Fitness News
News from Anatomies
Don't let cold
winter deep-freeze your workout routine -
by
Cecilia Oleck
The Hattiesburg American -
January 2, 2007
Winter weather is here and with
it comes bracing cold and the
"I-don't-want-to-go-outside-or-to-the-gym" feeling that has
derailed many a well-intentioned exerciser.
No more. There are plenty of
reasons to start up or keep up a fitness routine heading into
the coldest, darkest season. Number one could be that it won't
last forever. Soon enough it'll be spring and you'll be wishing
you were in better shape to enjoy the great outdoors.
Or maybe you're headed to
sunnier, warmer locales for a winter visit, cruise or tropical
vacation and want to be in top shape once you shed the layers of
clothes you need up here but won't need there.
The best reason could be that
exercise is a great way to beat the winter blues.
Here's some advice to help put
together a fitness plan that you can stick to this winter.
Gym workouts
People who exercise to feel
better are more likely to stick with it than those who simply
want to look better.
Take a fitness
class or sign up for a recreation league. "Group fitness classes
are fun and a lot of times are distracting," said fitness
trainer Rasheed Lee. "You don't even know you're working out
until it's all over - or the next day."
Playing
basketball or another indoor sport with a rec league also is a
fun, social way to exercise and could prompt you to work out
more the rest of the week, too.
Cross-train. If
you have a favorite fitness activity - running, cycling, golf -
use the winter to work out in a way that complements that
activity. Lee says he's taken up yoga - one of the hottest
fitness trends around - as a way to balance the stress on his
body from weight lifting. Yoga and other disciplines like
Pilates are also good complements to activities like running and
cycling.
Gyms ready for annual rush - by Rachel
Leifer
The
Hattiesburg American - January 1, 2007
The Thanksgiving dressing,
Christmas ham and New Year's bubbly are relegated to memory.
"No more excuses," you may have said to yourself this morning.
"I'm getting fit this year once and for all."
Join the club. Millions of
Americans start the New Year with resolutions - most common
among them is to lose weight - and local gyms are preparing for
the annual crush.
"There's always an influx of
people trying to start a fitness lifestyle for the new year,"
said Patrick Irby, co-owner of Anatomies gym in Oak Grove.
Dusting off the old
cross-trainers after New Year's Day is something of an American
tradition. In an annual survey conducted by MyGoals.com, a
popular Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company that provides concrete
plans and assistance for achieving all sorts of aims from
escaping debt to writing a novel, weight loss has once again
topped the list of new year's resolutions.
Nearly a third of those polled
cited beating the bulge as their primary goal for 2007. Of those
health and fitness aims, 60 percent said they wanted to lose
weight, while only 4 percent said they hoped to improve overall
health and wellness.
That's a foreign notion for
Southern Miss biology major Jonathan Edwards, who spends a good
deal of his free time lifting weights and running on treadmills
at 24/7 Fitness Studio in Hattiesburg. He adjusts his schedule
to deal with the new year crowd, avoiding the pre- and post-work
hour rushes - something the 24-hour gym makes easy, he said.
"I never make New Year's
resolutions," Edwards, 23, said. "If you have to use a holiday
to decide you're going to change yourself, you're probably not
going to succeed. You've got to do it for yourself."
Realistic goals are the key to
success, 24/7 personal trainer Larry Pittman said.
"People come in wanting to make
these drastic changes," he said. "It's better to start off with
baby steps."
David Aiena, 24/7's owner who is
facing his first new year as a gym proprietor, said new
membership sign-ups have tripled in the last several days.
It's a similar story at
Anatomies, where workers are placing the finishing touches on
nearly 10,000 square feet of new space boasting expanded
cardiovascular and core fitness equipment, hot tubs and saunas
and even a huge new exercise facility for kids, Irby said.
"We're trying to get the club
ready and the staff trained up for the new year," he said. "We
usually see an increase in traffic, and see old members we
haven't seen in awhile."
Not everyone sees the StairMaster
as a stepping stone to New Year's fitness success.
The Yoga Room in Oak Grove sees a
tide of new students in January, many of whom are seeking an
alternative approach to getting in shape and improving their
overall well-being, owner-director Tammy Brahan said.
"Yoga offers a spiritual aspect -
it's like mind-body therapy," Brahan said, adding January
classes are often "humongous" but thin out as the year
progresses. "Unfortunately I don't think enough people stick
with it long enough to reap the benefits."
Not all New Year's resolutions
fall by the wayside by spring - svelte, healthy Britni Harvison,
21, is living proof.
She resolved in January 2006 to
work out regularly, and now she runs five miles a day.
"I guess it worked out pretty
well," she said.
|
