This is not your grandma's fitness class.

But Stephanie Babines is quick to insist grandma is welcome to try a session of striptease cardio, Hoopnotica or belly dancing.

"I created all the classes myself, and they are designed for a woman's body: working on the butt, the abs, around where your bra strap goes.

"They're designed to tone and sculpt a woman's body," said Ms. Babines, who owns "Oh My You're Gorgeous" fitness studios in Mars and Cranberry.

She serves as a consultant and instructor for a new, similar studio set to open on Washington Road in Mt. Lebanon next month.

Glow Tanning Retreat and Fitness Studio will feature spa services as well as a lineup of provocatively named classes that promise to burn calories, tighten bodies and encourage women to have fun with it.

"I would hope that common sense tells you, if you're walking into a tanning salon and fitness studio, that [even] if a class offered has sort of a different title than you're used to, that this is a fitness class," said Glow owner Paula Archinaco of Mt. Lebanon, laughing.

"I think there is a huge value in different types of exercise and making it fun and making it silly. Making it so you want to go to class."

Allowing women to embrace something beyond the gym-rat image is only part of the attraction, said Ms. Babines. The fitness benefits are real.

"When you're running on a treadmill at the gym or using traditional step aerobics, you're not really getting [an overall] workout," she said.

"I use my own self as a subject. I used to be quite heavy and now I'm a size 4/6."

What's certain to raise a few eyebrows is the playfully naughty tone of some of the classes. In addition to Zumba and salsa dancing, hula-hoop aerobics and cardio-kickboxing, options including cardio striptease and private lap dance lessons for bachelorette parties.

"We don't strip and get naked but the movements are such that you work your inner thighs, your upper body, the muscles around your belly button," Ms. Babines said.

"There's a big difference between going out with your friend and dancing [in a club] and this dancing. It's all about isolation [of muscle groups]."

Hoopnotica classes use a version of hula hoops, but not the lightweight plastic toys. These hoops are weighted and it takes a lot of oomph to get them going.

Such classes are for women only, and no spectators allowed. Although pole dancing is offered at other sites, it is not yet part of the Mt. Lebanon Glow classes (www.doyouglow.com).

The unorthodox nature of Ms. Babines' fitness classes caused problems when she tried to open the studio in Mars.

The Adams zoning and hearing board, after checking out her website at www.ohmyyouregorgeous.com, presumed she was running an adult business and denied her an occupancy permit.

"It was a misunderstanding," said Ms. Babines, who filed a federal lawsuit with the help of the American Civil Liberties Foundation of Pennsylvania last summer.

A federal judge agreed, and the studio opened a few weeks ago.

Although her online store offers a number of adult items, including lotions and toys, such are not available in the studios.

Ms. Babines said she is not anticipating any problems in Mt. Lebanon.

"No, I do not. I haven't done anything wrong; it's an exercise program. Something new, something different.

"Well, it's not new in the world of exercise, but it is new in the world of Pittsburgh."

Mention "pole dance" and May Day festivities in Warsaw do not come to mind. But Ms. Babines compared the workout to lifting weights, only much more difficult.

"It's an amazing workout, a lot harder than it looks. This is a more controlled, concentrated exercise.

"You have to lift your whole body, and in my case, that's 150 pounds."

This particular class is not yet offered at Glow, she said, but it's a possibility. Pole dance aerobics instructors are certified at six different skill levels; Ms. Babines has reached the fifth, a rarity, she said.

So what does one wear to class? In some cases, bring the stiletto heels. In all, wear yoga-style outfits that are somewhat form-fitting.

"If you're doing the hula-hoop, it's hard to do in baggy clothes," Ms. Babines said.

Classes have been well-attended in the three years since she began in Cranberry. There are mommy-and-me hula classes for younger girls, and children of both sexes are welcome in the kids' hip-hop dance.

"Our classes are different from the average workout. We get not only girls from the area, but girls from out of state.

"There's one who drives from Buffalo, N.Y., each Friday to take as many classes as she can before driving 3 1/2 hours back.

Mrs. Archinaco said she decided in July to open a fitness studio in Mt. Lebanon, but wanted to offer the kind of workout classes "that were, for the most part, different."

After discussions with Ms. Babines, they worked out a partnership for Glow. Ms. Babines will teach classes in Mt. Lebanon on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. Mrs. Archinaco, who is certified to teach Zumba, which incorporates Latin dance, said she is currently hiring more instructors.

Mrs. Archinaco said the studio will be offering body gym, which is a cardio hip-hop, and body pump, which is cardio weightlifting, classes that are offered in gyms around the country.

"So if someone just moved here from New York or L.A., they could pop into the class and see it was just like what they had in other cities."

Ms. Babines, who works as a computer programming by day, said the classes are all in fun.

"It's not like I've ever been a stripper and taken off my clothes. I'm just a regular girl who finds something that is liberating and exciting."