Dear Editor:

I’ve never found an exercise class that comes anywhere close in quality to Mary Baudo’s Low Impact Aerobics class. There is so much that I could say about it.

In her overflowing class of sometimes 50 people, she somehow manages to always be aware of how every single person is performing. She will immediately spot the person who doesn’t look quite right. She will stop and ask how they are and whether they need to take a break.

She notices everyone’s form. She will quickly point out corrections, but do it in a way that only the person she intends knows exactly who she is referring to.

She has planned all the exercises better than on any professional tape or DVD that I have seen. Each sequence of moves in done in a way to minimize possible injury to the muscles. For each different muscle that we use, she gradually increases both the range of motion and the speed of the movement.

On any leg or arm exercise, she will have us move them first in one direction, then in the opposite direction and then only when we are warmed up, will she switch to the full range of motion.

She always is able to think ahead to the next set of moves and prepare us verbally for what we are to do next. During the class she is often recommending other YMCA classes, programs and events that thinks may interest us.

But most of all, being a polio survivor with limited flexibility, Mary’s class has been invaluable to me.

What a loss to our Y!

John Pankowicz
Boothbay Harbor