Watch out, Zumba – Piloxing is the hot new way to stay healthy while having fun!

Founded by a former dancer, Piloxing combines standing Pilates, boxing, and dance to tone the body and burn fat. To intensify the workout, weighted gloves are usually worn and exercises are done to 145 beat-per-minute music. Piloxing gained popularity quickly, and there are now more than ten thousand certified instructors in over fifty countries.

To test the trend, campers at the 2015 BOUNCE (Behavior Opportunities Uniting Nutrition, Counseling, and Exercise) summer camp, in Houston, Texas, tried Piloxing for the first time.

“It was hard but cool,” said Kyla Carrier, 12. “You get to have fun while working out.”

The BOUNCE camp was founded in 2005 by Dr. Norma Olvera and her research team at the University of Houston and is held annually to empower Hispanic and African American girls, aged 9 to 14, to live healthy lifestyles. Campers and their parents are exposed to physical activities as well as nutrition and self-esteem counseling during the multi-week-long camp.

After exercising vigorously all week at BOUNCE camp, Melissa Chible, 11, especially appreciated how “Piloxing helped with soreness.”

“I do Zumba a lot,” said the volunteer Piloxing instructor Olga Hernandez, “but Piloxing is able to provide that extra challenge I need.”

To find out more about BOUNCE, visit http://bounce.uh.edu.

Today’s post was written by a new guest blogger, Joyce Chen, who is President of the Teen Board of The Oliver Foundation, a Houston-based 501(c)(3) non-profit operating foundation dedicated to the prevention of childhood obesity.