The origin of Shinogu Sato’s Fit Wahine class, which helps adults strengthen muscles and improve balance, is rooted in child’s play.

Her class, which started in May at The Movement Center, a dance studio in Kaimuki, draws on 30 years of teaching gymnastics to children in Japan and Hawaii. Participants engage in crab walks and bear crawls, and use hula hoops, balls and ribbons.

But even though she has a degree in physical education, the 53-year-old Sato had never thought about teaching adults until last year, when a parent volunteer urged her to try it. Heidi Taam had so much fun helping Sato lead the children’s class that she wanted a workout like that for herself.

“Both of my grandmothers have Alzheimer’s,” said Taam, a 50-year-old Kaimuki resident. “I feel like this exercise gets my brain working. And it gives me core strength and balance. It’s so much fun. We’re just playing but we are using our muscles.”

Sato started Fit Wahine after realizing that women in her age group would benefit from the class. But it helped her, too.

During much of her adult life, Sato maintained a healthy lifestyle, but when she turned 40 she found it harder to maintain her level of fitness. Sato, who was a gymnast in middle and high school, found the exercises helped her to lose weight, gain upper-body strength and improve coordination, she said.

“I felt like my body was going downhill,” Sato said. “I wanted to exercise but didn’t have the time. I wanted to do something that’s fun and not too hard on the body.”

Taam calls Fit Wahine a perfect solution to growing old.

“We all want to age with grace and wisdom,” she said. “This class has helped me simulate graceful movements that address the problems of aging in the areas of posture, spine flexibility, incontinence, memory stimulation, flexibility, reconditioning muscles — all while having fun.”

Setting

The class is held in the dance studio of The Movement Center. Mirrors line one side of the room. Blue gymnastic mats were set up for part of the class.

Benefits

The class, which uses rhythmic gymnastics techniques, is designed to work on good posture and balance, strengthen the core muscles and help alleviate incontinence, according to Sato. The technique mixes dance moves and tumbling exercises with the use of props like balls and hoops.

“The exercises are designed to help you be healthier in the future,” she said. “It’s especially important for women in the 40- to 50-year-old range to get exercise that’s not too hard on the body. It’s good for body balance but also good for the brain by moving forward, backwards, left and right.”

The workout

Participants were continually smiling as we did silly exercises like pulling ourselves across the floor using only our arms like a toddler or walking across the mat only using our butts. Almost all of the exercises were done in a forward motion and then done backward.

“It’s hard for people to move backwards. We are always moving forward,” Sato said. “It was shocking how difficult moving backwards is for people.”

When Sato had her students drape their bodies upside down over a large octagonal cushion, the room filled with laughter. It felt unstable at first, but once you get comfortable with the movement, you get a nice stretch in your back and it’s quite fun.

And playing with the gymnastic ribbons looks like you’re just waving around a ribbon attached to a pole, but it’s quite a workout for the arms.

User review

“It’s like being a kid again,” said Yumi Kawai, 39, of Honolulu as she played with her hula hoop. “This was so much easier when we were kids.” Kawai regularly attends class and loves that the class gives her a chance “to play.”

Maureen Mackowiak, 45, of Honolulu attended the class for the first time. “It’s so much fun, it didn’t feel like workout,” she said. “But I know I got a good workout because I could feel it the next day.” She said it was hardest on her arms and wrists, areas that she now realizes she needs to strengthen.

Try it out?

If you want to bring out your inner child, this is the perfect class. It’s fun, and you’ll find it difficult to not smile and laugh. It’s a blast.

“Tryouts” features exercise and wellness classes and other fitness activities. Reach Nancy Arcayna at narcayna@staradvertiser.com or call 529-4808.