Working out no longer has to be a pain in the butt.
After two years, RecSports is bringing back step for students whose priority is to have fun.
Rec manager Dan Leary said the dance-based cardio class, which started Sunday, will help get people who are intimidated by traditional exercise into a gym.
“It doesn’t even feel like working out, but it’s really effective,” he said.
Leary said the class offers something RecSports has been missing since the previous instructor graduated. Her replacement, Christa Ensalaco, agreed.
“RecSports is about catering to every patron … and what their view of a healthy lifestyle is,” she said. “Maybe running on a treadmill is not what me or you would want to do.”
Ensalaco, a 20-year-old UF family, youth and community sciences sophomore, said she’s proof there are other ways to stay active. She lost about 40 pounds doing step in middle school.
Because the weekly class is being added mid-semester, students interested in signing up need to register for Sunday kickboxing, which was canceled because the instructor was injured.
Classes are structured so students of all experience levels can participate, Ensalaco said.
“If I try out a move and I’m not feeling like they’re catching on … I’m going to modify it to their needs,” she said. “I don’t want them to feel self-defeated.”
Instead, Ensalaco said she wants to create an environment where people can destress.
Melissa Roberts, a 20-year-old UF health science junior, took her first step class Sunday and said she appreciated Ensalaco’s approach.
“It was really fun,” she said. “I loved the music.”
Ensalaco said that’s no coincidence.
She said she spends as much time on song choice as she does choreography because participants step easier to songs they already know.
“It’s like going to a club,” she said.
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 2/17/2014 under the headline "RecSports brings back step classes for students"]
