Learning the Moves — Vint’s Strip to Fit Workout Cranks Up the Bumps and Grinds to Take It Off, Take It All Off
By Linda A Moore lmoore@commercialappealcom
Inside a cute house in a quiet neighborhood in Cordova, you’d never guess what is going on.
Four women – three students and an instructor – are taking turns dancing on a stripper pole.
Guided by instructor Rachael Vint, they learn moves like the snake, an undulation that starts at the chest, works its way down the torso to an outstretched toe and back again.
They try to mimic Vint as she twirls around the portable pole in her living room, one leg hooked for stability , the other stretched, toe pointed, foot arched at a sexy angle.
Relax, it’s just exercise.
They’re going through the moves they’ve learned in Vint’s Strip to Fit workout classes. They’re working on the demanding pole dance routine, not to develop a career but to develop muscles and improve their fitness.
“It takes a whole lot of upper body strength, way more than you would probably think,” said Vint, 30, a wife and mother of three.
Sexy workouts, like Vint’s Strip to Fit classes, are simply another variation on group fitness activities .
About five years ago, actress Sheila Kelley began teaching her S Factor sexy workout classes at her home in California . She’s branched out with S Factor videos, DVDs and studios in a number of U.S. cities.
Hot on her heels, actress Carmen Electra pushed the trend along with her Fit
to Strip workout DVD, released in 2003.
This year, New York’s Crunch Gym launched Stiletto Strength, part Pilates-like core body work and part strutting around in high heels to pop music to strengthen legs, ankles and calves.
An Internet search can find stripper-style aerobics tapes and even instructions for building a stripper pole for the home.
Women, most of whom would never dream of entering a strip club, are pole dancing and working the moves in the name of fitness .
They do it because it’s a good workout, lots of fun and can, as a side benefit, add a little spice to their relationships.
The classes are for women 18 and over and nobody actually strips. Nothing is peeled off, except maybe a top layer of warmup clothes.
“I don’t think anybody out of this group will wind up working in a club,” Vint said.
For some, Vint’s striptease and pole dance classes are a way to take exercise less seriously.
“I do Pilates/yoga,” said New Orleans transplant Toni Goff, 38, a diversity and EEOC manager at Northrop Grumman and a student of Vint’s. “It has good benefits, but it’s boring.”
Her classmates, Jeannette Bailey, 32, and Erin Beck, 22, heard about Vint and signed up.
“It’s the best time I’ve ever had exercising,” said Bailey, an English teacher at Olive Branch High School.
“This is the only exercise program I’ve ever stuck with for more than six weeks.”
She and her husband are discussing getting a pole for their home.
The class has other benefits, said Beck, another New Orleans transplant and a waitress at Chili’s Grill & Bar in Cordova.
“It helps you tap into your own sexuality. And it’s fun.”
Vint also teaches striptease classes at the old Cordova Community Center, and for a while, taught pole dancing classes there. But after switching to a different studio, the pole wasn’t tall enough to reach the ceiling. The classes moved to her living room.
Vint studied ballet for 13 years before an injury ended plans for a dance career.
A few years ago, she saw an episode of the “Oprah Winfrey Show” about stripper aerobics and thought she could do it.
Vint had a friend who was a stripper who taught her some moves, she read some books and watched some videos and began teaching. She also teaches yoga.
Vint has had housewives, bankers, lawyers, doctors and corporate executives as students.
Most women are looking for a fun aerobic workout. Being able to share the routine they’ve learned with a loved one is a fringe benefit, Vint said.
“One woman came and learned a routine because she was getting married,” Vint said.
For another, it was a birthday present for her husband. Vint also taught a special routine for Valentine’s Day.
She draws the line at teaching future strippers.
“I had a girl call me who was a waitress at one of the casinos. She was thinking about working in one of the (strip) clubs and she wanted to take my class,” Vint said. “I told her no. I’m not training professionals.”
– Linda A. Moore: 529-2702
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Want to know more?
Visit StriptoFit.net for information on class schedules and prices. Contact Rachael Vint at StriptoFit@gmail.com or 309-5153.
For Fit to Strip DVDs from Carmen Electra go to CarmenElectra.com
Learn more about Sheila Kelley’s S Factor at Sfactor.com
(c) 2006 Commercial Appeal, The. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.