Maintaining a successful fitness routine requires you to shake up your workouts occasionally. Trying new exercises not only keeps your muscles and your mind from growing stale, but you’ll burn body fat—and maybe take your eyes off the scale.

“It’s not about the scale,” said Robbie Raugh, registered nurse and fitness trainer from Williamsville. “It’s not about counting calories or points or measuring. What we’re trying to do is lose body fat percentage rather than weight.”

Raugh, who teaches a hot cardio class called Tabata, described it as the best class she has taught in 30 years.

“In terms of results, participants say their fat is melting off of them,” said Raugh, of Bally Total Fitness. “After class they are drenched, and really increasing their muscle mass while decreasing their body fat. It’s a pretty awesome workout. It reminds me of the old days in the gym.”

Another workout—Punk Rope—will take you back to recess with relay races, games of tag and obstacle courses.

While most of the workouts we discovered are really high energy, Couples Yoga offers a different kind of exercise experience that is serene and challenging.

Punk Rope

You can be be a kid again during this cardio-centric workout that features crazy conditioning drills, relay races, core work and, of course, lots of jumping rope.

Think adult recess. No prior jump-rope experience required!

“The idea is to take recess, which is a lot of games, running around and having fun, and pair it with music that’s high energy,” said creator Tim Haft of New York City on YouTube.

Locally, it is offered at two branches of the YMCA, where Southtowns wellness director Erica Tempestoso described it as “two-to three-minute intervals of jumping rope mixed with obstacle courses and relays. We’ll do an obstacle course using scooter boards, and then shoot a basket and do walking lunges on the way back.”

The multitasking nature of Punk Rope improves cardio fitness, coordination, agility, balance and strength. It is routinely offered in a gymnasium with a soundtrack that combines punk, ska, surf rock and samba.

Punk Rope is offered beginning the week of Sept. 12 at Southtowns YMCA, 1620 Southwestern Blvd., West Seneca (674-9622); and Northeast YMCA, 4433 Main St. in Amherst (839-2543).

Couples’ Yoga

A new twist on dinner and a movie, Couples’ Yoga will let you laugh, play and connect with your significant other on a whole new level. Open communication required.

“It’s a total different experience than practicing by yourself, because you know your body, you know your strengths, and you know when to push yourself and when to back off,” said Erin Cook, director of Hand to Heart Yoga on Elmwood Avenue. “When you’re working with someone else, it’s a totally different experience.”

The 90 minutes of togetherness begin with partners seated back-to-back, synchronizing their breathing. Basic stretching follows with the partners maintaining a constant connection, whether it’s holding hands or touching feet. It’s not until the final 15 to 20 minutes that the poses require some strength and a lot of trust.

“My main thing is I want people to laugh, have fun and relax,” said Cook. “I really don’t want you to be serious about this. The poses are not super challenging. I make sure that everyone can at least get to a certain level.

“When going into certain poses, you really have to communicate and trust the other person to be there for you,” said Cook. “There’s a lot of give and take and listening involved. It’s amazing what you can create when working together.”

And then there’s dinner after.

By participating in Couples Yoga, each couple will receive a coupon for one of two selected neighborhood restaurants. Dinner reservations should be made in advance.

Couples Yoga, an ongoing series, will next be offered at 6:30 p. m. Sept. 24 at Hand to Heart Yoga, 425 Elmwood Ave. (507-8422). Participating restaurants are Merge and Betty’s.

Piloxing

Have you ever seen a boxer with a bad body? For that matter, is it not true that Pilates people have physiques to die for? Imagine a high-intensity cardio workout that combines Pilates and boxing.

Swedish dancer and celebrity trainer Vivica Jensen did, and has called her creation PILOXING. So far Hillary Duff and Ashley Tisdale have made their way to the North Hollywood studio to take PILOXING classes with Jensen.

And last month, when Gail Vizzi of Summit Fitness Center in Wheatfield was in Orange County for a Turbo Kick convention, she and two instructors drove to Jensen’s no-frills studio, where they each plunked down $10 for a chance to sweat with the Swede.

“Basically, it’s interval training,” said Vizzi. “Toward the end, we hit the floor for core and abs Pilates moves, and I like to end with a flurry of uppercuts for a good 90 seconds. Before you know it, it’s over and you’re exhausted.”

The 60-minute workout alternates basic punches — jabs, upper cuts, hooks—with lower-body toning exercises including leg lifts and squats. Bicep curls and core work are also in the mix. All movements are simple and clean. Nothing is fancy.

Half-pound weighted half-gloves are worn to help sculpt arms, increase caloric expenditure and — in pink and black — they look good. From 500 to 800 calories can be burned during a one-hour class.

PILOXING starts at 6:30 p. m. Sept. 13 at Summit Fitness Center, 6930 Williams Road, Wheatfield (297-4300).

Tabata

Tabata didn’t really hit this country until this summer, but it was launched back in the ’90s in Tokyo. Today, it’s the hottest workout in Miami, New York City and Los Angeles, according to Raugh, a master trainer who teaches the class in Manhattan and Amherst.

“It’s interval training turned upside down,” said Raugh. “Rather than having longer periods of rest and shorter periods of intensity, we have longer periods of intensity and shorter periods of rest.”

Tabata’s concept is to do as many reps of an exercise as you can with impeccable form, working larger muscle groups before smaller muscle groups so you don’t fatigue your smaller muscles. An estimated 600 calories can be burned in one hour.

The Tabata Method:

• Perform as many repetitions of an exercise as you can for 20 seconds.

• Rest for 10 seconds.

• Repeat seven times, for a total of eight sets.

“I’ve been teaching for 30 years, and this is the best class ever in terms of total results,” said Raugh. “People say their fat melts off of them.”

Tabata is taught Wednesdays and every other Saturday at Bally Total Fitness, 3880 E. Robinson Road (691-4292).

jkwiatkowski@buffnews.comnull