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Sweat Equity

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Posted on Tuesday, 05.20.08

SWEAT EQUITY

Give your body a 1-hour tuneup

BODY SHOP | ***

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY

Body Shop is popular and most everyone is a regular. This leads to a fast pace, with about 15 or more movements coming one after the other with little break between. Novices will fall behind, but thanks to a wall-length mirror and people all around you, it's easy to catch up. Instructor Lem Brown is adept at making sure students are using proper form.

The music seldom slows, but Brown's push-ups are slower by design, more intense, so you'll follow his count, not the song's tempo. His abs exercises are especially effective, with an emphasis on crunching the core and flanks.

If you're in shape and you fall into Brown's rhythms, Body Shop isn't difficult to follow. The moves are logical, familiar and smooth and tackle every part of the body. That doesn't mean it's easy. This is a serious, exhausting workout.

FUN FACTOR

You're moving constantly and hitting every muscle group. Body Shop is fun. Brown knows his stuff, monitors everyone's progress, and recalls students by name even if they have been AWOL for a bit. That personal touch, combined with solid coaching, has made me a fan.

TO DO IT

Body & Soul Fitness Club, 355 Greco Ave., Coral Gables; 305-443-8688; www.bodyandsoulgym.com

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday, 11 a.m. Saturday.

Cost: $14.

Brown's other classes, Awesome Hour and LEM -- The Workout, alternate Monday-Tuesday, Thursday-Friday. Check schedule.

Rating Scale: Zero (Worthless) to Four Stars (Outstanding)

BY HOWARD COHEN

hcohen@MiamiHerald.com

If your body's broken down by the side of the road, pull into Lem Brown's Body Shop class. It won't stay flabby for long if you can get up to speed with this energetic workout -- or his other two classes (Awesome Hour and LEM -- The Workout) -- at Body & Soul Fitness in Coral Gables.

I've taken all three on occasion since last summer. For Sweat Equity, I'll focus on Body Shop. It's Brown's favorite. ''There are nuances to it; you can do it and still come back and get more out of it,'' he says.

Body Shop is a 60-minute routine with light hand weights and it closes with push-ups and abdominal crunches. The class is stylized to the music, which ranges from pop to R&B to dance.

''Every song is a routine,'' Brown says, and 13 or 14 of them pound out of the stereo in a rush. Participants clutch five-, six- or eight-pound weights for overhead presses, squats, biceps and triceps work, and lateral twists. You'll hustle from move to move.

Awesome Hour is more like a personal training session and its slower pace allows for the use of heavier weights.

LEM -- The Workout uses medicine balls for a serious core workout.

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