Entertrainers now in town

By Cheranka Mendis

Hailing from Colombia, which she claims is the heart and home of Rumba dancing, Eli Usma Brownlie is all about keeping your feet moving and your body healthy. Having opened Entertrainers – a group fitness studio at Lifestyle Fitness Centre down Sir Marcus Fernando Mawatha in November, Eli joins Weekend FT to express her passion for exercise, training and dance.

The journey of Entertrainers started in 2006 when three sisters Eli, Laura and Clara moved in to Melbourne at the same time. Their love for Zumba and training led them to start Entertrainers which is now a sought after group in the Australian community. With over 150 classes running in major gyms in Australia at one time, Entertrainers then went on to establish themselves in Sri Lanka and the sisters native country, Colombia.

Following are excerpts:

Q: How did all of this start?

A: We are three sisters – Laura, Clara and I, and we love this – training and dancing. I started my training 15 years ago and in 2003 I came to Sri Lanka because my husband was working here. After awhile we moved to Melbourne and at that same time my sisters also settled in there. We decided to do this then as this is something we all loved equally. After a few discussions etc we went ahead with Entertrainers. We developed classes and concepts such as dancefit, pumpfit and pilatesfit and we enjoy every minute we put into all this.

Q: Were your sisters into training as well like you?

A: Yes they are. Professionally Clara is a Product Design Engineer working with a University to develop disable wheelchairs for rugby sports- therefore she is into fitness equipment among others. Laura is an International Business Manager with qualifications in group fitness. I have 15 years of experience in the fitness industry. I am a master trainer. I have all the diplomas and qualifications for fitness. I also did a MBA in Australia in Master in Business and I also have a law degree behind me.

While I operate the first studio in Sri Lanka, Clara continues her work in Australia at our Ashburton Studio and prestigious group fitness clubs in Melbourne including Virgin Active, Melbourne City Baths, Recreation Health clubs, Victoria leisure centres and many more. Laura is establishing Entertrainers Group Fitness Studios in Colombia.

Q: We heard about this as one of the best Zumba classes…?

A: Columbia is the house of Zumba. Zumba fitness was created in USA by Beto Perez who was fro, Columbia as well. In Colombia since the 1950’s instead of aerobics we usually do dance. In Columbia Zumba classes are called ‘Rumba classes’ and these are primarily dance classes. What happens is people go dance in the gyms to the music we are born with i.e. Meringue, Salsa, Patchanga- all these dances from Latin America. There is also a special form called Makale which is an Afro Caribbean dance from Columbia. Beto took the concept from our fitness oriented spirit and took it to US and created a brand called Zumba fitness. Zumba fitness is not only dance fitness class, but they also a group fitness class. The aim is to create an environment where people who are not too much into gyms can come and exercise as groups.

Q: What programmes do you offer here when it comes to dance?

A: Entertrainers is a group and personal fitness solutions provider and we have a diverse range of classes. We have Zumba because it is widely recognised and people like to dance. But we also have our own brand of programmes such as Dancefit. In Zumba you are obliged to play 70% of Latin rhythms in classes, if you play more than that you’re infringing the license agreement. Dancefit which is much like Zumba is a freestyle class so the instructor is allowed to play any kind of music they like and we normally play whatever is trendy. People can choose their music and it is a freestyle programme.

Q: Any other programmes you offer?

A: We have a whole set of programmes such as Pumpfit, Cyclefit, Dancefit, Boxfit, Cardiofit, Femfit, Friendsfit, Personalfit, Platesfit, Kidsfit,, Pumpfit among others.

Q: What would you say are the most popular?

A: Pumpfit is among our popular ones after Zumba. It is designed with fitness barbells. It’s a lightweight class and specially designed for toning and strengthening. At Pumpfit, you do your toning and strengthening to music. We have created a gym routine and people come here and do the routine. Instead of doing it alone in the gym, they can now do it in groups and we have a personal trainer and group trainer who are qualified to teach the routine and they will take them through a 45 minute routine.

Another is Femfit- a ladies only programme conducted in a room specially made for them. We did this thinking of the local population. We know that there is a big Muslim community here and even in general ladies prefer their own room. We have also developed a ladies only programme for this purpose.

Q: Why a special programme for ladies?

A: Not only here, even in Australia and the US ladies make up for 80% of group fitness participation. So we decided to develop a programme especially for them so they can work on their thighs, abdominal, triceps which are the things women like to work on. Here we aim for weight loss- it is the perfect workout to lose weight as it combines strength and cardiovascular activities.

We do strength exercises and make them use their muscles and cardiovascular system. In order to sustain a muscle in the body it requires more calories so the more muscle you have more calories you burn. If you don’t have much muscle it is likely you store the rest of the calories in fat because the body does not need to use it for body condition. A muscle takes a lot of calories to maintain, that is why when you stop going to the gym then you lose your muscle.

But this programme aims for toning. This means slim and tight muscle not bulk muscle.

There are three ways to train – toning, shaping and strength. Shaping is the big guys in the gym when they do a special workout with higher weights and slow repetition. Here we do high repetition with weights so that there is enough to feel the tension in the muscle and to create muscle- so its endurance and strength programmes.

In the studio we can only fit in five people so it is like semi personalise training.

Q: You also train people as trainers here?

A: Entertrainers is a fitness academy. We started in Melbourne and created a group of instructors and developed them for three years. At the moment we have 15 instructors, the first 15 instructors in Sri Lanka. They are all locals. We started the training back in December. They get training in music, fitness choreography, anatomy, kinesiology (human movement) and physiology. They are trained to understand how the body moves and what a person is required to do in order to achieve goals.

Training for the second batch will start end February. Those who would like can apply now.

Q: Are you involved in special training and such activities as well?

A: We have a group running programme in the morning for those training for the Colombo marathon in October. We have this three times a week and we coach them in how to develop their skills as a runner. I am collaborating with the Ministry of Education on standardising the fitness industry. They are going to train people on which are the right standards to follow so that people are conducted in the right way. I got the chance to express and share international knowledge. We also work with Ministry of Sports having developed and launched the inaugural public servants Fit-For-Work programmeme. We are also working on a number of other initiatives to help the ministry develop the group fitness industry and further develop a healthy and active Sri Lanka.

Q: Any new programmes in plan?

A: In February we are going to start a programme called Boxfit which is inspired by mixed martial arts. It has half an hour endurance and cardiovascular and half and hour with boxing equipments in pairs.

Q: What makes you so passionate about such training?

A: I started my training when I was doing law in Columbia. I have been doing sports since I was seven. My parents always told me that the most important thing is to have active lives. My dad is a doctor and he encouraged me and my mum to try everything we liked. They took me roller-skating, tennis etc and told me to choose what ever I liked but I had to choose something. I played Tennis and I still play the game. I played for my national team in Columbia as a kid. I also played National University Volleyball for about ten years. We won championship in the University and we had a really good time and I loved it.

When I came here I saw the response and it was overwhelming. Training makes me happy. Having a healthy lifestyle is the best treasure you can ever have. It makes you healthy and happy and it makes you a kinder person and it helps you with stress management.  Benefits of exercise is not just looking good but feeling good and smarter as well.

Pix by Upul Abayasekara