There’s a new way of getting strong at Lord Roberts CC

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/03/2017 (2268 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last weekend I attended an Essentrics class in the Lord Roberts Community Centre gym. This is a fun and strenuous workout.

Essentrics aims to improve participants’ posture and to loosen hips and other joints by strengthening and stretching muscles. The exercises increase blood flow throughout the body, leading to increased energy.

“Your muscles, rather than weights or momentum, do the work,” said Bev Seymour, who teaches the Essentrics workout classes at LRCC.

Seymour, a retired pharmacist, learned about Essentrics from a segment on CTV’s old Canada AM show.

She found the exercises improved her strength, flexibility and her posture — a result of decades of  leaning over a pharmacy counter.

Seymour checked out the Essentrics.com website and began taking courses on anatomy, alignment and the philosophy behind and objectives of this new fitness technique. She also made videos of classes she gave for evaluation as a certified Essentrics instructor. She travelled to Montreal twice to attend intensive training classes.

After receiving her certification, Seymour began teaching private students in December 2014. Midway through 2016, Seymour and her husband, Bruce, found the space for a larger class at LRCC.

“It is a nice, comfortable facility and the floor is clean,” Seymour said.

Essentrics was developed in 1999 by former ballerina, Miranda Esmonde-White, who worked with a doctor and a physiotherapist to develop Essentrics as a means to stay fit without bulking up. Esmonde-White spread the news through a PBS fitness show called Classical Stretch. She also wrote a New York Times bestseller called Aging Backwards.

Essentrics has proven itself with celebrities. Joannie Rochette, a Canadian figure skater, used it to strengthen her feet and ankles and won a bronze medal at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010.

I did not get my skates out this winter. However, I had quite a fall in my backyard. Maybe Essentrics can help me stay balanced and strong.

“I love teaching my clients and seeing them do better,” Seymour said.

She teaches Essentrics every Saturday morning from 9:30 to 10:30 in the LRCC gym. You can pay $150 for 10 classes or $20 for one.

Learn more about Essentrics at essentrics.com

Dianne Doney is a community correspondent for Fort Rouge. You can contact her at diannemary@hotmail.com