In a studio with natural wood flooring and house plants cozying up to windows, hip-hop music blares from a sound system. There are no bright lights, mirrors or men in sight.
An instructor encourages students to find something to do with their hands as they circle their hips seductively. She also encourages students to run their fingers through their hair or touch themselves.
Workout fanatics, you are not at the Recreation and Physical Activity Center anymore.
Welcome to the cardio striptease class at Fusion Fitness and Wellness in Westerville. Debbie Hanchin teaches the B.O.D.Y. Goddess series, which she said stands for “Body-confident, Outgoing, Defined You.”
With 15 years experience and certifications by the American Council on Exercise, she developed the class series while teaching in Philadelphia. She began teaching the classes at Fusion a year ago.
Hanchin said the Goddess classes are “a way to come in and be with other women. It’s kind of like a girls’ night out in the middle of the week.”
The classes are based on dance moves strippers perform on stage. Floor work, chair dancing and phantom pole dancing are all included in the Goddess series. Hanchin created the classes on the basis of Pilates moves. Pilates targets core strength including the abdominal muscles and lower back.
Do not worry, clothes stay on for class.
“I always say that they can bring a layer if they would like to peel it off during class. But that’s up to them,” Hanchin said. “Whatever they are comfortable with.”
Hanchin said her class is an alternative to the traditional atmosphere of the gym.
“What this offers for women is a way to not feel intimidated going into a class and not seeing a bunch of skinny little women jumping up and down or going into a gym where you see women pumping iron,” she said.
At the beginning of class, Hanchin likes to explain the moves to beginners so they know what to expect. She wants women to feel comfortable in the environment, so she turns off the lights at the beginning of class.
Hanchin said with the lights off “women feel more comfortable to be able to move freely. They don’t feel like someone is looking at them. It creates a mood where you can get into yourself and not feel like you’re out in the open.”
For the first class experience Hanchin recommends wearing standard workout clothing and gym shoes. Knee pads are also recommended for those with sensitive knees.
Hanchin said her beginner class, B.O.D.Y. Goddess I, focuses on working the core, understanding your alignment and strengthening yourself. This class works to build a comfort level and the moves are based on dancing with some floor work on the knees and all fours.
Laurel Draudt, an academic adviser of the College of Pharmacy at the Ohio State, took three classes and said, “It’s more fun than walking on a treadmill. It has a diversity to it. You’re doing so many different moves: exercising and dancing.”
With so many different moves there are some challenges involved. If there is a special need or issue, such as weak knees, Hanchin can tailor the class to the student and offer modifications to make her more comfortable.
After attending at least three of the beginner classes, students graduate to the Goddess II class, where women work up to wearing heels instead of gym shoes for class.
Hanchin said Goddess I builds “up to the ability to be able to wear those shoes and be able to work on the chairs. Working on the chairs you work on some upper body strength, you work on more leg strength and you really work on the core. Then from there you graduate to the pole because the pole requires a lot of upper body strength and a strong core.”
Hanchin has very strict rules regarding the progression from gym shoes to heels. The heels must have an ankle strap, have a heel no taller than four inches and must have a platform. With the platform height, the heels are really no higher than two and a half inches, Hanchin said.
For the first two weeks the women must practice their moves at home while wearing their shoes. When they finally wear them to class they only wear the heels for short segments of class then switch back to gym shoes until they are comfortable enough to wear the heels for a whole hour class.
In the Goddess II class, Sarah Macala, a junior in circulation technology, said “You work muscles you don’t think you have.”
Hanchin said not only are students working neglected muscles, but the classes also build students’ confidence.
“We’re not trying to change bodies. We’re not trying to reshape. We’re not trying to do anything but feel good about ourselves,” Hanchin said. “I say that we are sexy and we should be comfortable and confident in that.”
Hanchin said she wants her students to “accept and embrace who we are and that spills over into everything else into our lives. It makes a huge difference, not just in the studio but everywhere else.”
Through her teaching, Hanchin tries to emphasize that feeling good about yourself means loving yourself for who you are right now.
“You don’t have to be 100 pounds and be ready for a magazine cover to be sexy,” she said. “Everyone is different. It’s a way for women to celebrate their bodies and what they were given and being healthy. It’s a great way to workout and create that energy within yourself.”
Macala agrees with Hanchin’s philosophy.
“You get a workout and feel sexy at the same time,” she said. “You leave and you feel great. I think every girl should try it because it’s a real confidence booster.”
Hanchin said she has many students tell her they have taken their moves home to show their husbands and boyfriends, or that they went to Kroger after class, all sweaty and in their baggy sweat pants, but were completely confident that they looked sexy.
Students also e-mail her to thank her for helping them feel sexy in their own skin when they never thought of themselves in that way.
A first-time student in Goddess I, Gretchen Durthaler, an OSU alumna and administrative assistant, said she likes the alternative workout.
“It allows you to be creative and it’s not monotonous. You feel sexy. You feel like a woman,” said Durthaler.
For more information about Goddess classes visit fusionfitnessandwellness.com.
Meg Greene can be reached at [email protected].
