Pelvic thrusts and frequent gyrations took centre stage last Monday at the fifth and penultimate session of the Digicel Summer Burn in the Queen's Park Savannah, where patrons turned out in large numbers to take part in the high-energy, hour-long aerobics event.
Fitness enthusiasts of all ages came out sporting their red t-shirts ready to power through the many workout routines which included zumba, aerobics, taebo and muscle-conditioning exercises.
Zumba and salsa instructor Maj-Britt Waagenes kicked things off with a speedy soca session followed by high endurance routines directed by aerobics instructors Ayoka Carter and Peter Sam.
Patrons seemed able to keep up for the first half hour of the burn out, but as the moves got more intricate and energy started to dwindle, some resorted to doing what came most naturally to them–wining.
But with rigorous routines and only three water breaks, Sam was impressed by the participants' stamina adding that most were able to keep up well for the first 40 minutes. He said he thought similar initiatives were needed in order to get T&T's population in shape.
"I think initiatives like this are very important. We should be having this throughout the country and throughout the year. Every week at this summer burn we have increased the intensity and every week we have seen their endurance go up. Imagine if we kept this up for three more weeks."
Monday's event also included a media challenge which featured a fierce battle between employees of Synergy TV and RED 96.7FM. The challenge was an endurance activity which required participants of each five-member team to flip a tractor-sized tire for 100 yards.
Supervisor of the media challenge and fitness instructor Richard Johnson explained that the exercise required total body strength–lower body strength to squat and lift the tire and upper body strength to flip it.
In the end, the Synergy TV team beat the 96.7FM team with average times of 10 minutes 34 seconds and 11 minutes 22 seconds respectively. Synergy's team was led by presenter of the Island Cuisine show Mike Jones while the 96.7FM team was led by radio announcer Devon Matthews.
The final session of the Digicel Summer Burn 2013 will be held today.
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