Hey! Ho! Let’s go!
A personal trainer with a penchant for mohawks and safety pins is leading weekly aerobics classes for the punk set in a Bushwick bar. Instructor Haley Degroat, who sings in a punk band called Haley Bowery and the Manimals, said her “Blitzkrieg Bod” class is a perfect melding of her interests — and she thinks other misfits will feel the same way.
“I wanted to teach a class that was more fun and wild and laid back and that would appeal to the kind of person who might be uncomfortable with the elite nature of a lot of fitness classes,” said Degroat.
Degroat has been teaching the class every Friday evening at the Cobra Club for the past month and a half, and creates a new theme for each session. Past themes have included ’70s and ’80s glam, Afro-punk for Black History Month, and an Irish workout for Saint Patrick’s Day.
At the next “Blitzkrieg Bod” on March 27, Degroat plans to celebrate Women’s History Month by kicking out jams from female musicians, getting the class sweating to songs from Blondie, the Runaways, and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.
“The women artists are my favorite, so I like working out to them,” said Degroat.
Degroat calls her style of aerobics “total body conditioning,” using exercises including squats, push-ups, lunges, and dips.
And Degroat said that the class itself espouses punk-rock values, including being cheap and late in the day for those who have been out partying the night before. In true rock ’n’ roll fashion, the $16 session also comes with free booze. Less rock ’n’ roll is that the booze must be consumed after the class.
Students should wear comfortable but punky clothes and sneakers, and bring a towel or yoga mat, Degroat said.
Blitzkrieg Bod at the Cobra Club [6 Wyckoff Ave. between Jefferson and Troutman streets in Bushwick, (917) 719–1138, www.cobra
