Area Gyms Full As New Year’s Resolutions Underway
By Meta Hemenway-Forbes, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa
Jan. 24–WATERLOO — Treadmill and stationary bikes are working overtime in the Cedar Valley,
Belts are turning and wheels are spinning night and day to accommodate the January rush of those who’ve resolved to get fit in 2007.
“We are on pace to have our best month ever on record,” said Debbie Sabelka, health promotion director at the YWCA.
Sabelka gives tours of the facility to new members, showing them how to use the fitness equipment. The number of people requesting tours has doubled since the first of the year.
“Participation in the Body Shop 101 tour has increased 100 percent,” she said.
Other gyms in the area are seeing similar increases, and trainers say it’s not unusual this time of year.
“We see a significant increase in January,” said Sasha Courbat, YMCA wellness director. “We hire more personal trainers and more staff and offer more group fitness classes.”
The new year is a time for many people to start fresh, resolving to lose weight and increase their overall fitness level. Sabelka credits the media for driving many people to health clubs. Coverage of the obesity epidemic has moved many people to action, she said. Also, a number of the new members at the YWCA have been referred by their physicians.
“I think people seem somewhat determined right now. They know they need to make a change and they are coming to us for help. It’s our job to lead them down the right road,” Sabelka noted.
The problem, though, is that many good intentions don’t last. By the end of January, people start falling off the fitness wagon.
An eDiets.com survey in 2004 found that only 30 percent of those who made a fitness resolution kept it until February, and just 20 percent stayed the course for six months or more.
Sherri Purdy, rehabilitation services manager at Covenant Wellness Center, said numbers start to drop about the last week of February or early March.
“People are so motivated in January because it’s a new beginning,” said Purdy. “They jump on the bandwagon, but they have to understand that they are creating a habit, and that can be hard to do.”
To avoid losing steam, fitness experts recommend those new to workouts not view their new effort as a temporary resolution, but a lifestyle change.
Also, have reasonable expectations.
“You exercise and you eat healthy, and the weight will slowly come off,” Sabelka said. “People set unrealistic goals. They expect to lose the 10 pounds they gained over the holidays in two weeks. It doesn’t work that way. They are setting themselves up for failure. They have to realize that little by little, big things get done.”
Those new to the gym also should make sure they don’t do too much too soon. The body must be given time to adjust to the new stresses.
“That’s a big reason people quit. They get burned out pushing themselves too hard. If I see a new face coming in to our facility seven days a week, I can’t imagine they are going to last,” Purdy said.
Although Courbat understands that some of those who’ve made fitness resolutions will drop off, she enjoys them and attempts to help them succeed as long as they keep coming.
“I always love this time of year when all the treadmills are buzzing and everybody is really busy,” she said. “I like the energy and the new faces.”
Contact Meta Hemenway-Forbes at (319) 291-1483 or meta.hemenway-forbes@wcfcourier.com.
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Copyright (c) 2007, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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