Fitness businesses get pumped
Pros help you keep resolutions

by Christopher Key

It’s probably a safe bet that the most frequently broken New Year’s resolution is the one regarding all that weight you put on over the holidays. That’s the one whereby you not only resolve to lose the excess baggage, but also get fit and stay fit. Alas, according to the statistics, your resolve will last about six weeks. Then it’s back to fast food and slow motion.

According to exercise and fitness professionals in Whatcom County, it doesn’t have to end that way. Those of us who don’t make it to Buff City are usually done in by unrealistic goals and expectations. Few of us are ever going to make the cover of Muscle & Fitness and we certainly won’t get it done by the middle of February, exercise equipment infomercials to the contrary. If you are willing to accept that you will never look like Demi Moore or Vin Diesel, there’s hope for you.

There are plenty of exercise experts and fitness facilities locally to help you achieve your goals, but you’ve got to be willing to commit a certain amount of time and energy. Despite the ads on TV and in magazines, there are no shortcuts. If you exercise with the TV remote and subsist on pizza and beer, no high tech gadget is going to keep you from having Goodyear painted on your side and being flown over football stadiums.

Once you’ve made the decision to get back into your skinny pants, there are several approaches available depending on your goals and your budget. Three of them that we will examine here are the health club, the personal trainer, and the home gym.

Bellingham Athletic Club (BAC) has been around more than a quarter century, having started as a racquetball facility at the location on Meridian. It offers probably the widest range of programs and facilities available in this neck of the woods. In addition to the original location, BAC opened up its downtown branch on Cornwall in 1994.

Racquetball and handball remain important at BAC where some of the top professionals in the northwest train and teach. You can also play volleyball, basketball, and swim at the club without having to brave our unpredictable weather. There are complete weight training and aerobics rooms, along with a vast array of cardiovascular machines. Best of all, there are skilled professionals to help design a program that’s right for you.

“If you make a New Year’s resolution,” said BAC manager Mike Locke, “You also need to make a plan. Too many people have no direction when they come in. They exercise strenuously, but with no direction and unrealistic goals, they burn out quickly rather than creating good exercise habits.”

Locke strongly emphasizes the need to be realistic.

“Don’t go beyond your capabilities,” Locke said. “Slow and steady is better than trying to go too far too fast. Establish good exercise habits, then build on them.”

The time commitment, according to BAC marketing director Bo Wilde, is vital.

“You have to allow for travel time to and from the club,” Wilde said. “Then you need to change clothes, stretch and exercise. If you want to reward yourself with a dip in the hot tub, allow time for that. You will probably need to shower and change clothes again. All of that adds up to a significant amount of time.”

Locke outlines four stages, or intensities, of exercise. The first is rehabilitation or therapy following an injury or illness. The second stage is overall health and this is where most of us New Year neophytes need to aim. Once you have achieved that level of health, you may decide to go on to the third stage, described as fitness. A very few will want to take it to the fourth level, performance, which involves intensive training for serious athletic competition. Or maybe for wearing Spandex.

“A club like ours,” Wilde said, “has more to offer someone new to the health and fitness lifestyle. We have a wide variety of activities scheduled at all times of the day and evening. If you get bored, try a different class or add sports as part of your activity. We are always creating new and exciting things to keep members interested and engaged. Our experience and knowledge are on the cutting edge. We’re always a step ahead.”

An example of the latest fitness activity is something called Power Pump. It’s weight training choreographed and led by an instructor in a group setting.

“Power Pump is for those who need more motivation than the solitary workout,” Locke said. “People underestimate the benefits of weight training. It’s a huge difference from regular aerobics. Like all of our classes, it creates an atmosphere for success.”

Bosu is another recent innovation that is an offshoot of step aerobics. It is performed on a rather wobbly rubber hemisphere that emphasizes balance and stability. You’ll use more muscles trying to keep your balance and it’s ideal for skiers and snowboarders.

Locke emphasizes the need for people to overcome the intimidation factor.

“Strength training is no longer dominated by young males,” Locke said. “Women are now heavily involved and we have people of all ages participating, including seniors.”

Some of that fear of health clubs is a result of past marketing mistakes.

“Many health clubs used to rely on photos of really buff people exercising,” Wilde said. “and that turns average people off. They’re not motivated by pumped up athletes. People who come in here will see young and old, male and female, fat and skinny, every age and body type.”

If you still need a boost to get you off the couch, consider the statistics. Fifty percent of us don’t exercise on a regular basis. Forty percent are clinically obese. Diseases related to inactivity are now more prevalent that those related to smoking or drinking.

Get over the idea of instant gratification. It takes time and effort and consistency to establish healthy exercise habits. You say you hate exercising? Well, you probably hate housecleaning, too, but most of us still do it.

“Look at it as if it were a doctor’s appointment,” Wilde said. “It’s part of what you need to do to maintain your health.”

According to Locke, enjoyment is one of the keys to long-term success.

“Start with a game,” Locke said. “To improve your game, do some strength training. You’ll start to enjoy the results as you build confidence and self-esteem. Take small steps and enjoy each step. The club offers a social environment where you can get away from the pressures of the office.”

That stress relief may do you as much good as the exercises.

One exercise option that has become increasingly popular in recent years is the personal trainer. There are a number of these exercise professionals in Bellingham, some associated with health clubs, some not. One of them, David Adamson, has opened his own unique exercise facility in the Bellwether complex. It combines the best features of a health club with the privacy of a home.

Fitness Alliance offers three well-equipped weight-training rooms. Rather than having a number of clients working out at the same time, customers at Fitness Alliance make appointments to work with their personal trainer. During that appointment, the only people in the room are the client and the trainer. This intensifies the concentration of both and insures that the client gets the full benefit of the trainer’s experience.

