Southport Magazine

We have no more excuses! Locally, there is a place we can go that offers almost every possibility of fitness class imaginable from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Where is this place? It is the Boiling Spring Lakes Community Center, located at 1 Leeds Rd.!

Recently, Southport Magazine owner, Kris Beasley, and I had the opportunity to try their new Fitness On Demand program, which is available to the public, no matter if they are a Boiling Spring Lakes resident or not. Using a touch screen portal, over 160 interactive group fitness classes are available. You can select class by type such as yoga or “Daily Burn,” or you can select based on type of fitness, such as cardio, strength training, flexibility or dance. In addition, you can select a class by length. If you only have 15 minutes, touch the time frame and a range of classes available to meet your criteria will pop up.

All classes can be sorted by three levels of intensity from easy to advanced. In addition, all classes provide three levels of participants on the screen allowing for demonstration of modification if you feel it is too difficult or too easy.

After some pondering, Kris and I chose the Bollywood class which was a combination of belly dancing, Zumba and flexibility moves. Displayed on a drop-down screen, the instructors provide enough demonstration for you to follow along while allowing important hydration breaks and rest periods. Boy, did we work up a sweat!

We then switched to kickboxing with a different “on demand” instructor so we could get a sense of differing instructors and workouts. Finally, we spent a few moments on Qigong for Stress Relief.

I have to admit that I was skeptical at first, but I had a blast while achieving a great workout! Staff member Teagan Macklin joined in the workout with us, which was awesome. She had just completed another class with kids in the Before School program.

There were definite pros to this type of program. Have you ever paid for a class and absolutely not enjoyed it? No problem here—because you can stop and select another class at any time. Frequent water breaks are offered. Help is available if you are having any technical problems. The program easily meets the needs of individuals and small groups, plus there is no intimidation of group classes and no instructor pushing you if you stop. (Conversely, there is no instructor pushing you if you stop!)

Have small children and can’t leave them? Sign up for yoga with 3- to 6-year-olds or choose a family class! As I said before, we have no excuses!

Although the center offers some scheduled Fitness On Demand group classes as well as other classes with live instructors, there are plenty of time periods for you to sign up and choose your own class.

Various plans for payment are offered which are based on your place of residence, as Boiling Spring Lakes taxpayers are charged less. You can choose a daily pass which can be used repeatedly throughout the day—come before and after work if you want! You can also purchase a monthly or yearly pass. For example, a monthly pass for Fitness On Demand is $15 for BSL taxpayers and $20 non-taxpayers. Additional rates are available if you would like to access the Fitness Room with weights, treadmills, etc.

The class calendar is available at www.bslprd.com. For more detailed info, contact Mary Green at mgreen@cityofbsl.org or (910) 845-3693.

Check out all we have to offer locally! No excuses!