For students who don’t play a winter season sport, many turn to exercise classes such as PureBarre or workout facilities like the Community Center, Planet Fitness and the Country Club. For DHS junior Sofia Cupal, she is spending one month of her winter doing the body challenge at Seung-ni.
For over 16 years, Seung-ni has done classes to help get participants in shape and get their muscles toned. Starting in January and lasting for four weeks, participants of the Seung-ni Body Challenge undergo a full body transformation. Though this body challenge has many different sessions year round, many use the challenge as a New Year’s resolution to help them get fit or to get toned before spring break.
On the first day, participants come to Seung-ni to get a diet plan, and, if they want, supplements which will additionally help toning and losing weight over the four weeks. Following the orientation, participants will then spend every day of the four weeks working out and being taught by trained coaches who lead the classes. Seung-ni offers a variety of hour-long workout classes, such as Kickboxing, Zumba, Core and Body Sculpt. Classes take place all day, giving students the option for before school or some that take place after school and early evening.
The goal of the Body Challenge is to use the system to burn fat during the four weeks. Their guarantee ensures that clients will lose at least eight pounds or 3 percent of their body fat over the 28 days spent at their workout facilities or receive a full refund for the Body Challenge. When not at class, people who participate in the Seung-ni Body Challenge will also be provided with a research-proven nutrition plan with special guidelines to keep them eating healthy after their workouts. The plan consists of eating healthily, but still eating a good amount which will sustain the feeling of being full during workouts and the rest of day.
At the end of the four weeks, participants will notice changes in fitness, muscle tone and sometimes even weight. Following the end of the Body Challenge, there are also prizes awarded for outstanding participants.
For Cupal, the body challenge isn’t about losing weight or changes in dramatic changes in muscle tone, it is about feeling confident in yourself and accomplishing something you didn’t think was possible.
“My personal goal is to win the free memberships at the end of the month,” Cupal said. “You can win three free months and a t-shirt, which is pretty cool. My other goal is to look better before spring break, and just generally be happy with my body and be in better shape.”
After starting the challenge on Jan. 11. Cupal has spent almost every day training at Seung-ni and using her eating guidelines to have healthy meals to contribute to getting in shape.
“The classes are really fun,” Cupal said. “They’re intense, but I always have a good time working out. The sessions go by so quickly. I can tell that I’m burning a lot of calories, but I never dread going to workouts.”
No matter what students decide to do with their time over the winter months, places such as Seung-ni are available to help participants stay in shape when it’s too cold to exercise outside.
