RELEASED: Oct. 14, 2004

DANVILLE, KY—By day Marlene Settles crunches numbers. By night she crunches abs.

Settles, who works in the finance office at Centre, is a certified Pilates instructor. She teaches classes two days a week for Centre's students, faculty and staff at the Presbyterian Church.

Pilates was developed in the 1920s by Joseph Pilates to be used as physical therapy. Today these exercises, which are a series of controlled movements, focus on strength, core alignment and weightlifting, using your own body as resistance.

Settles has been doing Pilates for more than two years and acquired her certification to teach from Power Pilates of New York. She says she has always enjoyed fitness going back to when she was a track athlete in high school. She has also taught kickboxing classes as a physical education elective for Centre students.

Settles says Pilates is something that she can do the rest of her life. Posture is improved with this exercise, which helps with everyday aches and pains, she adds.

"It's so beneficial to your whole well-being — your body and your mind," Settles says.

She hopes the students in her classes develop a lifetime habit of exercise and feel better because they're gaining strength and becoming more aware of their bodies.

"This is the first time I've ever taken a Pilates class and I'm really enjoying it," says Amy Wilson '99, administrative assistant for parent programs at Centre. "I decided to take it because I know Marlene and that makes me feel more comfortable in the class. Marlene is very enthusiastic and encouraging. She's extremely energetic and is in great shape herself, which is one of my goals. I really feel like I get a good workout in the class. I find sometimes that it's hard for me to motivate myself to exercise by myself, so I like going to a class where there are others around to keep me going. "

Kay Drake, director of human resources and administrative services, is motivated by Settles and the location of the class.

"I really enjoy the convenience of the class being on the edge of campus," she says. "Marlene is terrific at providing everyone with different levels of the exercises—and encourages participants to do what they're comfortable with, whether that's the beginning or more advanced movements."

"I feel so energized afterwards that I can't help coming back," says Leslie Hast, a freshman from Owensboro, Ky.

For those interested in taking a class, Settles teaches on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4:45 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church. She also teaches at the Ephraim McDowell Wellness Center on Mondays and Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. For more information, call Settles at (859) 238-5453.

- end -

Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.

Back to News and Events Home Page