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Indoor Walking Burns Calories For Fitness Enthusiasts At Norwalk Club

NORWALK, Conn. – Clair Mason seeks out the latest in fitness trends to help her clients at INTENSITY in Norwalk. The owner and group fitness director believes she hit on a fitness gold mine with her Indoorwalking class, the first-ever group elliptical class. 

Clair Mason, left, and Kelsey Martin instruct fitness enthusiasts in indoor walking at INTENSITY in Norwalk.

Clair Mason, left, and Kelsey Martin instruct fitness enthusiasts in indoor walking at INTENSITY in Norwalk.

Photo Credit: Tom Renner

“Almost every one of our classes is full,’’ said Mason, who teaches 45-minute classes with Kelsey Martin and other instructors at INTENSITY.  “We’ve had the program here for about a year. It appeals to so many people whatever their level of fitness."

Fitness enthusiasts enjoy indoor walking, Mason said, because of its low impact on joints. The activity also has many converts from Spinning, another popular indoor class, because it includes an upper body workout and there is no saddle.

“I’ve had people ask me ‘Is there anything other than Spinning that I can do for cardio,’’ said Martin, who is also a Spinning instructor. “Then they try this and they’re just drenched after a class. It’s such a good option.”

Many clients enjoy the class setting for Indoorwalking because they can listen to the high energy music as they follow directions from the instructor. They can also adjust the tension of the Indoorwalking machine and move at their own pace.

The combination of music, group support, class length and guidance of instructors produces an entertaining, challenging and safe workout for fitness enthusiasts of all ages and abilities.

Indoorwalking started about eight years ago in Europe, and Mason found the activity while traveling for business in Spain two years ago. She liked it as an option for INTENSITY because it created another option for cardiovascular exercise. The YMCA chain of clubs also plans to offer Indoorwalking this summer.

The workouts can be arduous, taking an exerciser through a series of different paces. Walkers can burn 750 calories in a 45-minute class. Most people expend between 600 to 700 calories, and monitors on the machine can calculate steps per minute, calories and heart rate if a walker wears a heart rate strap.

“We had a woman with high blood pressure who just did this twice a week,’’ Mason said. “She saw results pretty quickly.”  Her doctor was so impressed and quizzed her on her new workout routine.

For more information about indoorwalking, visit the website www.indoorwalking.net or visit the indoorwalking training center based at INTENSITY, 508 Westport Avenue, Norwalk or online at www.Intensityclub.com

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