Exercise class at Church of Christ Uniting
Listening attentively to instructions from their teacher during a recent Tuesday exercise class at the Church of Christ Uniting in Kingston are, from left: Judy Betti of Wyoming, Ted Talmon of Exeter, Ruthie O’Dell of Plains Township, Karen Talmon of Exeter and Marsha Costello of Forty Fort.
Taught by a certified instructor, the weekly class is geared toward but not limited to senior citizens, and works on improving balance, stregnth, flexibility and range of motion.
It is offered for free, but donations are accepted. For more photos, story, please see page xx.
Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader
Classes geared toward but not limited to seniors
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Instructor Christine Fazzi leads the exercise class at the Church of Christ Uniting.
Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader
Judy Betti and Ruthie O’Dell lean into the exercise.
Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader
Ted Talmon of Exeter, his wife Karen Talman of Exeter and Marsha Costellof of Forty Fort reach for their toes during the exercise class.
Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader
Marsha Costello, in the foreground, Ted and Karen Talmon in the second row, and Judy Betti and Ruthie O’Dell in the third row, reach from side to side as a recent Tuesday afternoon exercise class gets underway.
Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader
With instructor Christine Fazzi demonstrating every exercise, the 12 people who showed up for a recent Tuesday afternoon exercise class at the Church of Christ Uniting in Kingston kept moving.
They stepped to the right and left, punched their arms to the right and left, and at one point, raised both hands straight up into the air.
“Touchdown!” Ted Talmon called out, with a laugh.
Of course, this wasn’t a football game. The gathering was a class filled with simple movements, designed to improve balance, flexibility, range of motion and strength.
The weekly sessions are geared toward, but not limited to, senior citizens. The public is welcome and, Fazzi pointed out, participants can adjust the movements to their own fitness level.
“I like the variety,” said Marsha Costello of Forty Fort, a retired teacher who has attended several fitness classes at the church and other locations. “It’s engaging muscles that don’t get engaged in my pool exercises.”
Through part of the class in the Church of Christ Uniting’s Fellowship Hall, participants sat on folding chairs as they rolled their shoulders, stretched their necks or raised one leg forward, then the other.
When they stood for additional exercises, every individual remained near his or her chair so it would be easy to hold on for balance — if they needed it.
“Hold that belly button to your spine,” Fazzi said, calling out encouragement.
“Stepping laterally helps your body get stronger through the hips,” she said, as peppy music played.
“How long does this class go on?” Judy Betti of Wyoming called out in a teasing fashion, joking as the class neared its end after 45 minutes.
“This was my second class,” Nancy Olson of Kingston said afterward. “Already, I feel like my balance is improving.”
“You can tell she’s a pro,” Ruthie O’Dell of Plains Township said of the instructor.
“She challenges us,” Marsha Costello said. “But she doesn’t make us feel inadequate.”
Husband-and-wife team Ted and Karen Talmon, who were attending the class for the first time, said they’d be back for more.
“Now that we’re retired,” Karen said. “We’ve been doing too much sitting.”
The class is intended to be only as strenuous as each participant wants it to be, and people are able to talk and laugh as they move. With “no lying on the floor or jumping around,” as a news release explained, the class is intended to be “good for seniors, those who haven’t moved much in a while, those who want to move a little and/or those with arthritis.”
There is no fee for the class, but donations are accepted.
The Church of Christ Uniting is located at the corner of Sprague Avenue and Market Street in Kingston, and classes begin at 2 p.m. Tuesdays in the Church Fellowship Hall, which can be entered from the church’s Market Street parking lot. For more information, call the church office at 570-288-8434.