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Eye On the Ball: Workout Island

A Zumba class at the American Legion.COURTESY PHOTO
COURTESY PHOTO A Zumba class at the American Legion.

Last week I found over 20 women who were allowed to eat plenty of turkey on Thanksgiving without worrying about adding inches to their waists.

When I attended Susan Binder’s Zumba Gold class at the American Legion, I never expected to see so many ladies taking over such a large room. The upbeat music and the enjoyment they were having was impressive. It looked like a great way to have fun and get in shape.

I had this yearning to join in but, unfortunately, I forgot to bring my spandex bottoms with me.

All this made me wonder about what else is going on around this Island that I never knew about. A little research quickly pointed out much more than I ever expected.

Susan’s Zumba Gold class, although a full hour of working out, is a lower impact regiment than regular Zumba. This class came out of going to rock and roll shows and noticing how many gray-haired people clapped their hands and danced to the music of their youth. A new and successful market was born.

Although many of the other classes have men involved, this one was ladies only, kind of like back in high school when the girls had to dance with each other because the boys were shy.

The evening I attended, Susan also had a regular Zumba class, a higher impact exercise with Latin-based music. She told me she uses about 70 percent Latin music and 30 percent pop. Melanie Matz also does the Zumba classes on the Island.

At the Dering Harbor Inn, Julie Karpeh has a nice crowd that comes  three times a week to her spin class. The spin class involves riding a bike for almost 45 minutes with different tensions applied. Julie also stops for about six minutes in the middle to just work on developing the arms. For entertainment, she plays mostly doo-wop. In case you think it might be a little difficult, she has an 82-year-old man in her class who keeps up with everyone.

A high-intensity spin class is also run at the Dering Harbor Inn with Candace Ryan as the instructor. Veteran workout instructor Maggie Davis has a strength and toning class.

Also, veteran instructor Suzette Smith has run her Pilates studio successfully for many years and has added a Barre studio. Suzette is now offering yoga classes. Speaking of yoga, Dawn Hedberg, the co-owner of Black Cat Books, does a slow, restorative yoga class.

Kelci McIntosh also does a once a week class at St. Mary’s Church and Calle Atkins also works her yoga classes out of St. Mary’s Church three days a week and Julie Kolmogorova Weisenberg does both Piyo and strength training.

Believe me, Shelter Island is in good shape.