Workout puts pumpkins to gourd use

Sometimes it takes a pumpkin to cure a couch potato.

Boston Sports Clubs instructors are getting into the Halloween spirit, offering Pumpkin Workouts.

“It’s fun because there’s a real incentive not to drop it,” said head pumpkin/aerobics instructor Fawn Cronin.

In a demonstration for the Herald, Cronin led four BSC instructors through a pumpkin workout, teaching them everything from Spider Squats to Creepy Crunches.

“It’s a little awkward to hold,” said Scott Costello. “It’s not in a complete circle.”

Many of the exercises, which also include Lurking Lunges and the Tombstone Twist, replace medicine balls with the gourds.

“The weight distribution is different, which makes it a cool challenge,” Cronin said.

It’s all part of a bid to make people’s workout routines a little less ... well, routine.

“It’s a stepping stone,” said Cronin, who added that it’s important to keep clients motivated through fall into the Christmas weight-gain season.

“And after a workout, you can smash it or do whatever you want with it.”

Like make a pie, perhaps.