Bag punching, shadow boxing, skipping rope -- and no brawny boxers in sight, just a gym full of nuns in their habits.
Perhaps not everyone’s picture of life in a Catholic convent, but 10 Polish nuns have made the boxer’s workout part of their strict daily schedule.
“Sport is part of a normal, healthy lifestyle and we need to keep fit,” Sister Cecylia Pytka, told ABC News. “And especially now we need to get into shape before the hard work ahead of us.”
Pytka is the superior of the Capuchin Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in a small town in Poland. The nuns run an orphanage that she said is in dire need of major renovation.
“Some of the work will have to be done by us, so we need to be strong,” Sister Cecylia says.
Meet Sister Jean, Loyola-Chicago's not-so-secret weapon 98-year-old Sister Jean licenses name, image for LoyolaBut no matter how much work they do themselves, the building renovations are still going to be costly.
“We need the equivalent of $100,000 and that’s quite a sum for us poor nuns,” Pytka told ABC News.
Not enough donations were coming in to meet the cost, so the enterprising nuns decided to attract more attention to their cause.
“These days if you need help you need to be noticed first,” Sister Anna Gadzala, another nun from the convent, told ABC News. “The Holy Spirit inspired us to do a video –- and it looks like it’s working. Some money started coming our way! We’re getting more attention than we had hoped for.”
Pytka also thinks the video helps show the nuns' determination.
“We will never throw in the towel! For the sake of our kids, we will fight to the end,” the superior said. “I hope the video we posted shows our determination and fighting spirit.”