Scupting a new body

Looking for a firm, tight body that could stop a crowd on the beach during your summer vacation? Want it to be yours?

Try a regimen developed by Pam Adams for a Body Sculpting group fitness class at Main Street Fitness Center in Jackson.

The hour-long class is great for beginners who don't want the cardio workout of aerobics or kickboxing and aren't interested in weightlifting. But the workout Adams guides the class through will get your heart racing and your muscles toned.

It's a pretty popular class, too. The session I attended had about 15 people, but the numbers tend to run between 15 and 30, Adams said. The class is offered at 6 p.m. Monday and Wednesday and at 9 a.m. Saturday.

I thought a Body Sculpting class sounded like just what I needed. Who wants flab, anyway? So I spent an hour with Adams on Monday seeing just how this sculpting-and-molding session works.

It wasn't as tough as the kickboxing class Iparticipated in last week, but it provided a good workout for my muscles. And I could instantly tell a difference because of the lunges we did, though my legs felt like Jell-O for a bit afterward.

Adams starts with a warm-up of stretches and marching to get the blood flowing throughout the body. She then moves to a series of lunges and squats, alternating legs. And then she does more lunges and squats.

Adams said she's sometimes called the "queen of lunges and squats," but it does make a difference in toning leg muscles, she said.

After the squats she'll move to some bicep and tricep exercises using hand weights.

Adams lets people pace themselves throughout the class. She might do two sets of 10 repetitions for a particular exercise, but not everyone has to complete that many, she said. "If you pace yourself you can build up each time," she said.

Situps, medicine ball

About halfway through the class, Adams moves to the floor for a set of exercises that work the abs. She does some variations of sit-ups and then adds a small medicine ball positioned between the knees and thighs. Squeezing and releasing the ball works the inner thigh muscles, Adams said.

After some pelvic thrusts, the class sets aside the ball and moves to the band, which slides up over their legs and rests at the thighs. Again, squeezing and releasing the legs creates some tension using the band and works those thigh muscles.

At the close of the class, Adams adds some stretching movements to release the muscles. She works the legs, arms, shoulders and back in a series of stretches.

"People say it takes six to eight weeks to see a change," Adams said, but she's had students tell her they noticed a difference in as little as four weeks.

People often report being sore in their legs because of the squats and lunges, but Adams encourages everyone to come to class three times each week. "They could do their arms or abs and work the upper body," she said. "If you don't work it out, you can hurt worse."

Laura Johnston is the features editor for the Southeast Missourian.