By Meg Peters
Review Staff Writer
A unique fitness center that opened Tuesday in Lake Orion is offering free group fitness classes the entire week.
Women’s Excellence in Wellness, powered by Movestrong, is located at 1410 S. Lapeer Rd. and represents a partnership between local physicians and fitness gurus. Please review the fitness class schedule at the bottom of the story for class times.
Adrienne LeGasse Montgomery, the 27-year-old Lake Orion resident and business co-owner, opened Movestrong as a second location for her first fitness center, Movestrong, DeClaire Medicine for Movement in Rochester Hills.
While both fitness facilities are partnerships with separate medical practices? Jeffrey DeClaire M.D. of The DeClaire LaMacchia Orthopaedic Institute and Jonathon Zaidan M.D. of Women’s Excellence in Lake Orion, Movestrong Lake Orion offers something a little different.
‘I’m very excited to offer the Lake Orion community a space to have group fitness classes because that was something I was looking for as a new resident last year and couldn’t find,? Montgomery said. ‘Our main goal is to offer expertise and give the community what they want, so for the first couple of months we will gear each class to the demographic who shows up.?
Each class will be modified according to beginner, intermediate and advanced fitness levels, Montgomery said, dependent on age, medical history and fitness ability of the participants. Each of the group fitness teachers will be certified through either the American College of Sports Medicine or the National Academy of Sports Medicine.
‘Especially with Dr. Zaidan’s and Dr. DeClaire’s practices we are going to be very conscious,? she said. ‘If we are working with people with orthopaedic issues we could gear those classes to relieving joint pain and increasing strength. If we are working Dr. Zaidan’s patients, maybe they are looking for postnatal weight loss, so those classes would be higher intensity and more cardio based.?
Between strength training classes and weight classes, aerobics, cardio and yoga, Montogmery believes there is a class for everybody. Beginners can breath easily too, knowing there will be basic classes to teach correct form and foundational movements.
‘This means a lot to our practice,? Dr. Zaidan said, a board certified obstetrician and gynecologist and owner of Women’s Excellence, which offers several entities for women’s health in the same plaza. ‘I think it’s important to have someone who really understands fitness from A-Z as opposed to somebody who just understands the health care. Adrienne has a wealth of experience in fitness, and that is somewhere we can coexist’we can provide the health care component and she will provide the fitness care.?
Movestrong Lake Orion will also be offering nutritional consultations and personal training sessions.
Montgomery, who is trained in kinesiology, health and wellness, is also a professional dancer, which adds another element to the fitness center.
‘I’m trying to create something unique with our fitness classes so we are going to incorporate a lot of music. Instead of it just being the background I want it to be part of the class,? she said.
Community members who couldn’t make it to the free classes during the first week will still get their freebie the first time they take a class.
The free classes will be offered Wednesday through Saturday. Free classes will be offered Wednesday at 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Thursday’s freebies are at 5:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 5:30 p.m., and 7 p.m. Friday’s are 5:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m., and 5:30 p.m. Saturday’s are 8 a.m., 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday classes will be at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., and Monday’s classes will be at 5:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 5:30 p.m., and 7 p.m. View the class schedule at www.dl-ortho.com/movestrong/programs-and-services/wellness-center/class-schedule/.
Movestrong is located in the same plaza as We Care Pharmacy and Belle Tire on Lapeer Rd..