by Alana Laanui |
Whether you are a workout novice or expert athlete, the Beauchamp Recreation and Wellness Center has a workout program for you. The instructors of these classes are passionate individuals who look to share their expertise with other UP students.
Kealey Johnson: Oula
Kealey Johnson, a senior French studies major, never thought that she would stumble upon Oula, her beloved high-intensity dance workout in her hometown of Missoula, Montana. Once she arrived at UP, she resolved to bring Oula to campus, describing it as the “dance party you never knew you wanted.”
Oula incorporates Top 40 songs with some conditioning dance moves, such as squats and lunges. After falling in love with the workout, two years ago Johnson decided to become an instructor. This entailed a certification program, an audition class and an annual recertification. Now, she loves sharing her moves with UP students every week.
“People often don’t notice the time passing,” Johnson said.
Johnson keeps her class exciting and fresh by incorporating her own custom playlists.
“Sometimes I like to make my playlists more themed, Johnson said. “So Valentine’s Day I use more love songs, or on my birthday I do all my favorite songs, and that seems to be a big hit.”
Joseph Cahill: Zumba
“There was a social going on in the quad, and suddenly this song came on and out of nowhere like 20 people just came up and did a synchronized class,” senior Joseph Cahil said. “I was like ‘What is this?’ and they were like ‘It’s Zumba!’”
From that moment in the quad, Cahill started attending Zumba classes at UP, and this past year he got certified as an instructor by Gina Grant, a Zumba super-star. Cahill decided to take this leap into becoming certified because there were no other Zumba instructors available, and he knew students still wanted some Zumba classes on campus.
Now, Cahill teaches Zumba to students every Tuesday and Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Cahill says a typical Zumba class will start with three warm up songs. From there, he goes into three song segments with breaks in between, and near the end of class he finishes with a stretch song. He encourages everyone to try a class, even if they’re not confident dancers. Alana Laanui is a reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at laanui18@up.edu or on Twitter @AlanaLaanui.
