Boys & Girls Club kids get moving with celebrity fitness trainer

Fitness trainer Tracy Anderson has helped whip celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow into shape, but she was in Burbank Thursday to lead a few dozen kids in an exercise routine.

Anderson, who has trained Robert Downey Jr., told the children she was the trainer for “Iron Man,” which seemed to earn her some credit on the playground behind the Boys & Girls Club of Burbank and the Greater East Valley.

Then she launched into a session of bouncing, hopping, twisting, fist-pumping and even some old-fashioned push-ups, while tunes like Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off” pumped through a nearby set of speakers.

“Is anybody breathing deep?” Anderson asked about halfway through the workout. “No? I’m going to have to work you harder.”

She had the help of about 30 kids who each demonstrated their “moves” for the group to mimic as part of the aerobics routine. The event kicked off to a partnership between the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Wonderful Halos, a brand of seedless mandarin oranges that’s providing $100,000 in funds and products to the organization.

The sweet, kid-sized fruits are competing with major chip brands, sodas and other sugary snacks, said Brit Beck, marketing director with Delano, Calif.-based Paramount Citrus, which owns the Wonderful Halos brand. The company connected with the Boys & Girls Club as a way to promote healthy choices, she said.

“We love their focus on healthy, active lifestyles,” Beck said.

The agreement will provide resources to local clubs across the country to help them encourage healthy lifestyles, one of the group’s three “impact areas,” said Tim Hogan, national director of corporate partnerships with the nonprofit. The citrus company’s message “is in sync with the message we tell these kids every day,” said Hogan, adding that bringing in Anderson was a unique way to do so.

After a lot of jumping, wiggling and doing dance moves like those in the popular “Harlem Shake” and “Gangnam Style” videos, the kids were still bundles of energy, but Anderson had to call it quits.

“I could workout with you all night, but we have to stop” she said. “I adore you. You’re amazing.”

Anderson said later that in addition to teaching kids to make healthful choices, she sees her work as being about a “bigger message,” that is, “allow every child’s light to shine.”

“I’m very passionate about that,” Anderson said.

Kids are naturally full of energy and curiosity, she said, but they may become discouraged about being physically active because of being picked on or excluded from activities, which is why she believes “they just need to be supported and inspired.”

Sapphyre Price, 17, is Youth of the Year at the Burbank club and, with dance classes almost every day of the week, she stays active, she said. That’s important, she said, with the United States trying to “keep the obesity down.” She said she believes being active will also lead to a longer life.

“I would like to enjoy that,” Sapphyre said.

Her 10-year-old sister, Salonzia, said she felt “full of energy” after the workout and was “really excited” to have Anderson as a special guest.

On a typical Thursday, the kids would be spread out doing a variety of other activities, such as homework, basketball practice, acting classes, videography class, chess club and a fitness program, said Brittany Vaughan, the Burbank club’s director of operations, but they enjoy the opportunity to do a special event.

“It’s something different that shakes up their week,” Vaughan said.