Connie Britton has more in common with Jane Fonda than just starring in the same new movie.

I used to teach aerobics in New York that was what I was doing when I was pounding the pavement as an actress, Britton tells The Post. So I was very aware back in the day of Jane Fondas workout videos.

You wont see Britton or Fonda in leg warmers in their buzzy new flick, but theres plenty of bouncing around in This Is Where I Leave You, in theaters Friday. The comedic family drama, based on the best-selling book of the same name by Jonathan Tropper, features a starry cast that also includes Jason Bateman, Tina Fey and Adam Driver. When the father of the Altman clan passes, his dying wish is that the whole family come back home to sit shiva. Madness ensues as the estranged relatives grapple with skeletons in the family closet.

Britton at the CMA Awards in November.Photo: Getty Images

Britton, 47, plays the shiva-crashing older girlfriend to Drivers boy toy, the wild baby brother of the family. The Posts film editor Lou Lumenick, who saw the film when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, says that despite her relatively small role, Britton manages to walk off with the movie.

Thats no surprise, really. Britton, who grew up in Virginia, has been stealing scenes in TV and film for years. Her star has been on the rise ever since she broke out as mama Tami Taylor on Friday Night Lights. Nowadays, she can be seen weekly as another mother, country superstar Rayna James on Nashville, which returns to TV for its third season Sept. 24.

But tackling this new part was something of a challenge.

When I first read the script, I had some concerns about the character, she says. It was just important for me to not feel that we were playing a caricature.

Britton with Driver and Jason Bateman in a scene from This Is Where I Leave YouPhoto: Dune Entertainment

In other words, she didnt want to play a cougar.

Read more:
Connie Britton snares Adam Driver in her new movie

Mention water aerobics to someone and they probably think about a stereotypical middle-aged women doing stretching exercises in the pool. Nancy Brouillette, owner of Wet Yet? Water Fitness, refutes those stereotypes.

Brouillette said the biggest benefit of aqua fitness classes she wont call them water aerobics classes because of the stereotypes the term implies is that they are low-impact or zero-impact workouts.

Almost all water classes are beneficial because youre moving through this substance that increases resistance, Brouillette said. It gives you muscular strength and improves cardiovascular resistance.

The fitness instructor also emphasized that her classes can be for all people of any age and any fitness level. Brouillette said her youngest participant (in adult classes) is about 20 and her oldest is 99.

Brouillette first started teaching water fitness classes in 1990. Her company has grown to 30 instructors who teach at locations throughout Montgomery County, though most of their classes are at Quince Orchard Swim and Tennis Club.

Brouillette said she believes that water fitness is a great lifestyle activity.

This is something you can continue throughout your whole life, she said. I think this is something that can help you live longer.

Members of Brouillettes classes agree with the sentiment.

This group has saved my life, said Linda Boris, 74, a participant in Brouillettes Aqua Challenge class for senior citizens at the Asbury Methodist Village Rosborough Wellness Center in Gaithersburg. My rheumatologist says I no longer have osteogenesis. The bone has thickened and Im a new person.

Participants of a more intense water fitness class that has roots in the high intensity interval training called Tabata said they have also seen benefits. Many said that it helped with their arthritis and helped keep them mobile.

More:
Local woman gets wet and wild and fit

BY SANDRA GUY Staff Reporter September 10, 2014 10:32AM

Updated: September 10, 2014 1:06PM

A Chicago transportation official outlined plans Wednesday to improve Union Station by widening commuter platforms, providing CTA buses off-street parking and potentially use old underground tunnels to open up space that could eventually lead to direct-to-airport rail routes.

Even more imaginative are ideas for the Great Hall aerobics, yoga or tether ball, anyone?

The Metropolitan Planning Council invited people to submit ideas, and the winners included reinventing the Great Hall by putting down artificial turf and installing a hammock, space for tether ball and an area for yoga and aerobics classes.

The Planning Council wants to turn Union Station into a destination, rather than just a place where people pass through.

Another idea would be to use the Canal Street viaduct area for a steakhouse, and to open shops and restaurants in the station so people would want to stroll around or have business lunches there, a planning council spokeswoman said.

As for transit improvements, Jeffrey Sriver, director of transportation planning and programming for the Chicago Department of Transportation, told a public hearing at the station of these plans:

Installing enhanced bus lanes and larger bus stations starting up Canal Street and going east on Washington, then west on Madison and south on Clinton.

Creating a surface parking lot just south of the station for CTA buses the city is now in the process of buying the property to give more space to cars, cabs and pedestrians moving in and out.

Read this article:
Major changes discussed to expand, renew Union Station