High-Maintenance Hair? They Don’t Sweat It!
[VIDEO] By Dalia Colón -
How much do you pay for fitness? Maybe a thousand bucks for a home treadmill or $30 a month for a gym membership? At the Childs Park YMCA in St. Petersburg, anyone can join and take group fitness classes for $5 a year.
No, that’s not a typo.
Lois Huyghue: social worker by day, Zumba taskmaster by night.
Why so cheap? The classes are part of FAB (Fit, Active, Black) Families, a grant-funded program designed to eliminate health disparities between African-Americans and other populations.
But even with the low price tag, it took some time before people started flocking to the Y.
In the above video, Zumba aerobic dance instructor Lois Huyghue explains how some obstacles – including hair – prevent black women from getting to the gym… while her students show us how dancing Zumba wins over their tresses.
Childs Park YMCA annual membership costs $5 per person or $10 per family. All ages and races are welcome.
What form of exercise do you consider the most fun?
This reporter can be reached at daliacolon@wusf.org.
From the Series “Let’s Move vs. Good Hair”:
| Let’s Move vs. Good Hair Part I – Hair & Exercise: One Black Woman’s Story |
| Let’s Move vs. Good Hair Part II – Michelle Obama’s Hairstylist Speaks |
Comments
Great story! Our Y in Sarasota is $55/single and $85/family a month. It’s pricey…
Jennifer, what programs does the Sarasota Y offer?
So, taxpayer money is being spent so AfAms have easier access to exercise gyms than other groups.
We’ve got impoverished people in my rural state who would benefit from an inexpensive membership in a gym, but we’re not the government’s favorite color it seems.
Oh, get a grip. Instead of complaining about what someone thought to do for this neighborhood in need, why not do it for your area yourself? Maybe you can get a grant too.
[...] point is to keep them moving,” said Ruiz, who’s also a part-time Zumba fitness instructor. “They don’t have to be perfect in the dance. We just want them [...]