If Barbara Spaulding had it her way, there would be a fitness program for large-size women in every health club in every city in the United States.
Spaulding, who calls herself fit and fat, has been teaching low-impact aerobic exercise classes for plus-size women for more than 10 years. The Palatine resident believes fitness should be available to anybody at any size and that large men and women get the same benefits from exercise as the normal-size population.
“I started saying this 12 years ago, and I’m still saying it,” Spaulding said.
Spaulding is doing more than talking, though. She’s bringing an awareness of the importance of exercise for the sake of health rather than weight loss (although losing weight is not discouraged) through programs being offered at two northwest suburban YMCAs.
Stephanie Grygiel, health and fitness director of the Lattof YMCA in Des Plaines, believes Spaulding’s “Plus-Size Fitness Class” is such a good program that she’s planning to offer the class at the beginning of 1998.
“We’re always promoting exercise for people who are sedentary,” Grygiel said. “Although we haven’t had a class like this in the past, we have had requests for easy-does-it exercise classes, and this is something we really want to do.
“One of the great things about Barb’s class is the focus on health and fitness as a whole, body image and feeling good about yourself–and not so much on weight loss and being thin.”
Next year, the Buehler YMCA in Palatine will introduce Spaulding’s class–“Plus Size Body and Soul”–from 7:30 to 8:20 p.m. Tuesdays, with an optional group discussion afterwards, and 9:30 to 10:20 a.m. Saturdays. Both classes begin the week of Jan. 4.
“This is a new venture for Buehler, and we’re very excited about it,” said Victoria Long, health enhancement director. “Everyone is welcome at the YMCA, and we want to offer programs that appeal to and satisfy various needs.”
“I think the YMCAs are committed to serving this market because, the truth is, it hasn’t been served before,” said Spaulding, who has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in social work from Loyola University of Chicago.
According to research conducted at the Cooper Clinic for Aerobic Research in Houston and reported in the October 1997 issue of Bicycling magazine, overweight people who are fit actually have lower death rates than normal or underweight people who are unfit.
Spaulding’s class differs from a typical exercise class taught in health clubs and fitness centers. It is designed and taught by a large woman who has been there, is there, and who knows what it’s like to be a large woman in a society that doesn’t accept the concept of fit and fat.
You can get a flavor of Spaulding’s class from her rules for exercise:
– Absolutely no thong leotards, unless used for headbands.
– You must be willing to laugh in class.
– If “Fitness at Large” isn’t fun, you may try to avoid it. So we will have fun.
– You have the right to be real women and sweat all you want.
– Creative dance is encouraged. If you don’t like something I do, please make up something better.
– This is a “no pain, all gain” class.
– Plus-size women do not need to wait to find out how wonderful movement is or wait to “lose weight” before starting an exercise program.
In her classes, Spaulding brings a sensitivity to the difficult issues large women face–body hatred, shame and embarrassment–as they walk into a health club.
Spaulding can relate to her clients as she recalls her own stories.
“I have always been someone who loved movement and exercise, but I remember back in high school feeling humiliated when I wasn’t given a swimsuit that fit properly,” she said. “Then there were visits to health clubs, where I was always the largest in the class and found it degrading and felt as though I didn’t fit in. The attitude was work harder and lose weight, with no promotion of self-acceptance. These things sparked my thinking that something is wrong here.”
To fill the gap in the fitness industry, 12 years ago Spaulding and Carolyn Schmidt of Tinley Park began teaching an exercise class called “Plus Size Fitness” on the North Side. The class continued for six years.
Since then, Spaulding has expanded her teaching to include large-size exercise classes at Illinois Masonic Hospital on Chicago’s North Side and at Abundia, an annual retreat for plus-size women held at LaSalle Manor retreat center in Downstate Plano.
Deb Potter of Chicago was originally Spaulding’s student and has assisted her in teaching for 10 years.
“Her class is so much fun, you don’t even think about the fact that you’re exercising,” Potter said. “The class helps you feel good about yourself the way you are; it’s a body acceptance class too.”
Spaulding says she consistently hears from women in her class that they have more energy, they feel better, their cholesterol level has gone down, they are off medication and, in general, they start feeling good being in their bodies.
“Some of these women never thought they could enjoy exercising or never believed they could make it through a whole class,” she said.
Spaulding’s class is designed so that anybody of size will be able to pace the class to their own needs. The movements, while aerobic, are always low impact and involve bigger physical movements and more freedom in terms of being able to move more freely, along with a dose of encouragement.
Laura Frost of Chicago, who was in Spaulding’s original class as well as one last fall, is comfortable with who she is and doesn’t mind saying that at 5-foot-3, she’s almost a perfect square.
“I feel comfortable doing the exercises and moving, and it’s very invigorating,” Frost said. “Barb has a great class, a great philosophy, and I’d like to encourage more people who are overweight to do it, not as a means to weight loss but as a means to being healthy.”
At the end of each class, Spaulding guides the class through a relaxation exercise, which begins like this: “While we are doing our final stretch of the day, allow yourself to think positively about your body.”
Spaulding believes we live in a society that tells everybody they haven’t measured up. “We all suffer from the `not enough’ syndrome,” she said. “When you’re large or overweight, it becomes about weight. If it’s not the weight, it’s brains, money or beauty. It’s always something. Very few people look in the mirror every morning and say, `Oh, you’re beautiful.’
“I don’t want to come across as an angry fat person, because I don’t believe I am. I think we’re all victims of this culture we live in, and I don’t think it’s just large women. But for large women, exercise and the fitness industry really haven’t had a place for us.”
And that is what Spaulding is trying to do. She explains: “I think a plus-size fitness class with a plus-size instructor offers other large women a place where they can feel at home.”
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For information, call Stephanie Grygiel at the Lattof YMCA in Des Plaines at 847-296-3376 or Victoria Long at the Buehler YMCA in Palatine at 847-359-2400.
