Page 4
Thursday, July 12, 1984
IM aerobics class
By ANDY MILLER
Tar Heel Staff Writer
The students bring not note
books but exercise bags. The
teacher wanders in about a min
ute before class. Outside it is 95
degrees. Fetzer Gym is not much
cooler, but the student milling
about the walls of the gym shake
their arms and stretch their legs,
getting ready. The teacher ties up
her hair with a barrette and claps
her hands.
Betty Early, a junior from
Winston-Salem, said, "The wait
ing before class is like waiting for
a shot."
This is aerobics class. An
intramural program, it is held
three evenings a week during the
summer, free to any student,
faculty or staff member.
Cydne Watterson, the instruc
tor, flips on the tape player and
the students form rows in front
of her. There are more than 30
of them a wide range of ages,
backgrounds and body shapes.
They strain to touch their hands
to the floor. T-shirts, gym shorts
and running shoes are the norm;
no one wears leg warmers, and
only two people sport leotards or
tights,
A slow song ends and a fast
one replaces it. Watterson, clap
ping and smiling, leads her class
in a series of chorus-line kicks.
While the exercise is continu
ous, Watterson constantly
changes the commands the
class marches, bends, kicks and
jumps. Watterson is less of a
military drill sergeant than a
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cheerleader, and most of the
students keep pace with her,
jerking their limbs to the beat. A
rhythmic clapping rekindles the
enthusiasm. The class then forms
a large circle and skips along like
kindergarteners behind the
teacher. The lines form again.
They keep this up for 30 stren
uous minutes before a break.
'"Aerobics' is really the wrong
term to use," Watterson said.
"Anything that has to do with
producing oxygen is aerobic
swimming, tennis. What this class
should be called is aerobic
fitness.'
"What our exercise does is four
things: it improves flexibility,
tones and firms muscles,
improves the cardio-vascular
system and promotes overall
fitness," she said.
The IM class is a product of
the 1980s aerobic boom, which,
according to Watterson, could
replace jogging as America's
favorite fitness activity.
"You get to do it with other
people, for one thing. Aerobics
class makes people feel good. The
entertainment and enthusiasm is
provided for them. It's very
different from dance, where the
goal is to perform," Watterson
said. .:
An increasing number of men
have been coming to class. "Guys
have good strength and cardio
vascular systems, but they are
usually not flexible," Watterson
said.
"What is rewarding for me is
when I can get people hooked on
exercise," she said. "A lot of
women don't feel good about
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Cydne Watterson, right, leads the IM aerobics class from 5:45 to 7 p.m. In Fetzer Gym.
themselves theyVe told in
magazines that they must look
like Cheryl Tiegs. This class is
designed to release them, to allow
them to feel good about them
selves through exercise,"
Since the spring, when Watter
son became head of IM aerobics,
enrollment in three classses
jumped to 265. The 5 p.m. class
in Woollen Gym had 120
members, all straining along with
the beat.
Dr. Pam Robinson, an "expert
in exercise physiology, said aero
bics "taxes the heart arid causes
a training effect. It should be very
sa
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beneficial to the general public."
After the break the class
resumes on the gymnastics mat.
The students take off their shoes
and circle around Watterson for
30 more minutes of exercise,
working mostly their abdominal
and leg muscles. The faces red
den; sweat drips from shoulders.
Michael Jackson's "Thriller" is
the last song. The workout is over
and they gather their shoes. There
is an atmosphere of friendship
and accomplishment.
Julie DeClerque, a master's
student in public health, rests a
moment on the gymnast's bar.
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"This is the best aerobics class
anywhere in town," she said.
"Cydne not only demonstrates,
but she instructs us individually.
She doesnt put herself up on a
pedestal like a goddess. She
makes it fun."
Watterson, 23, a graduate of
Utah State University, is design
ing a fall workshop for N.C
public schools. She would like to
see all aerobics instructors go
through a certification process,
warning that some current instruc
tors may not be qualified to teach
aerobics.
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