If you are going to employ a personal trainer, Adamson emphasized the need to check for certification.

“There are several national certifying bodies,” Adamson said. “All of them require constant educational updates. NSCA, the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and others offer certification. Higher levels of certification are offered by the American College of Sports Medicine and the National Athletic Trainers Association.”

According to Adamson, you should also expect a personal trainer to have at least an undergraduate degree is some sort of exercise related discipline. A master’s in exercise physiology or physical therapy is even better. Add on years of experience and it narrows the field considerably.

“Personal trainers must be able to communicate with both clients and their health care providers,” Adamson said. “Exercise should be seen as an integral part of preventive health care.”

What can a personal trainer offer you over and above the benefits of a health club? Results. Most personal trainers will guarantee results provided you follow their instructions. There is also the issue of accountability. Most of us know we need to exercise, but don’t have the discipline. A personal trainer can provide that discipline.

“As an appointment-only facility,” Adamson said, “we don’t allow people to just drop in. Our individual training rooms allow us to do what we do best: focus on a small number of people and completely meet their needs. We’re your cheerleader and motivator.”

Because of their extensive training, personal trainers are better able to monitor patients in rehabilitation. Most of them also have training and experience in nutrition, which can make or break a fitness program.

Adamson admits that personal trainers can be expensive.

“If you make a resolution and join a health club in January,” Adamson says, “you’ll usually sign up for a year. Statistics show that a majority drops out within six weeks. The health club continues to get its money, but you aren’t getting the benefit. You pay a personal trainer on a per visit basis and, again, results are guaranteed.”

Like his colleagues at the BAC, Adamson recommends setting realistic goals and timelines for accomplishing them. A personal trainer is undoubtedly more qualified to do that than most of us.

“It’s more important to exercise at low intensity and with consistency,” said Adamson, “rather than making your self very sore and giving up. Get comfortable with 30-45 minutes of exercise each day. Pain does not help.”

The “no pain, no gain” mythology espoused by some exercise facilities is fine for athletic performance, but not conducive to building a lifestyle that includes exercise. While Fitness Alliance emphasizes free weights and cardio machines, Adamson said that you can get a complete workout using just a therapeutic band and exercise ball. How? Consult a personal trainer.

“It’s not a good idea for people to prescribe for themselves,” Adamson said. “Exercise should be the result of a consultation between the primary health care provider and the personal trainer.”

Fitness Alliance relies heavily on a program called “Lean For Life” which has been proved successful in clinical trials and in more than ten million cases.

“This is not magic,” Adamson said, “it’s science. You balance exercise and nutrition to produce fitness.”

For those who have a high degree of self-discipline and motivation, there’s a plethora of equipment that you can utilize in the privacy of your own home. Fitness Gear in downtown Bellingham began life as Fairhaven Nutrition and Fitness in 1986. Once it became apparent that the exercise equipment was outselling the health food, both the name and the focus changed. Owner Bob Palmer eventually bought out his only competitor, Locker’s Fitness and settled in the downtown location six years ago.

“We offer only very carefully selected brands of equipment,” Palmer said, “and it’s been a long learning process to be able to do that.”

After having been in Fairhaven and Sehome, Palmer is very happy to be downtown with it’s lower rents.

“We’re a ‘destination’ business,” Palmer said, “and don’t rely on other businesses to draw people in. Our customers are into fitness on a long-term basis and are very serious about their goals. Our equipment is nothing like what you’ll find in discount stores. It’s a big investment and it motivates people to stick with it.”

Palmer said that a lot of his customers come to him from health clubs after they find they don’t have the time to exercise outside the home.

“Now, of course, they’re building homes with dedicated exercise areas,” Palmer said.

No matter where you exercise, it takes at least three or four weeks to establish a routine. After a while, your body will actually become addicted to working out, which is a good addiction. For people uncomfortable with the health club environment, a home gym can be the solution.

“Home gyms have become much more space efficient,” Palmer said. “Most of them have a very small footprint and will fit in a five by six foot space. They have also become much more user-friendly. Rather than having to practically rebuild the machine, all you have to do is change a pin in the weight stack to do different exercises.”

The top-end machines Palmer carries are all well engineered from a biomechanical standpoint, but due to improvements in materials and technology, prices have actually dropped.

One of the niftiest new innovations is called “Power Blocks.” These devices replace the traditional dumbbells and are far easier to use due to an ingenious system for changing the weight.

Most cardio machines now rely on electromagnetic resistance rather than the old brake pads. This makes them far quieter and smoother. Not comfortable with that upright stationary bike? Recumbent bikes are now outselling uprights by a margin of five to one. They’re not only more comfortable, but cause less stress on the back.

“Very few people are making cross-country ski and rowing machines now,” said Palmer. “The new elliptical trainers are replacing those as well as the treadmill. The ellipticals cause absolutely no impact on joints. They’re now outselling stair climbers, as well.”

Almost all the new cardio machines are programmable in order to simulate varying terrain and many have heart rate monitors. Some even have a heart rate control to keep you at precisely your target rate. And, of course, there are all those whiz-bang electronic displays to keep you entertained while sweating off the pounds.

“We try to find out our customers’ goals and needs,” Palmer said, “and then help them choose equipment to attain those goals. We work with customers to see if what they want is really what they need. If they don’t enjoy using it, it’s just an expensive coathanger.”

If you made that resolution this year to get in shape, you have more options than ever before. But all the resolutions and options will do no good if you set unrealistic goals and try to get there too fast. Take it from all the pros: slow and steady wins the race.