On April 14, Van Amstel will bring that fitness program to UofL. Get Healthy Now will host two LaBlast classes taught by the Dancing with the Stars world champion. Offerings include LaBlast Fitness, April 14 from 9-10 a.m., and LaBlast Line Dance, April 14 from 6-7 p.m. Both will be held at the GHN Wellness Center, 601 Presidents Blvd. Cost per class is $10, $15 or $20, depending on when tickets are purchased.

For the Early Bird pricing of $10, tickets need to be purchased by March 31.

LaBlast is a described as a multi-level dance fitness program designed for the absolute beginner to the already experienced dancer. While enjoying dances like the Disco, Cha Cha, Jive, Samba, Paso Doble, Merengue, Salsa, etc., over time students progress at their own rate.

“We teach the true skill of dance, to modern music, based on all of the dances you see on ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ It’s an excellent way to get your heart rate up, working out your physical body, and work out your emotional-self, by connecting with yourself,”  Van Amstel said.

His visit to UofL was facilitated by Paula Kommor, senior wellness specialist. She met Van Amstel during the Building Healthy Academic Communities Conference in Florida in 2017 and was “more than impressed.”

“Seeing him in action was the highlight of the conference for me. I appreciate his approach, which is similar to the wellness coaching approach that we teach at UofL. Our goal is to get our clients out of their thinking (self-talk) brain into their feeling brain and tap into their heart and their values,” Kommor said.

Kommor connected to Van Amstel and followed up after the conference. At the time, he had rolled out the LaBlast program at Ohio State University, which turned out to be a serendipitous connection.

“Patricia Benson, our AVP of Health, Wellness and Disease Management, has a strong partnership with Ohio State and therefore Louis was thrilled to come to UofL,” Kommor said.

This isn’t the first time GHN has hosted a dancer of this magnitude, however. Ten years ago, UofL hosted Beto Perez, the creator of Zumba Fitness, at Papa John’s Stadium. That year marked the beginning of the Zumba Fitness trend in the U.S. and there were maybe eight instructors in Louisville. Kommor says there are now more than 500 in the city.��

She believes LaBlast is on a similar trajectory.��

“I am personally excited about Louis’ approach to teaching dance. It is powerful and he can motivate anyone – even if you think you have two left feet – to get up and move. He can help them get out of their thoughts and begin by standing up and merely feeling and clapping to the different rhythms,” Kommor said.

Van Amstel’s appearance at UofL will mark the first time he has hosted a master class in the state of Kentucky.

LaBlast offerings at UofL

To get more of an idea of what to expect from LaBlast, the program’s taglines are:  

• “Dance like a star and workout in disguise.”
• “If you can clap it, you can dance it.”

For the 9 a.m. class, LaBlast Fitness, participants can expect an energizing dance fitness class that blends the true skill of ballroom dance with calorie-blasting properties of interval fitness. Carefully-curated music playlists from all eras and genres keep participants engaged and entertaining while learning the Tango, Rumba, Quickstep and more. It is partner free and high energy. .��

For the 6 p.m. class, LaBlast Line Dancing, participants can expect a new approach to traditional line dancing through the easy-to-learn Disco, Foxtrot, Samba, Paso Doble and more. All dances are partner free and can be done anywhere. .��

For additional information, contact Paula Kommor via email.

Starting immediately, the wellness center will switch to a  a month for UofL faculty and staff. Members will be able to sign up for auto withdrawal through payroll if they so wish.

To offset the fee-based membership, GHN is opening up all the activity classes, including “specialty classes” (yoga, Pilates, etc.), to wellness center participants as part of the membership package. Also, incentives – such as a lower rate for those who visit the wellness center more frequently – are currently being explored to lessen the blow of this change.

Patricia Benson, AVP for Health, Wellness and Disease Management, said this was not an easy decision to make, especially since free membership has long been a perk of working at UofL. But, she says GHN worked to keep the price as low as possible, and well below market price.

“In doing our research, we realized no other gym or wellness center offers their services for free, not even other universities do this – as discovered through benchmarking industry comparison,” she said.

For example, Planet Fitness charges between $10 and $19.99 a month, while more such as the Jewish Community Center ($48-$58/month) and Baptist East Milestone ($80/month) charge more for similar services.��

“The Get Healthy Now Wellness Center is a vital resource for the university and community as a whole during a time when preventative healthcare and active disease management resources are sadly lacking in our state, among the most unhealthy in the nation,” said GHN member Paul Salmon, associate professor of Clinical Psychology. “I know of no other health, wellness or fitness facility for adults in the Louisville community that offers such an outstanding array of benefits to its members.”

Prior to implementing the monthly fee, GHN solicited feedback from some members, many of whom expressed frustration over the proposed change. Benson said she understands where they’re coming from and is empathetic of morale issues.

