Instructors Jenny Golden and Laura Hall prepared the 12 women participating in the StrongWomen program to warm up before they worked out.

“How many people are familiar with ‘Footloose?’ ” Golden asked as several of the women laughed and raised their hands. “I promise we won’t (move) that fast.”

Hall cranked up the Kenny Loggins tune as the women moved their arms, legs and shoulders so their muscles would be able to handle light weight-lifting exercises such as chest presses and leg raises they would be doing during StrongWomen. The 12-week program – which runs Mondays and Wednesdays at The Medical Center’s Health and Wellness Center at Greenwood Mall – focuses on increasing strength, muscle mass and bone density in middle-aged and older women. Cost is $40.

“We’ll squeeze our tummies and let it go,” Golden said as she led the class in an exercise call the “tummy tuck.” “Don’t get intimidated.”

The class was started with the help of a grant through the Kentucky Department of Public Health Osteoporosis Prevention and Education Program, Golden said.

“Women are at risk for osteoporosis. There are six sites in Kentucky doing the program,” she said. “We got a $1,000 stipend to buy equipment.”

The class is kept small to help meet the individual needs of the women, Golden said. They take a physical, fill out an activity questionnaire, and some need to have authorization from a doctor.

“We pre-test and post-test to see how they’ve improved,” she said.

Women sometimes have a misconception of weight training. The purpose of StrongWomen is not to make them bulky, Hall said.

“We’re hoping to improve bone density by adding weights,” she said. “We want to save bone density, but also muscle mass and strength along with that.”

During the chest press exercise, Golden told the group to make their movements slow and controlled.

“Focus on the chest muscle. Squeeze it,” she said as they lay on their backs on the floor and gently pushed up the light weights. “Put everything out of your mind.”

After a few other exercises, the class did leg raises on each limb before Golden prepared them for a second set.

“I thought that was two sets,” one participant said as the others laughed.

After their cool down, some participants talked about their reasons for joining the class.

Debbi Allen of Brownsville said she decided to sign up for StrongWomen after finding out she had medical issues.

“I realized that I needed it,” she said. “I’m trying to get back to doing activity. I want to gain flexibility and strength.”

So far, Allen is still feeling the burn from the previous class.

“My legs were sore this morning,” she said.

Vickie Crosbie of Bowling Green signed up for the class to help strengthen her bones, which have weakened because of osteopenia – a condition in which bone density is lower than normal but not low enough to be classified as osteoporosis.

“I enjoy weights,” she said. “I want to learn the routine enough to do it at home.”

Although StrongWomen is in its first cycle here, it is already catching on with other women.

“We have several paid for the next session in May,” Hall said.

— For more information about StrongWomen, call the Health and Wellness Center at 745-0942 or toll-free at (877) 800-3824 or e-mail info@mcbg.org.