By Mike Donahue
Moapa Valley Progress
With Thanksgiving already a week gone, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) say many Americans are already well on their way to this holiday season’s annual weight gain.
And while NIH statistics reveal the gain is usually only about a pound or two for the average person, it’s weight that a lot of people will carry to next year when another pound will be added, and then the next year and another pound, etc. Incredibly, many experts believe this pound or so added every holiday season eventually translates into the midlife spread most Americans dread in their future.
But it doesn’t have to be so. While what you eat plays a big role in those extra pounds, using exercise to work off that unwanted holiday weight is just as important.
In addition to just getting out to walk or run, Moapa Valley residents have a couple of group alternatives to tackle those unwanted pounds.
Zumba is one of the newest and quickest ways to fight the bulge. A dance-fitness program, Zumba has more than 12 million people of all shapes, sizes and ages taking weekly classes in over 110,000 locations across more than 125 countries.
Zumba instructors use music including hip-hop, salsa, meringue, reggaeton and cumbia, among others, to lead a group in a dance-exercise routine that can burn up to 600 calories an hour.
There are three different scheduled Zumba classes in Moapa Valley.
Wendy Jensen, 30, has been leading an upbeat class of Zumba exercisers since being certified in Las Vegas more than a year ago.
She conducts her class in a cavernous building on Bader Street west of the Overton Airport every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Her group usually includes between six and 15 women.
Most, like Lewis, are moms, who participate in order to drop a pound or two and increase their energy level.
Thirty-four-year-old Tennille Sawyer said she used to exercise at home with an extreme video workout.
“This is much better,” she said of the class. “It’s more motivating and it’s fun to be with the other women. We’ve kind of made a little group. When I first started coming I couldn’t finish the routine, but my endurance has really improved.”
Local sisters-in-law Annie and Tara Leavitt have combined forces to offer Moapa Valley residents some very special exercise opportunities in the Old Overton Gym adjacent to Mack Lyon Middle School.
Annie, 30, who was certified to teach in 2010, teaches a Zumba class from 8-9 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursday, while Tara, 27, teaches a Pilates class.
Pilates is an exercise form that emphasizes the balanced development of the body through core strength, flexibility and awareness in order to support efficient, graceful movement.
“My class helps participants find their body’s center, build strength and increase the range of motion while improving posture and overall toning,” Tara said. “The results are outstanding.”
She teaches three classes of Pilates using yoga-style mats, large exercise balls, resistance bands and hand weights. The classes are Mondays from 9:30-10:30 a.m., Wednesdays from 8-9 p.m. and Saturdays from 8:30-9:30 a.m.
Tara said adding strength training to the usual Pilates workout makes for a terrific exercise routine, especially when combined with Zumba.
Annie explained that participating in Zumba, whether as a teacher or student was “the first exercise class I ever went to and did not look at the clock.”
“When you exercise in a group it’s a positive experience,” she said. “You feed off each other’s energy.”
Annie’s formal ballet training is very evident when she teaches and her students seemed to appreciate her technique.
“Tara and I offer a (combined) class you could get in a big city,” Annie said.
Annie added that many of the women who take her Zumba class as a cardio workout also attend Tara’s classes for strength training.
Angela Leavitt (no relation) said she believes attending both classes is an excellent opportunity for local residents to get much needed exercise.
“I think it’s great that I can get cardio and strength training together,” she said.
Penny Blair, 54, a University of Nevada Cooperative Extension (UNCE) vocational education instructor, has been teaching a Zumba class from about two months at UNCE’s northeast office on Moapa Valley Boulevard. She doesn’t have the scheduling problem because she uses a UNCE building.
Although originally scheduled to start at 6 p.m., Blair changed her schedule to Tuesday and Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
If Pilates and Zumba aren’t your cup of tea, but you believe you could benefit from some kind of exercise, the weight room upstairs in the Old Overton Gym is open for use from 3-7 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
The equipment, all of which was donated by local residents, includes a Bowflex machine, a universal weight machine, bench press, sit-up bench, ab machine, treadmill and exercise bike, said Scott Simper, building manager.
“There are about six people, three men and three women, who use the weight room regularly,” Simper said.
