“A faster, leaner, stronger you this spring” |
| A faster, leaner, stronger you this spring Posted: 11 Mar 2011 10:26 AM PST I've heard all the excuses not to go to the gym: It's still too cold out. It's too far from where I live. I'm busy. I'm tired. I'd rather work up a sweat from eating chips and dip or cake and pie than from sheer physical exhaustion. Wait a minute. Cake and pie? Okay, clearly somebody's got a problem. But unlike your more tangible addictions, sloth and procrastination don't inspire many peer-led interventions. That means attempting, achieving and adhering to a fitness routine is pretty much up to you. Maybe that's why so many of us still haven't made good on the world's #1 least-kept New Year's Resolution: "I will exercise regularly." Residents of this newspaper's namesake neighborhood have little excuse not to at least test the waters when it comes to making exercise a part of their lives — because one of the country's largest fitness facilities, Chelsea Piers, is within reasonable walking distance (nobody will judge you, though, if hailing a cab is what it takes to get you there). Once inside, you'll find an amped-up version of all the usual gym offerings (weights, treadmill, track) — plus a staggering roster of both standard and unusual activities that will appeal to those with short attention spans, team sports ambitions, weight loss goals or a fun vs. work mindset. For a complete list of available equipment, classes and activities, spend some time at chelseapiers.com (search for The Sports Center). Let's Do This Thing! As a recent convert to physical fitness (five months and counting out of just slightly more than four decades), I couldn't imagine life nowadays without — at least a few times a week — lifting some weights or taking a sweaty ride on a stationary bike or putting on a pair of boxing gloves and wailing on that heavy bag with the missionary zeal of somebody who desperately wants his moves in ring to match the movie in his head. Although this sea change from sedentary life form to budding gym rat began pretty much the moment that I finally showed up at the gym, it was six months before I actually used our company's complimentary membership to Crunch (Start Date: April 2010. First Use: October 2010). I finally showed up because I reluctantly shelled out some bucks for a personal trainer — who gave me an instant reason to be there.Josh Fly, Director of Personal Training at The Sports Center at Chelsea Piers (Pier 60) recently gave me a tour of the sprawling facility. We began with Fly varying my pace on the treadmill during the warm-up phase — which was followed by some imaginative stretching exercises around the length of the quarter-mile circular track. Fly says that to prevent injury and acclimate your body, "Warm-up is absolutely essential in terms of preparation. It doesn't matter if you're going to play a sport or hit the boxing ring or lift some weights. Warming up will increase the elasticity of your muscles, which in turn helps prevent injury." It's also an effective place to recognize your limits, then pushing past them. Citing a sly technique of motivating his clients, Fly says that on the treadmill, "I encourage them to set a pace that you think is going to be moderate to difficult for, and say, let's stay there for two to three minutes. I like to do little micro intervals. Then bring it back down to a very basic walking pace, then push yourself beyond your comfort zone and let's stay there for a minute." The technique is effective. By the end of the less than ten-minute treadmill period, I was already sweating — but not fatigued. Had it not been for his increase/decrease technique, though, I'm quite certain I'd have coasted at a manageable pace and told myself not to get too heated up since this was just a way to get the juices flowing. Asked what keeps people coming back to the gym, Fly gave a deeper response than the list of reasonable motivations that seem like they belonged at the top of anybody's list. Vanity? Sex appeal? The search for a life partner at least as fit as you are? Replacing a destructive addiction with a healthy one? Good reasons all, but Fly says that in his experience, it boils down to "accountability and camaraderie." Accountability comes from that appointment you have with the trainer and/or the membership you paid for. Camaraderie stems from one of Chelsea Piers' most unique offerings — the chance to play team sports without actually having to join one. Basketball and volleyball are the two most popular choices, Fly says, characterizing typical participants. "People who love playing the game show up and put their names on a list. The winning team always stays on the court. It's like having recess. Everybody groups up and plays soccer, football, tag. Basketball on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons is fantastic. Volleyball is Friday evenings and Saturday mornings." That volleyball pit, with its beach-simulation sand, is, Fly says "deep, but you don't sink. It's great for barefoot training, to work on your balance and stability. When there's not a game going on, we have plyometric activities — dynamic movements like jumping, hopping, skipping and jogging." Other activities that don't feel like exercise and are likely to take your mind off the fact that you're actually working harder than you expected include rock climbing (indoors now, with group outings in the spring/summer); triathlon training (which, as the weather improves, will feature outdoor excursions such as running and cycling in Central Park and participating in races throughout the summer) — an old school indoor "Beast" boot camp. Fly says it comes equipped with "an obstacle course that incorporates the track, sand pit, the jungle gym. We have a cargo net, a rope climb, a lot of physical and mental challenges. It's a confidence course." Goal-Oriented Fitness: Back on Track Tonya Shaw knows all about going the distance, sustaining an injury and regaining the physical and mental confidence necessary to return to a favorite activity with more stamina and strength than you had before. Shaw, who first ran the ING NYC Marathon in 2006, finished it and did it again in 2007. Then she broke her ankle. "Because I couldn't run in 2008," Shaw recalls, "I had put on some weight. I needed to get back into shape." Shaw set a goal: return to the marathon and finish it with her best time yet. To do so, she hired a personal trainer and began to prepare almost a full year before the 2009 marathon. Besides the looming deadline of another long distance race against herself, she had another milestone (millstone?) to contend with: "It was November of 2008 and I had just turned 40. I said, next year, in November, I'm doing the marathon again. But I didn't really do anything about it in terms of a real training schedule until June or July of 2009." In the meantime, she concentrated on recovering from her injury. Shaw recalls, "When I broke my ankle, I had gone to Josh and said I'm frustrated. I'm on crutches. What should I do? He suggested focusing on swimming. I'm not much of a swimmer, but I do know how to swim. Although I was probably not doing it correctly, I could certainly do it in a way to save my life — but a lot of times, my breathing was not technically correct, and it wasn't fun. Once I met with my trainer, she was able to fix little things and it was like, whoa, I really like this." Shaw continued to train with Garson Grant, with whom she'd worked since joining Chelsea Piers back in 2003. "I saw Garson for strength training, so when I started my marathon training, I could hopefully better my time." Ultimately, on that November date with destiny, Shaw ran the marathon in four hours, three minutes and two seconds — her best time so far. In addition to Grant and her swim coach, she attributes this comeback to working with former Olympic sprinter Nabie Foday Fofanah. ("He really helped me with my speed training.") Many pros populate the Chelsea Piers roster of trainers — from former NBA players to professional boxer (and, as I can personally vouch for), extremely capable instructor Gary Stark. Shaw gives high marks to all of her trainers, and explains why Fofanah's speed workout guidance was so important: "I'm not motivated to do that on my own. I needed him to tell me 'If you want to get better, you need to run four 400s today, and we're going for this particular time.' In terms of the strength stuff with Garson, it's not as much about motivation. I'm the type of person who will push myself, but he always pushes me more. I might work out on Monday by myself and be like wow, I really pushed myself today. I'll tell him what I did and he'll be like okay, but then he'll push me harder." Whether it's a trainer helping set the bar higher, the camaraderie of team sports or the confidence built by seeing a long term goal and doing what it take to achieve it, Fly says, "The one thing I'd make clear is that no matter the objective, we want to give people a legitimate experience, to walk away feeling like they've accomplished something. If they come here and identify with something they enjoy — whether boxing, training like an athlete or feeling like a kid again — that's going to keep them coming back. Because they associate the gym with fun and enjoyment rather than this linear idea of having to do a treadmill for an hour." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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