atlanta, where he completed a degree in exercise science at Georgia State.

Johnson, who has made eight exercise videos, regularly speaks at seminars where instructors gain required continuing education credits in order to maintain certification. Johnson was a television fitness program personality in Atlanta, working for CNN on a question and answer show.

Last November, he returned to the Inland Northwest. He leads classes six days a week.

What makes a good instructor?

“You want someone who’s energetic,” said Johnson. “Someone who’s a motivator. Someone who’s professional and understands it’s a business. Someone with good rhythmic ability - music is the motivator in the classes.”

McCalmant, a longtime music fan, teaches a morning class. Preparation for each 75-minute session begins an hour earlier.

Moves are rehearsed, and music is selected. McCalmant works his step-aerobics class at 126 beats per minute. “You can’t jump into it; you’ve got to pick music that goes up and increases (in beat),” he said.

On goes the portable microphone headset. McCalmant steps the class through routines from the “skater funky,” to the “straddle-stomp,” down down to the “pivot straddle.”

The last 15 minutes were spent body sculpting, taking heart rates and cooling down. “Feet together, inhale, exhale. Give yourself a hug. You guys are doing absolutely great. Thanks for coming,” McCalmant signed off.

“You (teach) for fun,” McCalmant said, “because you like to see people get fit. It’s a way to relax and vent. People say afterwards they feel so much better.”

McCalmant is part of what attracted Barbara Cooley of Coeur d’Alene to the class. He is not the first male instructor she has worked out with in 12 years of aerobics.

“He’s a very upbeat instructor,” Cooley evaluated.

But there is a pro and a con to male instructors, Cooley added.

“The positive is they seem to try hard to make it more interesting. The negative thing is they don’t always cue real well.”

Aerobics instructors teach an average three years.

“It costs more to teach,” Johnson said, adding the average instructing rate is $18 per hour. But instructors are not paid during prep time, for music, clothing or certification.

“(Teaching) is an effort,” Johnson added. “Typically, instructors hold a 9-to-5 job.”

McCalmant agreed. “It doesn’t pay; you cannot make money. You have to enjoy doing it. You have to like people.”