A new fitness center has opened on Niagara Street in Black Rock. LaMovement Fitness is owned and operated by Lancia “LaLa” Woods, who first started the business back in 2013. LaLa started off as a certified Zumba instructor, after she realized that her current lifestyle needed a change-up. She went from eating unhealthy foods, to getting in shape. She figured that if she could do it for herself, then she could do it for her friends. LaLa is also the founder of the Get Up & Get Active Movement (G.U.G.A.) Not only is the movement growing in Buffalo, her instructors are heading to Atlanta next month to teach, and they have taught classes as far away as Kenya!
The GUGA movement was founded with the belief that the most important thing that one needs to do is get up, and get active, whether that means taking a walk, or a bike ride, or joining a gym. The movement is all about creating awareness that a sedentary lifestyle is not good for one’s constitution. “We teach people who are big and tall, and short and small,” says LaLa. “We trick people into having fun, so that they don’t think that they are exercising. We do that by offering programming such as silent disco, women empowerment, and line dancing.
“Years ago, I found myself living the Buffalo life,” explains LaLa. “No matter where I went, there was good food, a party, drinking, and staying out late – all the unhealthy things. The bad habits contributed to a major weight gain in college. So I started to push myself. I was a dance major – I began to eat healthier and dance. I learned that by dancing I could lose the weight, and it was a lot of fun. That’s what we do at La’Movement Fitness… we teach people that it’s not exercise when they are having so much fun.”
LaLa teaches free fitness classes at Canalside on Wednesdays at 7pm, and MLK park on Saturdays at 10am.
At La’Movement Fitness, there are lots of fitness options for lots of different people, such as La’X, La’Abs, LMF Kids Fit, and event private events. Over the years, LaLa has participating in numerous exercise programs to help get inner city kids in shape. She started off by bringing her instructors to a couple of schools. Now she’s teaching classes at upwards of 25 inner city schools. “The kids need to eat right, and get exercise,” LaLa mentions. “We need to teach people at a young age the importance of living a healthy lifestyle, so that they have good habits later on in life. We teach important life lessons.”
While she is still involved with helping out people, so that they can help themselves, LaLa’s biggest venture to date is opening La’Movement Fitness at 1888 Niagara Street in Black Rock. “We moved in May 1st,” says Lala. “I just had the grand opening because everyone was asking me to. It’s been a whirlwind of a summer. Thankfully we received Ignite funding from 43North and Facebook. We’re using those funds to hire more instructors.”
Just like Black Rock is on a roll, Lala is also on a roll. She’s one busy woman. And that’s a good thing, because the busier she gets, the healthier Buffalo gets. If you’re looking to get healthy, and have fun while doing it, be sure to check out the various class schedules at La’Movement Fitness online, and on Facebook.