Fit: Master Spanish Steps

» RONALD ALEGRIA'S "Kickboxing en Espanol" classes at the Gold's Gym Silver Spring aren't offered so much in Spanish as they are in mime.

The not-for-the-faint-of-heart (or lungs, or legs) sessions aren't targeted toward Spanish speakers — that just happens to be the language in which Alegria is most likely to yell.

Alegria, who's taught the class for about a year and half, hails from Peru, where he taught martial arts for 15 years; he got into the aerobics game to gain "more hours, more students." But because his English communication skills were what some might call "minimal," the gym billed it as a language-immersion experience. At first, he mostly attracted Spanish speakers, but now it's a mixed crowd. In a class of 20, Alegria estimates that less than a quarter are fluent in Spanish.

Since Alegria still has only limited English-speaking skills, much of the class is conducted simply to the beat of the music — which is nice for anyone sick of over-perky instructors and their constant encouragement. Here, there's only an "Ahora!" to start a combination. Alegria will either yell "OK!" to get your attention or kick something. "If you can't understand," he says, "just follow me."

Since most of the students seem familiar with kickboxing or aerobic moves, the language barrier never seems to be a problem, although first-timers may have trouble copying the more complex steps. (Just remember: The word "rodilla" means "knee.") Sometimes the counting is done in English, sometimes in Spanish. Alegria encourages the class to count along, which sometimes makes for an amusing mix of "siete" and "seven" being called out at the same time. And if you're really not following along, don't worry. Alegria is an energetic teacher who floats around distributing individual attention and encouragement, even if it's limited to a thumbs-up.

Apparently, exercise isn't so different south of the border. After a pretty typical warm-up, the class moves on to martial-arts inspired kicks and punches. The moves build on one another; you'll advance from a basic jab to jab-uppercut to jab-uppercut-kick, and on and on. There's no sparring, but at some point Alegria comes to everyone with a big pad to kick. Demonstration is big, but few students can match Alegria's feats, such as leaping up and kicking at a bar that's six feet off the ground.

At a recent class, first-timer Heidi Kutcher initially said she didn't know Spanish, but then amended it to "I used to work in a restaurant, so I can curse people out." Kutcher took the class on a recommendation from a friend, since she just quit smoking and is "looking to get healthy." Despite her expletive-only Spanish vocabulary, any difficulties in the class came from being new to the moves, not due to the language.

Amy Holman has been taking the course since before Alegria taught it. Although she is fluent in Spanish and has used it professionally, the fact that the class was offered in Spanish was entirely secondary to her: "I just come for the workout." Over the past 18 months, she's noticed that, as Alegria's English has improved, he's inched away from his native tongue. But it hasn't changed the class for her at all. "I'd come if he taught it in Hungarian," she says.

» WORLDLY WORKOUTS:
Punching the air in Silver Spring might just be the closest you're getting to Ibiza this summer. But if your future calls for actual foreign travel — by plane, not by Metro — you can find a way to work out even if your language skills are lacking.

» At Gymvisit.com, simply pick your international destination from a list of more than 60 to check out what's available in the database. Some places are better represented than others; Bulgaria has just three gyms on file, while D.C. alone has nine. But the site's a handy way to target some of the nicer facilities, and it lets you know what kind of equipment, amenities and classes you can expect. As a bonus, a handful of gyms in far-flung locales offer discounted day passes for folks who discover them through the site.

» If you'd rather book a room at a hotel boasting a partnership with a fancy fitness facility, look no further than Fitforbusiness.com. The independent site aims to drive its readers to only the best health clubs — and the lodgings they need to stay in to exercise at them. It's much less comprehensive for overseas travel than domestic, with just eight foreign countries listed. But if fitness fanatics end up in Shanghai, they can spend their nights at the Regal International East-Asia Hotel to score privileges at the Shanghai International Tennis Center (10 courts, a junior Olympic-sized pool, etc.).

» And if lacing up your sneakers is all you want to do, you can find a jogging route just about anywhere at Runtheplanet.com, where visitors log recommended trails. By anywhere, we mean even Antarctica (there are 16 routes listed). We're not sure which language the residents speak there, but you don't need to know it to get going.

With contributions from Express' Vicky Hallett
Photo by Lawrence Luk for Express