JUKARI Fit to Fly makes fitness fun again by introducing a new way to move in a gym workout and is accessible to all women, regardless of fitness levels. The hour-long workout has been created on a specially-designed piece of equipment called the FlySet. The result is a workout that gives the sensation of flying while strengthening and lengthening the body through cardio, strength, balance and core training.

The class will launch in top gyms in fourteen cities around the world: Sport Club (Buenos Aries, Argentina), Balthus (Santiago, Chile), World Gym (Seoul, Korea), Pure Fitness (Central, Hong Kong), CHI Fitness by Clark Hatch International (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), Reebok Sports Club Madrid (Madrid, Spain), Reebok Sports Club Canary Wharf (London, U.K.), Pure Fitness & Health (Krakow, Poland), Body and Soul - Brunnthal (Munich, Germany), Gym du Plateau, Mansfield Club, Club Sportif MAA (Montreal, Canada), Custom Designed Reebok Gym Exclusively for Celebrities (Los Angeles, CA), Reebok World Headquarters Gym (Boston, MA), and Equinox Fitness (New York City, NY).

The Reebok-Cirque du Soleil partnership and JUKARI Fit to Fly workout are the direct result of insights into what women really want from exercise. A survey of 15,000 women across 25 countries in 2008 found that while nearly half of all women know that exercise and keeping fit is very important to their overall health, less than 25% participate in fitness often. Specially-commissioned Reebok research looked at why this might be. The findings showed that nearly two thirds (61%) of all women would workout more if it was more fun. More than half (54%) felt exercise was a chore.

Says Katrin Ley, Head of Womens at Reebok, “These insights proved women perceived exercise as a chore, were unmotivated and uninspired to exercise but would workout more often if the gym was fun. The combination of Reebok’s heritage in women’s fitness and the fun, excitement and innovation that Cirque du Soleil brings to their craft meant that we are in a unique position to provide a solution to this need. The result is a whole new way to move through the JUKARI Fit to Fly workout and a new range of products to wear, designed specifically for women.”

JUKARI Fit to Fly isn’t just fun to take part in, it is an effective hour-long total body workout of cardio, strength, balance and core training. A trained instructor guides a class of up to 12 people through the workout moves4 using the FlySet. The FlySet hangs from the gym ceiling and has been designed specifically for JUKARI Fit to Fly.

The FlySet consists of a durable three-stranded rope fixed to the ceiling with a 360 degree swivel point at an adjustable length with two attachment loops. The FlyBar, a 4.5lb neoprene coated attachable steel bar, is placed through the two loops, which can be varied in height, to create an apparatus that strengthens and lengthens the body as you experience the sensation of flying during the workout.

Leslie Calvagne, Reebok’s Training Director for JUKARI Fit to Fly, worked with Cirque du Soleil for 12 months to create the workout and the equipment. She said, “We set ourselves the task of creating the ‘smile while you’re sweating’ workout and the hundreds of women who have already taken this class tell us we have succeeded. JUKARI Fit to Fly is a head-to-toe workout that is new, different and above all, fun. Working with Cirque du Soleil has been an incredible experience and we are delighted with the result. As are our gym partners around the globe who have seen it, tried it and will be launching it to their members this year.”

As the creative inspiration behind the project, Cirque du Soleil played a crucial role in creating the class. As Lyn Heward, Creative Director of the Reebok- Cirque du Soleil program, says, “From day one, we committed to making sure every move would be inspired by real moves Cirque du Soleil artists do as part of their shows. Anyone taking the JUKARI Fit to Fly class must leave it feeling as if they had experienced something different and with that Cirque du Soleil flair. The skill came in adapting and testing these moves so that they felt real but at the same time easily accessible for anyone.”

To complement JUKARI Fit to Fly, Reebok has also created two collections of women’s fitness apparel and footwear – On the Move and the Reebok-Cirque du Soleil collection. Both consist of product which can be worn for a range of fitness disciplines, from running to yoga, JUKARI Fit to Fly to tennis. All have been developed and designed with a deep understanding and knowledge of the unique way a woman’s body moves. Reebok’s Head of Women’s Apparel Michele Slobin led the Womens Product Creation team and said, “The Reebok On the Move and Reebok- Cirque du Soleil collections provide women with a high level of performance without sacrificing any attention to style and detail. The collections contain versatile pieces that can be mixed and matched together or integrated into every woman’s daily wardrobe, providing a fashionable and contemporary fitness range that can be worn both in and out of the gym.”

Most of Jukari’s signature moves are trapeze-like which involves swinging around and being suspended on air defying gravity. It is the reverse way of getting fit when compared to other gym workouts as with Jukari Fit to Fly you work with an equipment called a FlySet which hangs from the gym’s ceiling and not attached to its floor. Still, Louise Sutton, head of the Carnegie Centre for Sports Performance and Wellbeing at Leeds Metropolitan University, explained that being suspended on air can actually help you relieve tension in different parts of your body. She added that a person’s core muscles “tend to work extra-hard just to keep you in that suspended position.”Among the Jukari signature moves is the “Swing to Straddle Jump” which is actually considered a cardio movement that works on your legs, lats and biceps; the “Lunge with Kick” which works out on your legs and core; the “Hanging Carousel to Straddle” which targets your abductors, lats and abdominals; the “Mountain Climber to Pike” which works chest, triceps, shoulders and core; the “Swing to Tuck Jump” which works on your leg muscles; and the “Mixed Grip Pull-up with Kick” which works the chest, back and legs.