Now you can ‘Dance to be Fit” at The Corbin Center

The Corbin Center is offering a fitness option for those wanting to take that first steps down the road better health.

Officials at the center, which is owned by the city but operated by Corbin Independent Schools, said the new “Dance to be Fit” program is part of the school system’s community education effort.

At 6 p.m. each Tuesday and Thursday through June 30, Shannon Rimas, the activities director for in-patient rehab at Baptist Health Corbin, will lead the one-hour beginner Zumba-style class.

Rimas said she is working toward the same goal as the students, to lose weight and get in better physical shape.

“We are a slow beginners class that just wants to be there for each other,” Rimas said.

Rimas said the first class began with eight people. Through social media and word of mouth, the class has grown to 12, 25 and last Thursday to 33.

We had 9,600 people actually view the flier for the class on the Facebook page, “said Alisha Hammack, the program specialist at the Corbin Center adding there is no limit to the number of people that may attend the class.

“The room can hold up to 360 people,” Hammack said. “If we get beyond that, we could split it into two different sessions.”

Rimas said the class is a mishmash of all ages and body types from teens to a woman in her upper 60s.

“We have three people who have had ankle replacement surgery,” Rimas said. “I tell them, ‘If you need to sit down, sit and keep going with your arms. The idea is to get your heart rate up and keep it up.’”

“My big thing is that it doesn’t matter if you have two left feet, just that you are moving,” Rimas said.

Rimas said the class has been all women since it began in mid-March. However, it is open to men.

“I have had a couple of men ask about the class, but I think they may be just a little bit intimidated,” Rimas said.

“You are going to sweat,” Rimas said.

The cost to attend a class is $3. Childcare is available for an additional $2.

The classes are scheduled to run until June 30.

Rimas and Hammack both said they are open to continuing the classes beyond that date if there is sufficient community support.

More information about the class and other classes offered at the Corbin Center is available at the center’s Facebook page. Or contact the center at 261-7739.