Workout of the week: bodyART

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Aida Palau, bodyArt "ambassador" visited the Mansion House in Vineyard Haven to teach classes. — Photo by Kristofer Dan Bergman

Do all great (and all weird) American trends begin with “it’s all the rage in Europe?”

bodyART, a new exercise program created by Swiss physical therapist Robert Steinbacher, swept Europe before coming to the Mansion House Health Club in Vineyard Haven late last year.

I had the privilege to try bodyART on a special weekend of classes with guest trainer Aida Palau, a bodyART “ambassador” from Barcelona. Ms. Palau was fun, attentive, and remarkably unintimidating. No fancy European workout garb, just baggy sweatpants and tee-shirt. But she did have washboard abs that convinced me bodyART might in fact change bodies into works of art. It only took a few minutes to see why: the moves were challenging, even for daily exercisers and frequent yoga-goers.

The flow took us through everything from downward dogs, to squats, to a move where we swung our arms from side to side resembling Michael Jackson’s Thriller dance. By the end, the balance-testing moves had me teetering on tired legs, and sweating on par with an intermediate cardio workout. Overall, it achieved the exercise trifecta of full body cardio, strength-training, and stretching, all within an hour.

bodyART is offered at the Mansion House on Fridays at 9:30 am with Brenda Wallis, who was trained and certified in bodyARTby Robert Steinbacher. Call 800-332-4112 or visit mvmansionhouse.com for more information.