Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at noon in the aerobics room of the Recreational Complex, Judy Vitrano instructs her step class. With over 18 years of experience, Vitrano’s class is focused on getting in a good workout and having fun.

Vitrano’s classes are based on a set structure on Mondays and Wednesdays. She divides the class hour into four parts: five-minutes of warming up, 25 minutes of aerobic exercises, 25 minutes of strength-training, and five-minutes of stretching and cooling down.

Near the end of the strength-training portion of the class, students perform an exercise known as “the plank,” which works out the abs and back. During “the plank,” a person remains in push-up position with his/her forearms resting on the floor. Students try to stay in position for one minute at a time. Vitrano encourages her students to talk about food while performing “the plank.” She explained, “It’s really painful and the time goes by slow if you’re not talking, so that time is reserved for your best food stories of the week.”

Vitrano’s workouts allow students of various fitness levels to exercise together. By incorporating resistance workouts, each student can exercise at his/her own pace. “The intensity level can vary greatly, but everyone can be in the same class doing the same workout,” Vitrano said.

On Fridays, Vitrano hosts “Crunk Day” in her class. Participants are encouraged to wear Saints apparel or anything black and gold. The day’s workouts focus on interval training, alternating two minutes of aerobic exercise with one minute of weight training. Fridays also include what Vitrano calls, “Ten minutes of continuous crunk,” where students workout to the Ying Yang Twins song, “Stand Up and Get Crunk.”

Vitrano does not mind if her students talk during class. In fact, she encourages it. “It’s a social experience as well as a workout…you can bring your cell phone in my class, I’m not going to scream at you.”

When class attendance is low, Vitrano has a habit of sending out “intervention” e-mails to motivate her students. “I’ll go find pictures online of people who are very out of shape and overweight, and I’ll ask, ‘Is this happening to you? Why aren’t you coming to class?'” For mass communication professor Lisa Martin, the e-mails provide enough motivation to keep her attendance in check. “She [Vitrano] sent us one, one time, it was all these big, fat women eating Krispy Kreme doughnuts… I have not missed a class,” Martin said.

Vitrano and her students are a tight knit group. Their activity together extends beyond class time. “It’s a social thing for us. We go to lunch a couple of times a year or we’ll go to happy hour sometimes at Superior Grill.”

Prospective students should not feel intimidated by Vitrano’s class. “When people join the class, a lot of them will stick with it because they don’t feel pressured; we’re laughing, we’re joking, we’re having fun. I tell people, ‘Just do what you can.'”

Those interested in joining Vitrano’s step class should e-mail Kristi Salvaggio at [email protected] or call 504-864-7349 for more information.

Scott O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]