“I’ve some knee issues,” Shalene Schmidt of Ariton mentioned after the category ended. “It’s decrease affect than doing common leaping jacks or lunges. The bungee takes a number of the stress off the place I can do these actions with out hurting in a while.”

Schmidt has been coming to So Fly because it opened final 12 months and mentioned she feels stronger now than she did earlier than.

“I positively have much more power than I used to,” Schmidt mentioned.

Paula Teeter opened So Fly Bungee Health in Might 2021. She stumbled throughout bungee health on TikTok and skim the story of Candace Williams, the creator of Sling Health in Edmond, Oklahoma. An athlete suffering from an autoimmune dysfunction, Williams turned to bungee health when different forms of exercises turned inconceivable for her as a consequence of ache.

Teeter might relate.

A Pilates and aerobics teacher when she was youthful, Teeter’s life-style modified as she aged. Then, when she was 43, she was recognized with breast most cancers and underwent a double mastectomy. The medicine she took for 10 years after that induced Teeter horrible joint ache.

So, at 54, Teeter made the journey to Oklahoma to grow to be licensed by Sling Health. On her second day there, she known as her husband, Terry, and instructed him to begin on the lookout for studio house.

“I might really train with out my hips and knees hurting,” Teeter mentioned.

Teeter acquired the OK from her physician earlier than she went all in on the bungee health studio. Not even a 12 months in enterprise, So Fly acquired the launch award for a brand new enterprise from the Ozark Space Chamber of Commerce, and Teeter has misplaced 50 kilos since she opened her studio.

“I’m in the perfect well being of my life and it’s due to plyometrics,” Teeter mentioned. “That’s what bungee health is; it’s plyometrics.”

She has seen shoppers who’ve had knee and hip replacements return to train.

In a category she lately instructed, Teeter had members that ranged from 16 years previous to 80 years previous. The studio even has a children’ bungee class on Saturdays. Every bungee class can maintain 11 individuals plus the trainer. Followers situated across the studio assist preserve issues cool throughout lessons.

There are a variety of girls who take So Fly lessons, however there are just a few males who commonly attend, Teeter mentioned. There are additionally a variety of totally different physique shapes — quick, tall, spherical, skinny.

“The vast majority of the individuals we see listed below are over 150 kilos as a result of we do have an overweight nation,” Teeter mentioned. “I additionally weigh over 150, however after I began this I weighed 230 and now I weigh 180.”

The bungee cords are made to carry sure weight ranges and may help somebody properly over 200 kilos. Prior to every class, members step on a scale and are assigned a bungee twine primarily based on that quantity. At So Fly, the bungee cords are hooked to cables which might be connected to ceiling beams. The cables swivel to permit for full motion. Customers put on a harness that matches comfortable across the physique however unfastened across the legs. The harnesses are connected to the bungee by a hook on the again, though there’s the choice to be hooked on the perimeters.

Getting the precise twine and harness match is vital in order that customers can droop above the ground with out really touching it. Additionally, a harness that’s too tight throughout the legs will pinch and never enable for full motion.

Teeter begins everybody on a newbie stage class, however there are superior lessons with extra aerial actions and jumps.

Whereas one class might do Peter Pan leaps, one other might go full Superman.

Aerial health isn’t new — Pilates and yoga studios launched silks and yoga hammocks years in the past.

However the bungee health idea, in keeping with earlier media experiences, acquired its begin in Thailand in 2016 and arrived within the U.S. a few 12 months later. As we speak, there are corporations that present coaching certification, bungee gear, and franchise alternatives.

A couple of months after Teeter opened So Fly in Ozark, a second bungee health studio — Fly By Bungee — opened in downtown Dothan however closed after the constructing was bought (the proprietor hopes to open in a brand new house quickly).

So Fly has extra than simply bungee health with a Bounce and Barre trampoline class, one other class that focuses on abs and arms, and a boot camp class. Then, there’s the Kangoo boot leap class the place members train in spring bounce boots (though you must purchase your personal boots). Teeter even has plans to herald a Pound class that makes use of drumsticks to brighten up a complete physique exercise.

You will discover So Fly’s schedule of lessons on the MindBody app or by visiting the studio’s web site, soflybungeefitness.com.

Teeter mentioned she’s glad she introduced bungee health to Ozark. She’s even serving to prepare future studio homeowners out of North Alabama and Louisiana.

“You bought to have the drive to only imagine in it,” Teeter mentioned. “And I do, and I adore it. Does it make you sizzling and sweaty? Yeah. Is it exhausting? Yeah. However I’ve girls which might be near 80 that come right here three days every week. I’ve them as younger as 4… We provide one thing for everyone, and that was actually what I needed to do.”