Bump and Grind with Grandma

I don't even know what to say. Read the following article from today's paper...

Doing the fitness bump and grind
By CAROL ROBIDOUX Union Leader Staff

MANCHESTER - Cardio striptease is not your mother's calisthenics.

"Here we go, now — flip your hair. Arch your back. Booty drop-and-roll. Don't be afraid. Make the face — that's right. Now lunge, side-to-side — just a little boring aerobic stretch before we make it nasty," coached instructor Tracey McNutt (heheh - McNutt). "All right, who's feeling that?"

Megan Carr, foreground, is taking the class with her mom, Melodie Fraser, at right. Behind her, 40 women of all ages, shapes and sizes hollered back over the strains of Sir Mix-a-lot's "Baby Got Back," providing the perfect provocative beat for interval booty-shake training.

"When I told my husband I was coming to this class, he thought I was crazy. So did my son," said Debbie Baker of Bedford. (I imagine her son has officially disowned her.)

She was one of the first to arrive for the hour-long striptease class at Focus on Fitness gym. Although she didn't know exactly what to expect, she was hoping for something fun and different.

"We thought about going out to Unwined for a few drinks first to loosen up, but then we wouldn't function," she said. "I'm in my 50s, so I'm hoping just to be able to keep up."

Her friend Terri Robertson of Bedford, who is in her 40s, said they are regulars at the gym on Second Street, and were intrigued when they saw the sign-up sheet.

Going through the motions of stripping for fun and fitness is not such a stretch these days — that's thanks to "Desperate Housewives" Teri Hatcher, who demonstrated her seductive fitness moves on "Oprah" in the fall, and former "Baywatch" babe Carmen Electra, who has a series of instructional striptease fitness videos on the market.

It's the first time cardio striptease has been offered at the Manchester gym, said club coordinator Suzy Santay. She was pleased with the turnout — double the usual 18 or 20 per class.

Tracey McNutt (that really is a great name...McNutt), front, leads a Cardio Striptease calss at Focus on Fitness in Manchester. (DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER)"We're just trying to keep up with the trend," Santay said. "We love making our fitness facility our playground — we're supposed to make exercise fun."

Beyond the joy of hair-flicking or booty-shaking, Santay says cardio striptease can be a liberating and empowering experience for all women.

"What I do whenever I teach a class is to help women feel good about themselves. We spend so much time and energy ripping ourselves down. My purpose here is to give women back that sense of pride in themselves," Santay said. (The pride is just rolling in...)

McNutt, who made the trip from Chelmsford, Mass., to New Hampshire to teach the class, said her experience as a cardio striptease instructor has kept her in high demand since before Christmas. Although McNutt is a fitness instructor who has never worked as stripper, she researched the moves for the class by going to some Boston-area strip clubs.

"It's easy for people to make jokes about teaching a strip class at a health club, but it's really about feeling good in your own skin. I hope that's what we can keep portraying by having classes in the clubs," McNutt said.

Santay isn't sure if — or when — she will repeat the class. It was free for club members and $5 if they brought a friend. (Sweet crap, Mel. What are you doing Saturday night?)

It was the first offering in a series of monthly specials that will include other alternative-to-aerobic fitness fare, including belly dancing and hip-hop.

"Sometimes when you offer something every week the novelty wears off. I like to keep things fresh and new," Santay said.

Melodie Fraser, 40, and her daughter, Megan Carr, 19, made it in the door just before the 7 p.m. class began. They settled on a spot near the back of the workout room.

"I heard Teri Hatcher does this, and I wanna look like her, so if it helps, I'll do it," said Carr.
Throughout the routine, Carr and Fraser kept up with McNutt's challenging and provocative moves. By the end of the hour, they'd learned how to take off their imaginary shirts and pants, and mastered something McNutt called the "booty clap." (Heard of that one - supposedly the fans love it.)

Afterward, Fraser's face registered somewhere between relieved and satisfied.

"It was a good workout. You were very good at it, Megan — too good," Fraser said. "At least now I know she has a way to pay for her own education," she joked. (Oh thank you Mommy!! Shall we take Grandma for Mother's Day?)

Friends Baker and Robertson gave the class four thumbs up.

"It was a ball — I felt my age, though," Baker said.

"Fun. A lot of fun. I would definitely come back and do it again," Robertson said.

Patricia Johnston of Manchester said cardio strip class was something she'd been planning to try ever since reading about it in "Bride" magazine.

"I was actually going to fly out to this place in California to take a class until I heard about this one," Johnston said. "It's fun — and seductive. Something you can put to good use at home for entertaining your boyfriend, or husband." (Like a mixer, duct tape, or washing machine.)

At 40, Santay is old enough to remember the thrust of the women's movement some 30 years ago, which regarded striptease as another way men objectified women and rendered them powerless. (Heavens NO!)

"A lot has changed since those days. So many of us were brought up to feel ashamed of our bodies and our sexuality. We all struggle as women just to like ourselves. Classes like this allow us to feel strong and beautiful — and yes, sexy — and comfortable with our bodies," Santay said.
For Santay, today's spin on striptease is about reclaiming something that's powerful and sensual and key to maintaining a healthy self-image.

After all, Santay said, finding new ways to move and laugh and enjoy yourself is really what fitness is about.

"If someone wants to take home what they learned and make someone's night — that's great. But the bottom line is that what we're doing here is for us, not them — having fun and taking good care of our bodies," Santay said.