Combine several servings of Thanksgiving grub, fall ale, sweatpants, Cheetos and a few days off from work, and one could potentially stew a personal health crisis.
With this scenario in mind, Health Promotions cooked up an idea to annihilate hundreds of post-Thanksgiving calories among patrons in a grueling aerobics session, called the Turkey Burn, Nov. 27.
Motivated participants filled the aerobics room of the gym with hopes to burn the turkey away during the inaugural event.
“It was three 30-minute cardio blasts,” said Barbara Roman, fitness coordinator with IronWorks Gym.
The workout began with a spinning class on stationary bicycles.
Spinning shifted to cardio-kickboxing, forcing participants to literally beat down the calories. Dance music blasted through the room’s gigantic speakers as cardio-kickboxing enthusiasts double-teamed red and blue punching bags.
Then, the Bosu was unveiled. The Bosu is a contraption resembling half of a beach ball — a really big beach ball — fixed to a circular plastic base.
At first glance, Mr. Bosu doesn’t look very tough. The device appears to be a product of a sketchy late-night infomercial.
However, give the Bosu a try for a few minutes and skeptical opinions quickly disappear, along with a few hundred calories.
A Lady Gaga remix and an aerobics instructor’s words of encouragement pumped Turkey Burn participants to drive on during the event.
“The day after Thanksgiving people are really full from eating the day before,” Roman said. “It was just something fun to do to get together.”
The special event concluded with sighs of relief and sweaty towels.
“We had over 30 people, so I had to go find more bikes and Bosu balls,” Roman explained.
Roman said a similar event is in the works to counter upcoming Christmas feasts.
“We will continue to do this,” Roman said. “We will continue to offer more themed classes every month.”
Roman encourages everyone to get a head start on New Year’s Day fitness resolutions.
“Why wait — do it now when you know you are going to eat more,” she added. “Just get in here and be active, burn some calories and not worry about it so much.”