New MVP Fitness Courts offer free classes, boost community health

You may have noticed beautiful new fitness courts popping up in parks in your area. Some MVP Fitness Courts were installed last summer. But this summer, they’re being put to good use for the first time with free classes, and CBS 6 got an inside look.

“I hate push-ups,” CBS 6’s Lara Bryn said.

“But the look so good!” said the instructor.

“They do?”

“They do! Elbows at 45 [degrees], core’s tight.”

“Sick,” joked Bryn.

Bryn may hate push-ups, but she’ll do them if someone tells her to in a fitness class, and apparently she’s not alone.

“I really feel like I feel so much better after having come to these exercise classes. It’s wonderful,” said Claire Pugliese, of Rotterdam.

Pugliese has taken many classes with MVP Health Care, but this was her first at the new MVP Fitness Court at Tawasentha Park in Altamont, where they’re offering 30 free classes all May and June. It’s one of nine new fitness courts in the Capital Region and 31 in the state.

“I was going to say this looks a little intimidating,” said Pugliese. But Claire pulled it off, and so did all the other people in class, even just minutes after being told how to do all the moves.

“We are going to work our back, which we need for our posture. We need a strong back,” the instructor explained to the students.

“Really it opens the door to let people exercise and move through the fitness court zones at their own pace,” said MVP Health Care Community Initiatives Manager Brandi Landy.

The free classes in Altamont over the next month-and-a-half include strength training, tai chi, yoga, zumba and total body circuit classes. The physical benefits of using these courts are obvious, but there are also mental benefits. “Releasing stress, and it can help with sleep improvement and improved focus, so a lot of benefits there,” said Landy.

There are also social benefits. “It just becomes a great social event a few times a week because right now I’m taking three classes a week with MVP. I just feel better, just being around people,” said Pugliese.

These classes run through June 25th, but they’re hoping to add another batch of classes in late summer or early fall.

If you’d like to register in advance for any of these classes, you can do so here.