Afrobeats exercise class moves Arbor Hill Community Center

ALBANY — Though the Arbor Hill Community Center’s blue and yellow gymnasium is classic American atmosphere, Olivia Frempong’s Tuesday night Ghanaian Zumba-style class, LivFit Afrobeats, is wholeheartedly West African. 

“When you walk through these doors, this is an environment where you can shake off all your stress and just have fun for an hour,” Frempong said. 

The energy of the class is established as soon as the speaker starts bumping Afrobeats, which makes it nearly impossible to stand still.

Any self-consciousness a dancer might feel is drowned out by the music, which Frempong describes as soul, jazz, rhythm and blues mixed with traditional African vibes.

When the class begins at 6 p.m., there are around eight of us — half are new. But as the beats flow, more and more people trickle in until the gym is warmed by over 20 people — ranging from 6-year-old kids to 60-year-olds — moving to the beat. 

The class starts with participants marching in place and builds from that.

Frempong emphasizes that her class, which she leads alongside her 12-year-old daughter, Gabby, is for all abilities and sizes, encouraging those who aren’t confident in their dancing abilities.

“If you can’t follow all the dance movements that’s OK, but just march in place,” Frempong said. “Have fun and be the best marcher there is in the room.” 

Frempong was inspired to create LivFit 413 LLC in 2019, though her fitness journey started years prior. In 2012, Frempong gave birth to twins. She already had an 18-month-old. 

At a postpartum doctor’s appointment, the doctor told her she had high blood pressure. As a breastfeeding mother of three, Frempong understood why. She questioned when the doctor’s first instinct was to prescribe her medicine. 

“It just didn’t sit well with me that my first appointment to the doctor, I’m already being prescribed medications,” Frempong said. 

Frempong said she prayed and asked God to help her do the right thing. She chose not to take the medication.  

Instead, she started by running a block and slowly increasing the increments until becoming a full-blown “running fanatic.” Frempong founded the Albany chapter of Black Girls Run in 2016. To date, she’s run eight marathons and is preparing to run the Boston Marathon in April 2025. 

As part of her running in the Boston Marathon, she’s raising funds for the Herren Project, an addiction recovery nonprofit. Frempong has worked for 12 years as a clinical social worker and supervisor at St. Mary’s Hospital in Troy, working with people battling drug and alcohol addiction.

In 2017, Frempong earned her certification to teach Zumba, a popular dance fitness program. While taking a break from marathons in 2019, her friends encouraged her to take her love of dance and create a fitness program. Rather than teach the same Zumba curriculum, Frempong put a cultural twist on the exercise style.

“I’m from Ghana, West Africa,” Frempong said. “I like sharing my rich, beautiful culture with the people.”

Tabitha Johnson has been attending the class since February. For her, the atmosphere and the lack of judgment is what keeps her coming back — and has inspired her to bring more people to the class.

The Tuesday night class has become a recurring social and fitness activity for Johnson and her co-workers from the Department of Motor Vehicles, three of whom are with her on this particular night. 

“You don’t feel the pressure to perform everything,” Johnson said. “You don’t feel like you failed once you left, as long as you moved.”

Johnson said that Frempong’s support continues outside of class, as she posts encouraging content on her Facebook group and Instagram and will reach out and check in when she notices regulars skipping class.

The weekly class being free is an added incentive, Johnson said. Frempong also teaches in Albany at the YMCA and at Push Fitness. 

Frempong’s goal is to keep people moving, which she said is particularly important this time of year. 

“When winter comes, people fall into depression because it’s dark out and nobody wants to move,” Frempong said. “My mission this winter is to just keep people moving.”

Accompanying her Afrobeats, Frempong also incorporates Afropraise in her workout. She calls it faith fitness ministry, with the goal of motivating people of all fitness abilities and sizes. It’s subtle enough that if you’re agnostic, like me, you can still enjoy it.

At the end of the class, Frempong prays, “It’s by God’s grace we made it through the day, and by his grace we’ll finish the year strong.”