New fitness method catches fire
Funkie Fusion was never meant to be a success. It was made, simply, for a mom trying to lose some of the baby weight. But when Physiques owner Khristie Gass saw results from her new method (shedding some 30 stubborn pounds after trying everything under the sun) she knew she was on to something. She coined the name a year ago and in recent months started certifying instructors across the country - at least 50 in that short time.
"I started in October of last year and I did it just for fun and to lose weight. I worked out all year and couldn't find anything that worked. I went back to old school aerobics. I incorporated squats and lunges and muscle conditioning," Gass explains.
The fusion of styles kept her heart rate up, and she found the combination of muscle conditioning to be golden.
"The difference is that it's your body against itself," she says.
Gass, a dancer, set the routines to a simple eight count against the background of '80s and '90s hits and found it's a simple routine to follow.
"I didn't want somebody to come to my class and say I don't get this,'" she says before pointing to her sister, Donielle, a self-professed "nonworkout person."
"It's not her thing [working out], and she comes to at least three classes a week," Gass says. "She's lost 40 pounds."
In some ways Gass says the method is old school, bringing back aerobics that are simple to follow and get you moving. There is enough liberty with the method for instructors to put their own flair on the routines, and when certified part of what you're paying for are updated and new routines each quarter. Gass gets emails daily from around the country for people wanting to get certified; she has presented at shows in Chicago and plans to head to California in March for one of the biggest conventions for fitness. In Lafayette the only gym outside of Physiques offering the class is Personally Fit.
She says the widespread success is thanks to the results, and she seems to be in awe that the method has taken off without promotion.
"I haven't done any promoting. It's all been word of mouth," says Gass. "I want you to get some results out of this. You're not tapping into deep muscle groups a lot of times. You are here. You can't fake that."
So, while you're doing the Roger Rabbit you're actually shedding some weight.