A newly produced show on RSU-TV emphasizes lessons that a teenage girl’s health depends on both physical and emotional wellbeing.
“When I work with girls in my ‘Female Fitness’ class, the major point I make to them is that they have to be healthy on the outside and the inside,” said Melissa Walden, host of ‘Female Fitness,’ a 30-minute show that will begin airing Oct. 4 on RSU-TV.
The show will debut 7 p.m., Monday, Oct. 4. The show will be broadcast again at 2:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 8, and 9:30 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 9. RSU-TV, operated by Rogers State University, broadcasts on UHF channel 35, Claremore and Tulsa cable channel 19, and more than 70 cable systems in northeastern Oklahoma and southern Kansas.
Walden developed the Female Fitness program last year at Claremore High School, where she has taught math and coached basketball and cross-country track. The class was developed to provide an outlet for teenage girls to improve their physical health and self-image. Topics discussed include setting goals and changing internal dialogue from a negative to a positive outlook.
Now in its second year, the high school class has become so popular and effective that she now teaches it full-time. More than 120 girls will participate in her class this school year, with nearly 60 girls who were unable to enroll in the class because the classes had reached capacity.
The television station worked with Walden this summer to produce 13 episodes, which will be aired throughout the fall. A new show is scheduled to debut each Monday at 7 p.m., and be rebroadcast at 2:30 p.m., Friday and 9:30 a.m., Saturday.
Each episode begins with a five-minute segment addressing emotional concerns and fitness, with the remaining 25 minutes focusing on physical exercises such as kickboxing, step aerobics, weight training, interval training, and Latin and hip-hop dancing.
“We try not to do the same thing twice, because the girls have really responded well to the variety of training in this program,” Walden said.
Walden holds a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from East Central University in Ada, Okla. She has served as a fitness instructor and personal trainer for 11 years, and currently teaches kickboxing and aerobics classes at the Claremore Super Recreation Center.
The television station approached Walden about producing the series after Mona King, an RSU-TV producer/director, saw positive changes in her daughter after she enrolled in the course.
“After my daughter enrolled in the class, I really saw a lot of positive changes, not only in her physical appearance, but in her mental outlook as well,” King said.
RSU is the only university in Oklahoma to operate its own full-power public television station and is currently in the process of adding digital television capabilities. The station reaches an audience of about 1.2 million people within a 75-mile radius.