The Y to take healthy habits outside
Published 12:19 am Friday, September 3, 2010
By JESSICA SIEFF
Niles Daily Star
Instructors with the Niles-Buchanan Y will take their fitness philosophies outdoors once again when the second Day in the Park event commences Saturday, Sept. 11.
The event is free to the community, will run from 8 a.m. to noon and offer up prizes and raffles for the winning as well.
“We’re adding a couple of new classes,” said Lacey Wiemuth-Peters, an instructor with the Y who kicked off the annual event last year at Riverfront Park.
The general premise is the same: between the hours of 8 a.m. and noon, instructors with the Y will be out at the park leading a variety of exercise classes back to back — “free to the community for youth and adults,” Wiemuth-Peters said.
Those classes include Zumba, kickboxing, hip-hop and Ab Blast as well Aumba Atomic and Fit Kids.
Yoga will also be held just off the riverbank for a relaxing experience, Wiemuth-Peters said.
The instructor estimated about 100 people attended last year’s event and she is hoping attendance increases this year.
“We’re just trying to promote healthy living and fitness,” she said.
In addition, the event will also recognize the terrorist attacks that took place in New York City, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C. on Sept. 11, 2001.
“It’s in honor of Sept. 11,” Wiemuth-Peters said. Staff will be wearing red, white and blue, and participant shirts — which will be for sale — will be decorated with a picture of the World Trade Center Twin Towers and the American flag.
Wiemuth-Peters said she is also hoping to have a moment of silence in “remembrance of people that we’ve lost on 9/11.”
With a workout early in the morning, the instructor said participants could see the benefit of more energy throughout the day and a higher metabolism to help in digesting food “a little faster” throughout the day.
The event is perfect for anyone planning on spending the afternoon watching the highly anticipated college football match-up between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the University of Michigan Wolverines.
“There’s no sign up, no registration. All you do is show up,” Wiemuth-Peters said.
Day in the Park will also be a chance for some to get a sneak peak at new Y classes including one Wiemuth-Peters calls “Girly Girl Fitness.”
For more information on Day in the Park, contact either Amy McKean, Wiemuth-Peters or Michelle Holloway at the Niles-Buchanan Y, 683-1552.