“We kept our membership rate as low as possible and will continue to look for ways to minimize cost while maximizing value. This is critical to our mission of building a sustainable wellness program with measurable and meaningful impact to the organization and each employee we serve,” Benson said. “We have never lost sight of that goal and the associated objectives of healthcare cost containment, culture of health and wellbeing, and empowering each employee to champion their health.”

During the transition, the GHN Wellness Center Advisory Committee is seeking sponsorship opportunities for membership assistance should an employee need it.

“We simply can’t and won’t allow cost to be a barrier for participation. This is important to us and we will find a way to assist every employee seeking access to the wellness center,” she said.

GHN is currently transitioning the non-fee members through the end of this calendar year. Incentives, such as pedometers, heart rate monitors, work-out shoes, massages, t-shirts, an Apple watch, and a bike, are a few of the items that an employee may earn on a weekly basis by making the transition prior to the end of 2017. These incentives are courtesy of GHN sponsors Schellers and Health Fitness Corp.

GHN employees are ready to assist current members with this transition and have also been registering new employees on-site. Benson is also asking anyone who has additional questions or concerns to contact her directly at 852-1907.

“I understand why people are upset,” she said. “But we have to do a better job educating employees about our objectives. We’re more than just a gym. We are focused on preventative health benefits and saving our employees money on their health in the long term.”

Cost covers comprehensive offerings

For example, for the $15/month fee, offers a plethora of wellness resources such as one-on-one on-site health and wealth coaching, health screenings, fitness evaluations with individualized plans, professional and certified staff, including a nurse and nurse practitioner, and more.

GHN also offers 51 wellness and holistic programs, such as mindfulness and meditation, yoga/Pilates classes, educational lunch and learns, “on-demand” programs and wellness support for departmental meetings/retreats. There is also a full schedule of , including the benefit fair on the Belknap Campus for October’s .��

In 2016 alone, GHN offered more than 400 onsite wellness coaching sessions, 183 personal training sessions, 441 biometric screenings and nearly 5,000 health assessments (half of UofL’s workforce), as summarized in the .��

“Although we are implementing a wellness center fee, many of the resources and services we offer will continue to be available at no cost to the employee,” Benson said.

For more about GHN, check out this .

“I’d describe it as dungeon-like,” said graduate student Bria Staten-Favors, about the previous facility. “It was old, it was dark. The equipment was old. It wasn’t inviting.”

Four years later, the SRC is thriving. Debby Woodall, fitness director in the Intramural & Recreational Sports Department, has witnessed the entire evolution, having worked in the department for 20 years. The new(ish) facility, located on the west side of the Belknap Campus, boasts multiple group fitness studios, six basketball courts, a gaming area, 14,000 square feet of strength training areas, a golf simulator and more.

It also offers about 30 different classes, from group fitness and cycling, to power yoga, restorative yoga and yoga with live music. It even offers belly dancing. When the department was housed at the SAC, there were about 12 classes a week. Yoga wasn’t even on the map.

“We couldn’t offer yoga because we didn’t have the right facility. We couldn’t offer cycling because we didn’t have the bikes,” Woodall said.

Now, those are among the most in-demand classes. Some yoga classes generate 35 students.

“Cycling and yoga have surprised me the most. We have been challenged with keeping up with demand and have had to turn people away. We had to order more bikes,” Woodall said. “Our (classes) numbers have gone up well over 100 percent.”

However, it is not just the classes that are drawing in the students; it’s the facility and location. Kylar Ware, a junior from Mount Washington, said that, though the SRC was intimidating at first because of its size, she loves going now.

“I think because it has two floors, it helped me get over the intimidation factor. I also love the windows because it gives me a feeling that I’m not missing out on my day by being inside of this building and being removed from everything,” she said. “I usually hate gyms, but the SRC is really nice and I’ve noticed a change in myself where I want to go now.”

Since she lives in the Pi Beta Phi house across the street, it’s also easier for her to go. Staten-Favors agrees that the SRC environment and location motivate her more.

“I don’t have to worry about going across campus to workout at night,” Staten-Favors added. “I also like that it’s two levels so I can work out in a more private place if I want.”

Woodall said this is the type of feedback she’s been getting from students across the board.

“We’ve done surveys and I can say going on our fourth year that I love where we are,” she said. “It’s a totally different program than what we used to have.”

The SRC will continue to “trial and error” new programs, such as lectures and classes. In the next year or two, some equipment will be replaced as wear and tear sets in. Woodall said they’re also working with new vendors to test new pieces of equipment, such as a Zero Runner, an Incline Trainer and a “soft-powered treadmill,” that uses less energy. Finding the right classes and equipment to resonate with students has been what Woodall calls a “fun challenge.”

“The fact that our students avoided the SAC bothered me. It’s a shame they didn’t feel like they had a place to go,” she said. “But I love that they have all of this now. It’s important we give them this positive outlet.”

Check out more photos from the .