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Light Workout: New Gym S Exercise Equipment Measures Progress Like a Trainer

Posted on: Tuesday, 2 May 2006, 09:00 CDT

By Sarah K. Winn, The Charleston Gazette, W.Va.

May 02--A new downtown fitness studio will allow women to become their own personal trainers, with high-tech exercise machines monitoring their progress.

"Women have a tendency to plateau in their workouts," said Maximum Fitness owner Kim Tucker. "This system makes them responsible."

The facility, at 410 Summers St., will open Monday.

It will specialize in "circuit training," where exercisers work out on a circuit of machines designed to exercise multiple areas of the body.

Lots of gyms feature circuit training, but Maximum Fitness will be only the sixth in the country to have Mytrak Health machines, which measure progress for exercisers much as a personal trainer would, Tucker said.

Members will first scan a key card. Then the machine keeps track of the number of repetitions, movement speed and what muscles are being worked.

Red, yellow and green lights signal how hard exercisers are working: A red light means not hard enough, yellow shows improvement, while green announces that the target has been reached.

When the workout is over, the card is scanned again, and graphs show the effectiveness of the workout. A computerized picture of a body with colored dots pinpoints which muscles were worked.

This kind of visual reminder is an effective exercise tool, Tucker said.

"It shows them, if I get that light on green, I'm doing everything for myself and I am going to be healthy," she said.

Unlike other gyms, exercisers don't have to remember previous routines because the computer does it for them, Tucker said.

"If you can remember to push and pull ... then you are going to do well in here," she said.

Tucker has worked as a fitness coach for two and a half years, after a career in advertising and her daughters left for college.

With help from her husband, Tim, a Charleston police officer, Tucker decided to open Maximum Fitness eight months ago after seeing women bored with their exercise routines, she said.

"Women needed something more," she said. "Here, the computer is always changing their workout for them."

The gym caters to downtown working women, but women of all ages and fitness levels are welcome, Tucker said. It will be open weekdays from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., so women can stop by before work, during lunch hours or on the way home, she said.

Many people want to work out close to home, but she hopes the convenience of the gym will change that, she said.

"I want them to enjoy their workouts," she said. "Women tend to take care of everybody else before they take care of themselves."

The women-only concept will make members more comfortable, Tucker added.

"Women are very self-conscious when they work out," she said. "They don't want to sweat in front of men."

Currently, the gym is open for membership-signup visits, where women can come in, view the machines and get a discount if they decide to join. Fifteen have done so, she said.

In the first three months, Tucker said, she has set a 200-member goal. The gym can serve 400 members, she said.

Monthly fees are $39, and six-month and yearlong contracts are available, Tucker said.

The studio also has tanning beds and hopes to add a men's gym upstairs in six to eight months. Additional classes like belly dancing and healthy eating, along with specialized workout groups, could also be added, Tucker said.

"Women need to be healthier," she said. "They just don't take the time for themselves ... until something starts to hurt. I think that they will be comfortable here."

To contact staff writer Sarah K. Winn, use e-mail or call 348-5156.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Charleston Gazette, W.Va.

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Source: The Charleston Gazette

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