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12/14/2016 07:30 AMGrowing up, Barbara Corso says she was a “heavy child.” She recalls not being able to move as fast as other children and being placed in the back row for choir performances. She has since taken her health into her own hands and has now been teaching exercise and fitness for 40 years.
“It’s not about being the biggest, it’s about being healthy, feeling good, and applying yourself to life,” says Barbara. “Exercise turns things around and makes it feel like the aging part is not an important part as long as you keep yourself healthy. You forget your age and go forward making your body stronger by taking care of it.”
When Barbara first began attending Southern Connecticut State University, she was studying education, but she quickly realized she wanted to pursue a different path. She took classes in kinesiology and human biology.
Barbara also attributes her career choice to her father, who encouraged his four children to choose a career that would help others. She has a brother who is a fire captain, another brother who works at the VA, and a sister who is a nurse.
“He told us to choose a job that would be able to help somebody in this world,” says Barbara. “Now I have a rewarding career that is incredible.”
At the time, Barbara also began teaching fitness classes in her garage. She charged people 25 cents for the hour-long workout and afterward, her class members would come inside for refreshments.
Over the years, Barbara has written for Shape Magazine and taught exercise courses to a variety of groups, including the linemen at Cablevision in New Haven, and the East Haven and Branford football teams. She also had her own TV show through New Haven Comcast that broadcast several times a week.
“It has been ongoing happiness from the beginning,” says Barbara. “On my show, I’d say, ‘You could sit on the couch or get up and feel better.’I would take the camera crew to various locations to show everyone you could be outside and exercise. It didn’t make a difference as long as you were moving your body.”
Barbara also opened and operated Shape Up, a health spa with locations in East Haven and Guilford, for 10 years. During that time, the East Haven Recreation Department called her, saying they needed someone to teach the seniors about fitness.
“I used to go during my lunch hour from the spa,” says Barbara. “It just grew from there and after I closed Shape Up, it went further and further.”
Barbara now teaches classes at Hayes School in East Haven and at the Recreation Center in Guilford. She teaches two classes a day every day, teaching fitness, aerobics, and weight training.
She has formed many relationships with those who attend her classes over the years and has continually been impressed by what her students accomplish.
“The people are incredible, warm, and eager to learn,” says Barbara. “I have a 94-year-old woman who comes to class with earrings to match her shirt and she’s lifting four-pound weights. It’s like seeing the other side of the aging process.
“Now there are more people over 50 than under 50 in the world and they could be having a really great time if they learn that muscles only atrophy if you don’t use them,” adds Barbara. “It’s not about getting on treadmill, it’s about knowing that it’s a gift that you could move your body and you could be willing to stop growing old.”
Barbara has lived in East Haven for 40 years and says it is “one of the greatest towns to live in.” She has three sons—Joey, Gary, and Philip—and three grandchildren. When she is not teaching, Barbara enjoys shopping and eating nice meals.
“I work so hard that there isn’t much extra time, but I enjoy my family on the weekends,” says Barbara. “By the end of the day during the week, I want to sit down, eat a nice meal, and prepare for tomorrow’s class. I never look at teaching as work. It’s just such a rewarding job that it’s not even a job.”