A NEW health trend is sweeping the nation, and a Dorchester sports centre has jumped on the bandwagon. The first salsa-fit class at the Thomas Hardye Leisure Centre was packed out with 25 women keen to shimmy their way to fitness.

Gentle rotation of the hips and sashaying steps soon evolved into a nifty Latino dance routine that got the room breathless.

Fitness instructor and trained dancer Ally McLain said: "This was my biggest class ever, I was so nervous when they told me it was full.

"I've done normal aerobics and boxercise and normally get between five to 15 people.

"This salsa-fit class will be every Tuesday from now on, apparently there was a real demand for it.

"It's very good for waistlines, calves and thighs, it controls your core muscles and you have to keep your arms in line - it works a lot more muscles than you realise.

"Because of the basic steps it can be turned into a simple fitness routine - ballet would be much harder to do that for."

The class lasts an hour and everyone in the room was laughing at some point as they attempted to get to grips with the seductive moves to the Latino music. It was quite inspiring to realise we were learning a skill as well as toning up, and the class ended with core-strength exercises and stretches.

Class member Lara Emery said: "This was the best salsa-fit class I've been to, it's just about having fun and doing exercise."

Ally, who recently moved to the area from working as a dancer on a cruise ship in Majorca, reckons this latest craze has been sparked by recent television shows such as Strictly Come Dancing.

She said: "Salsa is a very nice and sexy dance and quite popular at the moment. I think it's good to combine dancing and exercise, because for any sport you need to know about nutrition and muscles.

"I will keep the class at a basic level so people can keep joining but I hope to start an intermediate class as well."

She added: "It's a laugh at the end of the day.

"When I grew up dancing was really competitive and all very serious, and it shouldn't be like that. You should get fit because you want to, no one should feel embarrassed in my class, so come along and have some fun."

Both men and women are welcome at salsa-fit - to book a place call Thomas Hardye leisure centre on 01305 266772.