How to shake your booty to a better body
JULIE Wallin, a 48-year-old fashion designer based on the Upper West Side, needed a break from her usual workout routine of yoga and cycling. So on a recent Wednesday evening in the Garment District, she signed up for “Twerkaerobics” — a $15 hourlong aerobics class that combines highintensity interval training with booty-popping dance moves ( TwerkAerobicsClass.com).
As someone who mainly listens to ’80s British pop songs and has never twerked before, Wallin wasn’t able to sing along to the medley of Biggie Smalls, Drake and Beyoncé. But by the end, she was in a half-handstand against a mirror shaking her hips.
“It’s definitely great to move your body that way and loosen up,” she says. “I felt so energized.”
Twerkaerobics was started three years ago by Brandon Coleman, a 30-year-old vice president of a recruiting company. Coleman, who lives in Harlem, was inspired as a kid in Atlanta, where he grew up listening to hip-hop and R&B.
While twerking has been around since the ’90s, pop stars such as Miley Cyrus have helped make the dance more mainstream, says Coleman.
“People are afraid of twerking, but it’s inside all of us,” Coleman tells The Post. “Once you become in touch with different parts of your body, it [just happens] naturally.”
But his class is more than just hip thrusts. Coleman also incorporates squat jumps, pushups and bear crawls for a heart-pumping session.
Even gym buff Ferenc Koszorus was drenched after class. Though the 34-year-old publicist regularly lifts weights, he’s been trying to amp up his cardio routine to get lean for the summer.
“I do twerk from time to time on the weekends, mainly in a social setting with friends,” Koszorus tells The Post. “The squatting and moving side to side really works on your flexibility . . . I was sweating a lot.”
Wallin even found herself twerking while tending flowers in her building’s community garden.
“I kind of just started shaking it a little bit more, and it made me break into spontaneous dance,” she says. “My husband thought it was hilarious that I was doing this in front of people ... I’ll definitely be back.”