Twerk N’ Tone Group Fitness Instructor Christian Canastuj
Christian Canastuj has taken Group Fitness at UREC to a new level with Twerk N' Tone. The numbers of people who take his class are consistent and the participants love him. During the Fall Semester of 2022, Christian brought the idea of incorporating more educational opportunities surrounding twerking and its connections and origins to various cultures. Starting off this past Spring semester, that was his goal and Christian has done a fantastic job adding those elements to the class. This class incorporates Afrobeat, Latin, and club-like moves to create an immersive fitness experience for all participants. In the Spring Semester of 2023 he taught 24 regular Twerk N’ Tone classes for the Group Fitness schedule and 2 additional Twerk N’ Tone classes during the month of April for Diversity Celebration in collaboration with the Diversity Celebration Committee. The total numbers for these classes this semester is 246 unique users and 609 total users.
His class was recently voted "Best Fitness: Twerk N' Tone" for 2023 in The Appalachian. Comments from participants include “Love Christian and the class, it’s always super fun”, BEST CLASS EVER!!... I hope to someday teach Twerk N' Tone”, “I’ve been going to Twerk N' Tone for a few weeks now, usually two days a week. It’s such a fun way to decompress at the end of the day and to be active and get whatever I need to out of my system. Christian is a great instructor. I can tell he cares a lot about the class, and puts effort into making it enjoyable as well as beneficial. Almost every week he comes up with a new routine to challenge us which I really appreciate. I don’t know what I would do without this class.” (Plus many more positive comments.)
Christian takes pride in his class and ensures an inclusive and fun environment. He is planning to present the class concept at the next Southeast Collegiate Fitness Expo to bring this class to other fitness professionals and represent App State, and highlight the diversity and inclusion efforts we are trying to incorporate in our programs and services. We are so proud of everything he has accomplished and can’t wait to see what happens next.