Jigging + Plyometrics = JiggAerobics
- Jigging is a dance style that started in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in response to music performed by Baton Rouge hip hop artists. Signature moves include the spirited waggling of the arms and exuberant wiggling of the knees while jumping up and down.
- Plyometrics, also known as jump training, involves stretching then contracting the muscles with quick, explosive movements, such as jump squats, one-leg hops, jumping up onto a box and jumping over cones—exercises that increase power in the muscles as well as improve balance and agility.
LaDonte Lotts, certified fitness instructor, entertainer, businessman and motivational speaker, combined the jigging and plyometrics with upbeat rhythms from around the world, an easy-to-follow choreography, and a dash of Louisiana culture for a total workout that looks and feels like a celebration. The classes are “fitness parties.” Finally, a workout routine that people actually want to do.
LaDonte (aka “Ayo Tae”) never missed a dance lesson when he was a boy. Didn’t matter what style, as long as he was dancing, but he was partial to hip hop. When he could no longer afford formal dance lessons, he continued learning and perfecting his style by watching YouTube videos. In high school, he was on the step and dance teams and became drum major for the marching band. He also choreographed and directed routines for the band’s half-time performances.
At Southern University and A&M College, in addition to studying Business Management and Therapeutic Recreation, he was a part of the famed marching band known as the “Human Jukebox” and served on the committee that choreographed the award-winning routines. LaDonte saw the university gym going unused, so began weekly fitness/dance classes to get people into the gym.
His fitness techniques evolved into JiggAerobics, and exercise program for people of all ages, shapes and sizes. It burns fat—up to 1,000 calories in a 45-minute class—to maintain a healthy weight, and it strengthens the body’s circulatory system and the upper body, abs and legs. His classes were popular with students, faculty and staff and generated interest outside the Southern U. campus and, eventually, outside of Louisiana. Both he and his students went viral with JiggAerobics online videos.
Since he graduated in 2018, LaDonte has been teaching pop-up classes throughout the south, from Houston to Atlanta. He travels to various high schools, colleges and fitness studios to teach sold-out fitness parties. In Houston, Texas, he hosts an outdoor event, “Get Fit in Midtown.” He has many followers, and you will hear them reciting his mantras: “Get lit while you get fit,” and “If you want to have a good day, follow Ayo Tae.”
LaDonte plans to take JiggAerobics to an international audience and, in particular, have it become part of school curricula around the world.
