Class combines yoga, tai chi and Pilates

Not everyone's into yoga. Some people could do without the pseudo-spiritual side of things -- the guided meditation, visualizations and mantras. Others complain that yoga's too slow, too boring.

If you're a non-yoga fan, but you're looking for a way to increase your ab strength and flexibility in a relaxing way, consider Group Centergy, a class that combines aspects of yoga, tai chi and Pilates.

Instead of performing salutations and downward dogs as the faint sounds of Indian sitar music or a babbling brook play in the background, in Group Centergy you'll be doing stretching and energizing poses to songs by Beyonce, Paula Abdul or the soundtrack to "Dreamgirls."

"I like the challenge of having the choreography with the poses," says Karen Stoychoff Inman, who teaches Group Centergy classes at Elite Athletic Development, a personal training gym in Arlington Heights.

Stoychoff Inman says setting yoga moves to pop music makes the class accessible to people and also helps your mind from wandering. "You have the music going on in the background to keep your mind going on a different level," she says.

Every hour-long Group Centergy class is divided into nine choreographed segments: a warm-up, followed by sun salutations, then exercises to work your thighs, core, back, abs (which uses a lot of Pilates-based moves), hips and hamstrings, and finally a four-minute active rest session.

Each segment uses moves from either tai chi, yoga or Pilates. For example, in a recent class warm-up, students moved their arms fluidly from the right to the left, as you might do in tai chi. And to work the thighs, you used yoga moves like the downward dog and warrior poses. In the ab segment, you lay flat on the mat and tapped your feet onto the floor, a very Pilates-inspired exercise.

Stoychoff Inman says she gets a new set of songs and routines from the Group Centergy headquarters four times a year, and she says tries to vary the routines every four to six weeks to give the students something fresh.

Lydia Masters, 37, of Arlington Heights, says she likes Group Centergy because the class is faster-paced than previous yoga classes she's taken -- and she feels the class is good for strengthening muscle, not just stretching.

"I think it's just a whole body workout," she says.

Competitive cyclist Chris Perdzock, 33, likes the abdominal workout he gets in the Group Centergy class. "I guess the benefit I'm trying to reach with it is strength in my core," he says. "I'm hoping it will help my biking."

Stoychoff Inman says athletes often don't appreciate how vital it is to have good flexibility. "Without flexibility, you can't use your overall strength," she says. "You become muscle-bound."

Elite Athletic Development director Jim Inman agrees. "If you don't have flexibility, you're fighting against tight muscles," he explains. "For runners, they can get longer stride lengths; bikers can stay in the saddle comfortably for a lot longer."

That's why Inman felt it made sense to add the Group Centergy classes to the offerings at Elite Athletic, which is best known for training marathoners and other high-performance athletes.

Elite Athletic began offering classes in October, making it one of only 10 places in Indiana and Illinois to offer Group Centergy classes. The class schedule was recently expanded to include 10 classes a week. It costs $99 for 11 weeks of classes.

Rita Poklacki, 40, of Palatine, says she normally runs. She's been working with a personal trainer at Elite Athletic who suggested she try the Group Centergy class to give her a more well-rounded workout. After her first class, however, Poklacki says she appreciated the mind-body connection of the class in addition to the strength training.

"I'm kind of a high-stress person, so for me it's a good workout, but it's relaxing," she says. "While you're working, your body's also relaxing."

Group Centergy

Where: Elite Athletic Development, 12 W. College Drive, Arlington Heights

When: 5:30 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; 7 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays; 10:30 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays; 8 a.m. Saturdays

Cost: $99 for 11 weeks

Contact: (847) 394-8110, www.eliteathletic.com