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Most people wait until after drafting New Year’s resolutions to get fit and healthy but Henry Wolff got an early start. He’s been exercising at the YMCA since Dec. 1.
“I’m here every day. I noticed I was getting a little jiggly and I wanted to be able to chase my grandchildren around without running out of breath,” he said while working up a sweat on the elliptical machine.
“I didn’t want to be 75 and stuck in a rocking chair.”
Wolff is happy with his progress thus far.
“I’m down 14 pounds and two pants sizes and I feel a lot better.”
While a lot of people enrol in the plethora of classes offered at the YMCA or hire a personal trainer, Wolff decided to do it on his own.
“Hiring a personal trainer requires more of a commitment from people,” said YMCA personal trainer Rory McMillin.
He said personal trainers are more than gym buddies.
“We’re health-care professionals,” he said.
“I don’t get many clients come in just off the street. Most people hire me because we have built a rapport.”
He leads several fitness classes at the YMCA, which has a membership of approximately 480, and observes the most popular ones are the traditional ones focusing on abs/core muscles and abdominals and chest.
The most popular so far this year are military-inspired programs such as TRX, a relatively new program.
“TRX is a suspension training program, which uses your own body weight to build strength and endurance. U.S. Navy Seals use it. They use their parachutes,” summarized Bridget Dyck, YWCA health and fitness assistant.
In TRX, people utilize a replica of parachute risers and lines hanging from the ceiling to do an assortment of stretches and exercises.
“It’s for people who are getting sick of dumbbells,” she said.
Dyck noted boot camps, another military-inspired work out program that began taking off in recent years, also continue to be popular.
Another new program incorporating dance choreography is zumba.
“Zumba is a traditional Latin dance and aerobics class. It’s dance and choreography, so you don’t feel like you’re exercising.”
She noted the Latin-inspired dance program started gaining popularity about 10 years ago in the Caribbean and made its way up to Canada eight years ago. It’s just recently been offered at the YWCA.
“It still seems really new to Canadians,” she said.
An important part of being able to keep any New Year’s resolution to get in shape is finding a type of exercise you enjoy doing. She estimates that out of 100 people who start going to the gym as a resolution, about half quit by the end of the month.
“By the end of the year, about half of those people are still going,” she continued.
Working out alongside someone can help new gym goers stick to their fitness program.
“A lot of people have gym buddies, somebody to do it with,” she added.
“If you enjoy what you are doing, you are more likely to continue doing it.”
Setting realistic goals also make a difference.
“Rather than saying I’ll lose 20 pounds in a month, sit down and talk to a trainer and maybe decide on five pounds,” said Dyck.
Personal trainers can cost $40 an hour and many new to fitness centres are reluctant to pay that fee without exercising on their own first, said McMillin.
“To get exercise, all you have to do is get off your butt and start moving; it isn’t rocket science.”
Hiring a personal trainer, though, offers a little extra motivation. He said all of the personal trainers at the Y have a post-secondary degree in areas such as kinesiology or physiology.
“I don’t like to think of personal trainers as gym buddies; we’re health professionals. We design programs that are safe and help people reach their goals,” McMillin said.
Until Jan. 15, the YWCA, which is open to male and female members, is offering a chance for everybody to sample all of its fitness programs at no charge. |
