Keeping sturdy the spirit of ‘Marianas Strong’

Sami Birmingham is shown doing kettlebell swings as part of her online class called “Toilet paper TABATA.”
(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Last of three part

With the stay-at-home directive due to the COVID-19 pandemic, now is the best time to start your journey to physical wellbeing since you can do it right in the comfort of your own home.

Derek Cutting

Thanks to Latte Built-24 Hour Fitness & Nutrition owner Derek Cutting and one of his instructors, Sami Babauta-Birmingham, they keep the fitness fuel burning and transforming people to take charge of their own health and bodies by offering free fitness classes online.

Cutting became a professional personal trainer 10 years ago in Florida. He then brought his training business to Hawaii in 2013 and finally, moved to Saipan in 2015 and started a boot camp called “Latte Built Fitness & Nutrition.”

“…It has been a great way to help hundreds of people every day with their fitness and nutrition goals. …When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out worldwide, we were forced to shut down our physical locations due to the large crowds that our 24-hour gyms naturally generate,” he said.

“One of our class instructors, Kerri Bauer, began offering her ‘Yoga, Pilates, & More’ class live on Facebook, as a way to continue to be there for her regular class participants. We, as a team, began discussing ways to expand on this idea and how we can give back to anyone from around the world who may enjoy following along with an online class. From that it evolved into multiple types of classes being taught live online six days a week by four different Latte Built personal trainers,” he added.

The community can join the free online classes, which may be accessed through the Latte Built Facebook page. Yoga classes are every Monday from 7:30am to 8:30am; Wednesday is “Quarantine Quickie” from 7:30am to 8am, Thursday is “Yoga Core & More”—all with instructor Kerri Bauer.

“TP-Tabata” is every Tuesday from 7:30am to 8am with instructor Sami Babauta-Birmingham. Thursdays is “EV-FIT HIIT” from 7:30am to 8:30am and at 6:30pm to 7:30pm with instructor Enrico, and “LB HOME BOOTCAMP” is every Saturday from 7:30am to 8:30am and at 6:30pm to 7:30pm with instructor Alberto.

“During this time of quarantine, I know many miss their regular schedule of hitting the gym on a daily basis,” Cutting said, hence the migration of their classes online.

“I have always loved to see a client’s face when they realize they reach their goals. It is very fulfilling to me to see not only their facial expression, but more so their energy and aura completely change before my eyes and realize I had a part in helping them,” he added.

For many, the gym has become a type of church, Cutting said, a way for people to release whatever negative energy they may be experiencing and apply it into something healthy for themselves. “It’s rewarding to know our Live Page now has nearly 1,000 members following it and doing the workouts from all over the world and it was only launched one month ago,” he added.

Babauta-Birmingham

Sami Babauta-Birmingham got started with Fitness when she was around 17 years old and was one (of two) of the first licensed Zumba fitness instructors on Saipan.

“I taught Zumba Fitness and Spin at Gold’s Gym and continued teaching Zumba in Guam during my first year of college. A lot of my classes were free at the University of Guam Field House or in support of a fundraiser,” she said. “When I moved to California, I was able to intern as a group instructor assistant in classes like boot camp, circuit training, and boxing. That’s when I shifted from teaching Zumba to teaching more circuit training style.”

As a health care professional, having learned public health in college, Birmingham-Babauta promotes physical activity as a means to improve overall health—to reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases, lower blood pressure, improve heart function, and more.

“Staying active is one of the best things you can do for yourself, and it’s completely free at Latte Built online classes every day. …I work with people to encourage making exercise a part of their daily routine and to see it as something as important as eating lunch, taking a shower, or having your morning coffee,” she said

“When they move from seeing it as a ‘chore’ or ‘cruel punishment’” designed solely to improve physical appearance to understanding the physiological benefit exercise provides and begin to enjoy their body’s ability to be mobile and strong, that brings me the most joy. I think that, during this time, especially the notion of needing a gym disappears and more people are getting comfortable using what’s available in their homes and backyards to get the work done. I love seeing more people empowered to take charge of their health at home,” she added.