It is called Olefit and it is presented as a fun, effective and cathartic fitness discipline. What is it about?
There are many fitness disciplines that combine aerobic exercise with dance. It is a very complete form of training, with the added bonus of being fun. Salsa, Hip hop, groove, funk, techno and Caribbean rhythms (salsa and bachata, top the list) are the musical styles that already have a place won in the fitness world. And now we will have to add another one to that list: flamenco.
This is the Olefit and was designed by dancers who have great careers in the National Ballet of Spain. "The origin of Olefit lies in some basic elements of Spanish dance and flamenco. Inspired by them as a form of communication and corporal expression, and some fundamental biomechanical principles in the development of their movements ", defines Paloma Gómez, one of the founders, and adds:" The formal articulation of all this, together with techniques and aspects essential fitness, has led to what we are today: a fun, effective and cathartic fitness discipline, capable not only of improving the physical form of practitioners but also their emotional state, since it encourages and causes a process Positive release of emotions. And what is more important, accessible to all audiences. "
Olefit was born at the end of 2015 in Chicago, United States, despite that "it has in its base and matrix the culture that shaped and inspired most of its creators: the Mediterranean culture," adds Paloma Gómez, and argues that the Olefit integrates "Percussion, palmas and zapateado, as well as certain accessories such as castanets, cape or shawl".
In addition, the program includes "small details that take care of all the environment that surrounds the discipline". Like, for example, maintaining a diet based on the Mediterranean diet, "recognized as the most complete, healthy and balanced, as well as a quiet and relaxed way of life", reports Paloma.
The project arose, according to Paloma, from an idea in a dance studio at Northeastern Illinois University, after an intense flamenco class. Seeing the satisfaction in the face of the students, they thought that it could be fantastic to create a new fitness modality to the rhythm of the music of the most festive flamenco styles, which would take the basis of the physical action of the Spanish dance movements.
The classes are aimed at people of any age without previous knowledge of dance or flamenco, improving muscle tone, cardiopulmonary skills and coordination, as well as burning a large number of calories. "In a one-hour dance class you can burn more than 400 calories," says John Vigdal, Norwegian champion of competition aerobics and with different titles worldwide, who provided the specific fitness methodology to the Olefit, which allows structure learning at different levels.
"Olefit is already perceived as an incipient revolution in the world of fitness, as a disruptive discipline that appears as a breath of fresh air in the field of collective classes," enthused Gómez's husband, Luis Lorente, scriptwriter, writer, director and producer with thirty years of work in the world of literature, television, film and theater.
"At Olefit, we understand everyday life as something interesting, that's why we work daily to get out of routine, developing and training the best possible attitude to face the day to day from leisure without ever leaving to take care of ourselves. Its main objective is to develop a new way of understanding fitness, conceiving it as a liberating channel of energies that will lead us directly to both physical and mental well-being, "the two other co-founders explained. , Raquel Gómez, sister of Paloma, and Christian Lozano.
The discipline is already practiced in many cities in the United States and Canada; and this year he finally arrived in Spain, the first European country to have this program. Our country has not arrived yet.
The five levels of the Olefit
1- Attraction (basic level)
Introduction in the movements, coordination and rhythms on which our work will be based on all levels of Olefit.
2-Confidence (Average level)
The exercises are complicated in relation to their execution and their physical demand.
3- Desire (Advanced level 1)
Use of a new element: the castanets.
4- Exaltation (Advanced level 2)
Combination of steps and movements with the use of castanets, increasing their difficulty and the physical work to be done.
5- Ecstasy (extreme level)
Incorporation of the shawl in the case of women and the layer in men, increasing the level of physical effort due to the volume and weight of this.
