Gym is an essential part of my day. I believe that going to the gym is healthy living. Inside, other than using weight to gain muscle, group exercise like Zumba, street dance, and Pilates, are offered. These exercises do not only make you lose weight but makes you light and happy after. It promotes holistic living.
In our fieldtrip, we were tasked to observe an Aerobics class outside the gym. Community aerobics is when people in one area come together to perform dance like exercises. These are headed by either volunteers or paid instructors. The two community aerobics that we were tasked to observe was the Aerobics inside the mall, SM Calamba and aerobics in a university, UPLB.
The Community Aerobics inside the mall started at 7 pm in the evening, but by 6 pm we already saw women from late 30s to 70s in their aerobics clothes walking around and chatting. The composition of the Aerobics Class was mostly women with some gay men. Mostly, the women are from ages 40 and above, but there were some from 16-25, maybe because their mothers dragged them along. Most of the people are from high middle class to lower middle class.
The participants didn’t look super excited, but they weren’t apathetic as well. They followed the instructor with vigor, but some due to old age had a hard time. Surprisingly, none of them sat down early because they were tired. The people watching were amused. They didn’t express that much emotion in their faces, but they were really interested in watching. The people who were watching were a mix of men, women, and children passing by.
The songs the instructor used where mostly fast dance songs from the late 80s until today. This is to cater to the participants so that they know the beat of the song. She used fast paces western dance and aerobic type of movements.
The community aerobics in the UPLB campus, on the other hand, is very different from the one in the mall. First of all, it has a different time. Campus Aerobics started at 6am in the morning. When we arrived in the school, I was surprised that there were a lot of people who got up so early for their morning work out. It made me feel out of place because I disliked waking up early.
The people in the UPLB aerobics felt like a true community. Men, women and maybe LGBTs from different social backgrounds, such as students, and middle to low income families go to the campus to work out. They looked like people who live very near the campus too. The ages of the people range from 16 to late 50s.
The participants looked very excited and ready to work out, some still looked sleepy, while other are unsure if they want to join. In the hall, you can’t really see the people who are not joining, because if you go in you already choose to join. Some do peak inside the hall and see what type of exercise is being done. They look very interested, but quite shy to join, so they just jog alone or do a different exercise.
The major difference of the aerobics inside the mall and the campus was the content of the exercise. In the campus, different instructors taught different types of exercises. They offered western to eastern styles of work out using songs that match. It was very enriching to see that people still integrate these styles, because we are almost overshadowed by the west.
Overall, the different community aerobics we watched gave us an overview the different types of people who live in Laguna. Some adhere to the western style, while other still stay true to the orient.
No comments:
Post a Comment